Real need for a Green approach

Graeme Reardon ANZ Regional Director Linksys

Like a slow-growing vine that wraps itself around every tree and bush in its vicinity, Green IT has emerged from the floor of the jungle to become the issue that touches every other part of the industry ecosystem.

Proof of this can be seen in a number of vendors in the Australian market that have notably gone ‘Green’ as both a marketing strategy and through making real changes to the ways in which their products are made and run.

Market researcher Springboard has also noticed this trend but notes that while there have been efforts focused on decreasing the environmental impact of information technology, these efforts are still in their very early stages.

Springboard notes that while large enterprises in Australia comprise the largest consumers of electricity used for computing at 41 percent, this is closely followed by consumer IT users at 32 percent, and the small/medium enterprise (SME) and small office/home office (SOHO) segment at 28 percent.

The real world example Springboard uses to illustrate this is that an average-sized server has the same carbon footprint as a mid-sized 4WD taking 17 litres of fuel to travel 100 kilometres.

While environmental concerns are climbing up the corporate IT and government regulation agenda, Springboard finds that there is still a limited awareness of Green IT solutions among end-users, partly due to the lack of an adequate push by IT vendors in Australia.

This is a plus for the reseller community and wider IT industry as there is a definite role to be played in educating SMBs, SOHOs and consumers on the impact that is caused by the IT products they use.

As Springboard’s country manager ANZ Phil Hassey said, IT end-users still have little awareness of what Green IT is and how it can help their businesses and view Green IT as just another additional cost and process to endure.

“[End-users] still need to be educated on how it can benefit their organisation. This is where we feel IT vendors have a big opportunity: those who can educate end-users on how to be Green without increasing their costs or even saving money will differentiate themselves and gain not only increased market share, but also more brand equity in the eyes of their customers.”

Our own research backs this up. When asked how important is it to you that a company’s overall policies are environmentally friendly, a staggering 86 percent of customers responded it was important.

Again, that spells opportunity for resellers who align themselves with vendors who are serious about the Green IT approach.

The Linksys and Cisco vision is to ‘make every connection a green connection’. When you think about the phenomenal growth in Internet users, you can quickly see how important a Green approach in this area is.

For example, according to Internet world statistics there are today 1.25 billion Internet users with one billion plus connections. By 2012 there will be 2.5 billion Internet users on five billion connections.
That spells a lot of networking equipment sales and a very real need to improve around the areas of packaging, hardware and materials, power efficiency and manufacturing facilities.

When it comes to Green IT, at Linksys, we strive to provide customers with high-quality products that minimise impact to the environment. We also make sure we work with partners to produce products that are in compliance with relevant environmental legislation and regulations.

We endeavour to conduct business in an environmentally friendly manner and have numerous projects underway that will reduce the company’s overall carbon footprint by minimising travel, optimising our product supply chain, and communicating opportunities for conservation and recycling to the general employee base.

A lot of this is driven by our own customers who are increasingly asking us to do more around Green IT.

Saving energy

Standby power accounts for an increasing proportion of the world’s energy use. In Australia, standby power could be costing consumers and businesses $500 million every year* – and adding to global greenhouse emissions.

Linksys power adapters comply with Australian Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and meet ENERGY STAR requirements. They automatically switch into a power-saving sleep mode when not in use.

Reducing landfill

Recycled newspaper, cardboard and other post-consumer material can be used for packaging, saving energy and the environment. Our new biodegradable retail packaging is made from post-consumer materials, with soy-based inks. We’ve eliminated the sleeve. We also designed pulp moulded trays to replace styrene and corrugate inserts.