Rounding up the Green IT figureheads

Wright: Once the government works out that all these mandatory things are in place and then realise they are one of the primary offenders in this, there will be some significant changes. The federal government taxi bill is one of the third or fourth largest expenses, it is ridiculous. The government has made a lot of rules and once they sit back say “I don’t think we’re actually adopting a lot of this”, that’s when I think things will really get interesting.

Harapin: One of the things that the Federal Government is working on is policy around different types of technology and use of that technology. One of the things we hope to achieve is an industry forum where the major equipment manufacturers get together and have a discussion around how we can bring some policy in place which is not offensive to the commercial realities of how we as an industry do business.

Chan: From the storage point of view, in July last year we introduced our twin power hard drive. Initially the market wasn’t that accepting of it. They said: Why should we pay a premium? After three months of our putting in effort, the pick-up rate has gone up considerably. What we had to do was reduce the price gap and now people realise for the extra few dollars they are saving 40 percent of their power consumption.

Dickerson: There is a clear vendor opportunity and when a vendor comes out with a strong Green message there needs to be an education process too. I think the vendor that jumps on that is going to be the vendor that is seen as the leader in Green.

Allan: Just to throw a curveball question to the table, maybe the problem is that we’ve all been too successful. As an industry, have we sold too much IT?

Wright: I think only if the IT industry chooses to take a path of completely non-innovative solutions. In terms of where the industry looks next, I think the role in terms of innovation of product deployment or using technology will alleviate certain pressures, be they economic, greenhouse orientated or reducing our carbon footprint. With all of these types of questions IT has a role to play.

If we choose to do zip and focus all our energies on addressing our now problem we will spend little time on the R&D space and looking at how we can address where this thing goes. Green awareness gives us a huge opportunity as an industry to flog some more stuff. I’m not saying that we are not part of the problem, I am saying we can be a massive part of the solution.

CRN: Do you think that you have made Generation Y that savvy that they expect you to provide a 100-percent Green product that they can recycle?

Wright: I don’t think Gen Y expect a bio-degradable, brown-paper laptop, but I do think they want to have an understanding that there is a higher purpose involved in terms of the industry as a whole. Even in the workplace you demand the same things as you demand at home. There is no longer this concept of technology just in the workplace. No one is tied to their desk, your phone is your office.

Dickerson: If every organisation in Sydney said that everyone has to work from home one day a week, that would reduce transport in Sydney by 20 percent.

CRN: Is that really feasible?

Wright: Oh god, yes.

CRN: I know it is feasible through technology, particularly with enterprises, but are SMB starting to embrace technologies such as teleconferencing too?

Dickerson: Some of the smaller guys with maybe three offices can do it for just a few hundred dollars.

Wright: People will embrace technology if it is easy to use, if the experience they get from using the technology is a premium experience. It is about optimisation. Technology is useless if it’s not used all the time.

Allan: What you are saying is that technology isn’t actually the problem, but the solution?

Wright: Absolutely.

Mayhew: Is this a business opportunity for the vendors and the channel? Absolutely. There is a responsibility and an opportunity. As this conversation has evolved this morning I can’t help thinking that the economic and return on investment equations are the arguments that will drive decisions and changes in behavior at all ends of town. As an industry we have an opportunity to work with more clarity on providing the data and the heavy evidence that can make a consumer or an enterprise to make a decision. I don’t want to come across too sceptical, but maybe I am. Green is interesting, Green is important, people are interested in it and will talk about it. Will they pay any more? Only if you can provide a business case that substantiates the extra investment.

Allan: Just to wrap things up, I thought the last question should put you on the spot and ask what is holding you back from being more Green? Plus feel free to add anything else too.

Torre: Nothing is holding us back, we are actually moving forward. We have already released a product which is Green. We have increased sales of certain products which are now Green, where previously we were selling hardly any of those products. We are a social company, we have social responsibilities to do things from a manufacturing point of view, from a product delivery point of view, and for the afterlife of that product. One of the things which I think is really frustrating is the lack of clarity from the government and the expectations, as that’s what confuses people. This all comes back to education.