A New Vision for Your Tehnology Department: Save Green and Be Green

Author: Mark Kornegay

February 2009

The environmental impact of conducting business is under close scrutiny. Historically, businesses have struggled with the trade-off of adopting environmentally sustainable practices with the cost of implementing change. Given the recent slowdown in the economy, many think that reducing business cost must come at the expense of non-essential priorities, such as environmental initiatives. Shifting consumer attitudes toward corporate environmental policy are quickly making change a business priority, however, being green doesn’t need to be expensive. With recent innovations, certain technologies will not only help your business save money, but also will alleviate your business’ impact on the environment.

There are a number of tips businesses and consumers can use to make a major positive impact on the environment. For example, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, companies can save about $50 annually for every desktop computer upgraded to Windows Vista. From an environmental perspective, configuring just 10 systems with power management tools in the operating system is the equivalent of taking one car off the road. If continued to be implemented, these power-management tools would actually be able to contribute to a decrease in the nation’s energy bill by $500 million and eliminate nearly 3 million tons of global warming pollution.

Another tip is to adopt virtualization technology as part of your operations. Virtualization works behind the scenes in an organization to consolidate underutilized servers, which creates a far more efficient information technology infrastructure by combining the workload of your network onto a smaller number of machines. Virtualization will create a more efficient working environment for employees while reducing energy costs for an organization up to 90 percent. Less space is needed to house them, and less kilowatt hours of power are required to run them; resulting in monetary savings and a reduction of a company’s environmental footprint.

Taking a “greener” approach to your business can also mean adopting technologies that can help create a ‘paperless’ office environment. Transitioning from paper systems to electronic processes is becoming common practice in several industries. Becoming paperless will reduce physical materials and costs associated with mailing, printing and faxing. It also contributes to helping secure confidential business information that might be at risk when sent through traditional mail systems. For example, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 can promote using less paper. It allows users to manage the version control of document processes, making your business more efficient while reducing the need for excess printing.

Reducing travel requirements for employees is also a great way to save money while helping the environment. In order to effectively reduce these costs and continue a successful business, companies will need to supply employees with the appropriate technology to work remotely. Allowing your employees to work remotely can contribute to lower turnover costs; it provides workers flexibility and helps them spend less money on gas and travel. If your company provides transportation or reimburses employees for gas and mileage, technology can reduce those costs as well. One of the many tools available to support remote working is video conferencing – this technology is ideal for businesses that perform meetings on a regular basis. For example, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, a hosted Web conferencing service, enables users to meet online, no matter their physical location. Live Meeting can support events with many participants and helps small, impromptu meetings happen. Users can deliver presentations, brainstorm ideas and collaborate with colleagues, from anywhere.

Fortunately, implementing green-friendly business solutions is not only good for the environment, but also for your budget. In challenging economic times, this is good news indeed.

About the Author: Mark Kornegay is the Central Region Manager for Managed Partners in Microsoft’s Small and Mid-market Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) group. For more information, please visit www.microsoft.com/midsizebusiness.