Surprise: Government Shows the Way to Green IT

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One of the biggest impetuses to green the IT infrastructure comes not from the public sector, but instead from state CIOs across the country. That's the message from the annual conference of state CIOs, NASCIO 2008, held last week in Milwaukee.

The top IT initiative for CIOs this year, according to a poll taken at the conference, is a green one: consolidation, with its accompanying savings in energy and infrastructure costs. There's more in this GreenerComputing article.

The poll found that 46% of state CIOs say their top initiative is consolidation, well ahead of the number two initiative, replacing legacy software, with 27%. The poll also found that 92% of state CIOs were already implementing a consolidation plan, or planning to do so.

Why are CIOs greening their IT infrastructure? It's clear that it's all about the money. According to the article, Peggy Ward, Virginia's CIO noted: "We are in a financial crisis as well as an energy crisis. We have no choice [but to adopt green technology]."

Ward's comment was backed up by poll numbers. The article notes, "When asked why they were implementing green initiatives, an overwhelming 68 percent of the CIOs said it was for bottom-line issues such as energy cost reduction, rather than as a moral imperative or in response to public expectations."

Consolidation is just the tip of the iceberg. State CIOs recognize that they need to be leaders in green IT overall. Ken Theis, Michigan's CIO, said states should appoint chief "greening" officers, and added, "Green technology is something that is critical now but it is soon to be a mandate."

The consolidation projects that state CIO's are involved in are impressive. Texas, for example, is in the middle of a plan that will reduce the number of its data centers from 31 to two.

What's the takeaway here? States are in even worse financial shape that enterprises these days. Their response --- green IT to help the bottom line --- is one that the private sector should take up as well.

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