Starting the Bus

Implementing changes in IT is not always so easy. The changes usually affect pretty much everyone at the company, there's a lot of levels of sign off for projects, and employees are generally terrified of any new configurations. Here are some guidelines for getting your green computing moving:

• Separate your maintenance, tactical, and strategic IT spending. This is a simple thing that most companies do not do. Dividing these pots of cash will set the stage for ramping up a green computing program that concentrates on efficiency without sacrificing long term objectives. Baseline each of the three as they currently exist in your organization.
  
• Announce some green computing goals and objectives with timelines well into the future. It is natural for people to have anxiety about imminent change, but changes well into the future aren't as bothersome. Set some goals with some numbers you intend to hit - many Asian companies are trying to squeeze out up to 80 or 90 percent of existing budgets!
• Educate employees about the benefits of green practices. Prepare some internal materials on your intended program, with some facts and figures employees can understand. For example, £75 of energy saved is the equivalent to a tonne of carbon being kept out of the atmosphere. The goal of this phase is to create a mindset that individual behavior has a collective outcome.
  
• Reduce your maintenance budgets. According to CIO Asia, most companies spend about 76 percent of their IT budgets on maintenance. You can get this down to 50 to 60 percent in a well managed organization.
• Measure results, adjust, and repeat.
  

You should be able to get the first cycle of a such program through in 6 months to a year.