Green IT Marketing Backlash
July 16th, 2008 by Quinn McKew
“Green IT is not a company initiative; it’s not a campaign of ours. It is a reason to put out a new press release.”
The quote above came from an acquaintance of mine when I pushed him for details about his company’s “Green IT” information it had just prominently splashed across its homepage. (Green IT = using information technology to increase efficiency and sustainability) I pushed for details because I knew the company pretty well (a mid-sized international software company), and I knew they didn’t even have any internal sustainability or efficiency initiatives or even a CSR report, so I was curious.
The answer confirmed my suspicions that this was all so much marketing-driven who-ha. Clearly, the marketing department had read the latest Gartner and Forrester reports touting Green IT and decided to jump on the bandwagon.
None of this is to say that there aren’t real benefits conferred by Green IT. In offices, the datacenter is the biggest energy user, so increasing efficiency there can result in significant bottom line savings. Also, governments are increasingly looking for technological solutions to address climate change and carbon accounting.
But this company listed the benefits of its particular Green IT as “using less paper” and “reducing waste” among others. Really cutting edge stuff for a company that touts itself as a software leader, wouldn’t you say?
What effect has this green marketing push by vendors had on CIOs? According to Don Tennant at Computerworld, it is turning them sour on the notion of energy efficiency practices:
“It’s as if green has become the poison ivy of the corporate IT agenda. And vendors are hardly providing any calamine. Instead, they’re spreading the irritation in the form of green marketing hype, falling over themselves to be perceived as enablers of a green data center.”
For the sake of the CSR and sustainability agenda, this has to stop. One way would be for analyst organizations like Gartner and Forrester to rank the Green IT products out on the market and expose those that are just so much marketing-speak.
Another would be for CIOs to ask all potential vendors to answer questions on their Green IT credentials, similar to the brief survey available on Computerworld, as part of the bidding process. Even if a company ultimately didn’t base its purchasing decisions on a Green IT screen, it would force the industry to take their own claims seriously.
And we could use a bit more seriousness when it comes to green marketing claims.
About the author: Quinn McKew is an environmental entrepreneur and policy consultant with expertise in climate change, public lands, water and energy policy. With her MBA and experience in non-profit management, she seeks to leverage the best practices of the non-profit and business communities to foster a truly sustainable business culture.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Corporate Social Responsibility, News and Resources, Sustainability, TSWN Members. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
CSR is the new eco market. We are going to see all of the corporations jumping on this one. Right now not everyone knows what CSR means but very soon it will be the new buzz word outside of the corporate culture. This will be a time we will see a lot of inconsistencies yet there will be many champions and those who really stand by what they are doing. Ignorance is not always to be judged and sometimes just shedding light on people might help others commit to their CSR claims above just using it for profit. Maybe if your buddy was asked personally to take responsibility by his clients and those of us reading this blog, as he is already claiming it and now, has to live up to his word. most companies making false claims of csr so they can cash in will eventually be found at and then ridiculed through blogging costing them a bad reputation which will harm their business and credibility. corporations are realizing that by doing the right thing and contributing to society will help drive profit but that doesnt mean just talking about it. The positive part about this scenario is now your friend will have to live up to his claims and that means turning his whole business around which will eventually lead to profit and consumer loyalty and sustainability! Not all mean to be inconsistent. Take National Geographic for example whose mission states: “Join us as we continue our non-profit mission to explore the planet and sustain its extraordinary places, creatures, and cultures.”
I just went to a 3d movie that uses the same technology they do and when I went to give back my sunglasses the usher told me to throw them out. I was quite shocked and still don’t know how to make sense of all those sunglasses out there filling our landfill site.
Billie Mintz
Artists Raising Consciousness
http://www.arcinstitute.net/blog
August 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
It seems that everyone is jumping on the Green bandwagon whether or not they’re actually “Green”. But also so much time, energy, and money that would be better spent on actually making a difference in the world is being spent on “Green policing.” Isn’t there a better way?
Will Marre
http://www.thoughtrocket.com
August 7th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
its a double edged sword. Consciousness takes time. isolating people never helps. its our job to enlist. i think there is a better word than “policing’. the world is changing. some people will just pretend but that wont stop the shift from happening. i think in this new age of transparency it will be harder and harder for people to make claims that isn’t backed up. we need people like you and other innovators who care to keep telling the stories and spreading the messages. eventually people will get it. what other choice do we have?
I used to be apathetic about it all because I didnt think I could make a difference. Now I know that all I can do is make a difference and do what I can. I see from your blog thats what you are doing. All we can do is keep going.
the world is changing. i do believe that.
Billie Mintz
Artists Raising Consciousness
http://www.arcinstitute.net/blog