Survey: GCR, IDG Connect to Gauge Green IT Perceptions 

The principles of green computing and green IT are finding their way into more and more conversations. Seemingly every new data center designed or built is labeled in some way as a “green data center.” These new facilities reportedly sport a Power Usage Efficiency of around 1.3, a solid measurement.

Green goals are promoted for various reasons. Cost cutting and reducing waste are two primary examples, although some companies do enjoy a public image boost for championing green IT while others choose to soothe their environmental conscience.

Relative to supercomputing, the green computing movement is relatively new. The first Green 500 list, which measures and ranks data centers based on megaflops per watt, first came out in November 2007. Still, from a technology standpoint, five and a half years can be quite a long time. People in the big data space often like to point out that 90 percent of the world’s data has been produced over the last two years.

So in one sense, the notion of green IT has been around for long enough to be relevant in the general IT world. In another sense, it is still fledgling. So which is it? Green Computing Report is partnering with IDG Connect to find out.

In addition to gauging the overall perceived relevance of green computing, we are looking for a regional comparison of how businesses and governments propagate an environment conducive to energy-efficient IT.

In particular, we are looking to compare and contrast the perceptions of green IT in the United States vs. Europe. As such, we would like the opinion of IT executives and those who are knowledgeable on the issues surrounding green computing.

The report, which will be released relatively shortly after the completion of the survey process, will seek to answer the following questions among others:

Do those in the IT world find the green initiative generally important?

Which factors contribute most to the relevance of green IT?

To what extent are businesses and governments in particular regions promoting the goals of green computing?

The study will be based upon a simple six-question survey. Those that are interested may find the full survey here.