Herve Mattan, small business director at Dell, explains how you can save your business money by making your technology greener.

Green business practices are becoming more commonplace today as a result of increasing awareness, global environmental concerns and rising energy prices. 

The IT infrastructure is often a good place to start for companies looking to implement these practices.  For small businesses in particular, embracing environmental responsibility often makes smart business sense.

There are a number of simple tips that can not only result in cost reductions to help those of you already on limited budgets, but also ensure your business is more environmentally sound.

•    Educate employees – train staff to incorporate energy saving practices into their daily routine such as switching off their computer monitors whenever they are away from their desks for an extended period of time or printing double-sided.  Their actions will be the biggest factor in implementing a successful energy saving strategy.

•    Use power management software – power management software is becoming more widely available so look at how it can help your business.  It can remotely switch PCs off and on as well as automatically save any documents open on the screen.  PCs can be set to switch at specified times, ready for when employees get into the office.

•    Consider virtual working methods – enable employees to work from home and utilise ‘hot desks’ when in the office.  This can cut down the amount of office space and furniture required and the energy used.

•    Upgrade to energy efficient IT equipment – existing legacy IT systems are often the biggest contributor to energy usage and emissions.  It is often more cost-effective to upgrade to new equipment that has more environmentally friendly features and longer life-span.  So, review your technology infrastructure and upgrade equipment where it makes sense.

•    Understand the legislative impact – legislation such as the WEEE directive means that companies regardless of size have to take responsibility for recycling their waste electronic and electrical equipment.  As well as avoiding related financial penalties, recycling, reselling or donating end-of-life computer equipment are options for businesses looking to be environmentally savvy. 

In addition, equipment which meets functional and cosmetic requirements for resale markets can be sold based with residual value returned to the customer.  More information is available on www.dell.com/recycling.

Implementing greener business and IT policies need not be a painful process.  By observing the guidelines outlined above, even small businesses can enjoy the savings implications of making IT greener.

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By LaunchLab.co.uk  on   Sep 17,2008

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Keywords

green business    technology    efficient    Dell    employees    small business   

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