The Business of IT: 10 Keys to Becoming an Environmental Leader

If you've picked up a newspaper or turned on a television in the past year, you know that pretty much every company seems to be talking about their environmental efforts. Well, this has a significant impact on IT.

IT departments consume huge amounts of energy, they contribute a significant amount of waste (old hardware, packaging, and so on), and have never had serious standardized ways to monitor these factors. With businesses rethinking their environmental practices and trying to find ways to be more "green" (as well as reduce spending), IT departments need to change the way they operate and manage themselves. 

This is good news--this shift has created an excellent opportunity for you to drive change and become a thought leader in your company and your industry at large. But where do you start? Michael Walsh and Eliza Walsh discuss the 10 keys you need to know if you want to be an effective leader for environmental and sustainability initiatives:

  • Familiarize Yourself with the Issues
  • Objectively Assess Your Company
  • Envision Where You Want to Be and When
  • Develop a Vision and Strategy
  • Evangelize the Business Imperative
  • Manage your Messaging
  • Enable Management through Measurement
  • Analyze and Report Environmental Impact
  • Be a Thought Leader
  • Remain Current

For the complete discussion with an in-depth look at each of these keys, check out our latest installment of The Business of IT.

Sev?en Keys to Communicating your Message

And for more coverage on being an environmentally-aware IT professional, check out our online-only Sustainable Computing column:

There's a new installment every two weeks.

Cheers,
matt g