Recently, we surveyed members of the ZOOM Advisory Council (IT decision makers within large companies) to find out what matters to them when it comes to green – and which technology companies are the greenest (to see the full survey results, click here).
One of the key takeaways: ‘green’ is only good when it’s associated with saving the other kind of green, money. When asked how much they were willing to spend to purchase ‘green’ rather than the alternative, 43% said they would only be willing to pay the same price or cheaper for ‘green’; the most the majority was willing to pay was 10% or more. One surveyed member summed it up “in a down economy, decisions are being made based on cost as the number one factor”.We also learned that the ‘green’ hill is still wide open, with no one company yet succeeding to set themselves apart as the ‘greenest’. For those high tech companies seeking to conquer the ‘green’ hill, there are a few key ways they begin the climb, including: how they run their own business, how they help their customers run their businesses, and how they use marketing to sell their ‘greenness’.
Our survey indicated that Google is leading in how companies can run their own businesses in a ‘green’ way. Survey participants believed that Google is currently the greenest internet services company. Google puts its money where its mouth is by going ‘green’ in almost every aspect of day to day operations, such as:
· Shared bicycles for employees to use for short trips around campus
· Organic and sustainable ingredients in their cafeteria
· Biodiesel shuttles to bring employees to work from around the Bay Area
· Installing 1.6MW of solar on their campus
· Discounts to employees who go solar at home
Another way to be seen as ‘green’ is to help customers run their own business more energy and cost efficiently. Dell was voted as the ‘greenest’ hardware company for its efforts in reducing customers’ costs and carbon footprint. The rationale for this honor is that Dell is “focused on reducing energy usage” and “continues to create products that are more environmentally friendly.” The Dell Energy Smart solutions are self-touted as giving the consumer the ability to “save energy and save money.” Dell claims that its Energy Smart desktops, notebooks and workstations can reduce power consumption by as much as 78%. Dell also makes it easier for customers to recycle outdated computers, even going as far as coming to your home or business and pick it up for you. As far as software companies, Microsoft was voted the greenest. Unlike Google, credited for running its own business in a ‘green’ manner, Microsoft is credited for helping its customers run a ‘greener’ business. One survey participant explained Microsoft gives you “tools for doing more with less.”
IBM’s name came up most as the leader in marketing ‘green.’ One participant felt that IBM is “working hard to educate customers and to be as green as possible themselves”, and another participant praised IBM’s recent ‘green’ related TV commercials, saying that this was “by far the most exposure I have seen a technology company have with respect to being green.” IBM’s latest ad campaigns feature “employees telling their bosses how much being ‘green’ can save them money”. IBM speaks to the business advantages of green. Now more than ever, a greener planet can mean more ‘green’ in your pocket.
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