Businesses in corporate America are looking at how they can adopt a Green Strategy within their IT departments. This is not just for altruistic reasons, but because of the benefits to their company's bottom line. In the April 2008 issue of Enterprise Magazine, HP reported that in a company with 250 PCs up to $3200/year could be saved just by users powering down their PCs for the night when they leave their offices. Let's boil that down to small business proportions now. In a business with just 25 PCs up to $320/year could be saved just by turning off the computers at night. Image putting that money back into the IT budget for the year. Every little bit helps when you're small.

This green movement is not just a big business issue. With small businesses providing jobs for half of the American workforce, their influence together can have a huge impact on the environment! In an article written for www.cio.com Executive Editor Elana Varon wrote that the emissions generated by telecommunications and IT systems together are contributing such a large greenhouse gasload that it is "comparable to the level of greenhouse gasses being produced by all the world's airplanes as they crisscross the skies above us."

Although it is difficult for small businesses to think about adopting a new IT strategy, or any strategy at all as it applies to some, the fact is that sooner rather than later someone, whether it's a boss, a customer or a government official, is going to be asking what your company is doing to become more environmentally responsible. It is becoming a well known fact that electronics are the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world. With that in mind, it won't be long before we will all be facing State, Federal and International regulation issues, so hatching a plan to green up your IT operations is imperative. Start planning now and approach your strategy as you would any long term project. Plan for where you'd like to go and set up incremental steps to get you there.

You can take the first step today, and it doesn't require a meeting, prior approval, or a purchase order. Start by powering down your PC when you go home tonight. Encourage the guy in the next cubicle to do the same and you're well on your way. It seems small, but the payoff for both your business and the environment will be huge.