The recession is the perfect time for CIOs to rewrite budget
proposals to take in
green issues to win over company boards, says former CIO Chris
Billimore.
Billimore, a director at IT specialist financial investment firm
CIO Plus, told the IT Directors' Forum that many of them were
already under pressure to cut costs, and that much of what they
were doing already had a green component.
"Installing power management for the PC estate, using
double-sided printing,
virtualisation - these can all be rejustified in terms of the
green benefits they bring," he said.
He said that it was important to spell this out because "We have
moved into a new marketing environment, one where green credentials
are an important part of the company's marketing and communications
messages," he said.
Billimore said legislation to force greener business practices
were likely by 2009.
"Most CIOs are already looking for savings in the right places,
but they are not reporting their effect on their carbon footprint,"
he said.
Doing so could help swing budget requests because boards were
increasingly concerned about green issues, he said. This was
because of their effect on how the firm was seen by shareholders,
customers, staff and prospective employees, as well as the
impending legislation, all of which affect the share price.
However, to gain credibility, firms should measure their carbon
footprints accurately, develop strategies and plans to mitigate
them, and measure its reduction over time, he said.
Billimore said there were few parts of an organisation where
CIOs would not have a role to play in "greening" the firm. It was a
natural extension to their traditional role as they were already
dealing with pressure to cut costs and become more productive.