Thursday, 03 July 2008 Print E-mail

Global IT Buyers Reveal Their 'Green' Perceptions

'Green' products are not only highly important for the environment, they are potentially profitable, according to GreenFactor – the first global green enterprise IT study released in June 2008 by Strategic Oxygen, GCI Group and Cohn & Wolfe. Over 70% of the global respondents said they "probably" or "definitely" would increase their preference for a brand's green products if they were convinced of the positive impact on the environment and business. Almost 60 percent said they would expect to pay a premium for green products.

Conducted in the first quarter of 2008, GreenFactor surveyed more than 3,500 enterprise IT decision makers, including CXOs, CIOs, IT Managers and Line of Business Managers, in 11 countries. The study looked at 26 enterprise technology brands to determine decision makers' perceptions of green IT, products and marketing. 

Table: 1 - Green "Leaders" and "Laggards"
Despite varying degrees of "green" products, programs and marketing initiatives, there is no one clear green IT brand leader globally. However, when IT decision-makers and IT influencers were asked which brands they most associated with green technology, a handful of companies consistently came out on top:

  • Apple
  • HP
  • Microsoft
  • IBM
  • Intel
  • Sony
  • Dell

Those companies that did not fare as well on "green" perception were:

  • SAP
  • Alcatel-Lucent
  • Nortel
  • EMC

Despite the significance of green IT opportunities worldwide, GreenFactor also highlights some major challenges. Michael Gale, CEO of Strategic Oxygen said that there are "statistically significant differences between countries, so many of the 'green global campaigns' being implemented by IT brands today will not be successful. Plus, the C-suites and their IT groups are not in-synch and really don't believe there is a 'return on green'"

Paul Walker, president at GCI Group also highlighted that green IT marketers are going to have to be really smart about how they go to market.  "They need to target the right countries and the right 'green advocates' in the C-suite with credible value propositions. We're excited about GreenFactor because it provides a strategic roadmap for getting it right."

Greener Companies
On the international level, the report suggested that, statistically, Microsoft and Google received a  significantly higher perception of being "green" in comparison to all other software and Internet companies included in the study.

"It's interesting that Google, a company that does not produce tangible hardware or software, but consumes a significant amount of resources appears so highly on this list," said Mr. Gale. "They've clearly done a good job of demonstrating they are working hard to innovate new, more power efficient solutions."

Greener Countries
India emerged as the study's leader in green IT potential, as a higher percentage of respondents in that country expect to pay at least a 5% premium on green IT or "definitely would" increase their preference for green IT with proven ROI – or both.

Table: 2 - Greener Countries Result
When the data is cut to view respondents that satisfy both conditions – expect to pay at least a 5% premium on green IT and "definitely would" increase their preference for it with proven ROI – India remains the leader in green IT potential by a wide margin:

  • India (22.3%)
  • U.S. (14.9%)
  • Mexico (13.9%)
  • UK (12.9%)
  • France (12.3%)
  • Australia (11.9%)
  • Brazil (8.4%)
  • Canada (8%)
  • Germany (7.9%)
  • Japan (6.4%)
  • Italy (4.8%)
The remaining countries fall progressively further behind India due to a tendency to lean strongly toward either an expectation to pay at least five percent more or stating they would definitely prefer "green" with proven ROI – but rarely both.

In fact, buyers in some of the largest economies and B-to-B markets for technology are not convinced they would prefer "green" even if its ROI could be proven, notably Japan and Canada. Conversely, IT buyers in Mexico are more likely to prefer "green" if the ROI is proven, but are unlikely to pay a premium.

"Initially, it seems counter-intuitive that India would be 'number one,'" said Mr. Walker, "but this is a country experiencing a high-rate of IT investment and data centre growth – coupled with 'brown outs.' It makes sense that IT decision makers there would be more sensitive to environmental challenges and increasingly supportive of growing their green IT solutions."

Accepting Higher "Green Premiums"
The survey also sought specific information from the respondents on how much more or less would they expect to pay for green IT hardware, including desktops, laptops, servers, storage or networking devices. The results  have demonstrated that green IT premiums are expected more in some countries than others.

Nearly two-thirds of all respondents in Mexico (63%) and over half of the respondents in Italy (58%) and Brazil (57%) expect to pay the "same" or "less" for green IT. On the other hand, about two-thirds of all respondents in Japan (71%), the US (66%) and India (66%) expect to pay some level of premium.

Table: 3 - Price Barriers
When asked "What are the biggest barriers to adopting a green approach when purchasing technology-related hardware for your organization?" IT decision-makers and IT influencers were allowed to choose what they perceived as the top two barriers. Here's how the barriers ranked globally:

  • Price (38%)
  • Disagreement internally/political (25%)
  • Efficiency will not offset costs (22%)
  • Brands not convincing us of ROI (18%)
  • Brands not promoting importance of "green" products (18%)
  • "Green" products not available (16%)
  • No impact on environment (12%)

However, when asked "What are the biggest barriers to adopting a green approach when purchasing technology-related hardware for your organization?" IT decision-makers and IT influencers were allowed to choose what they perceived as the top two barriers. Not surprisingly, "Price" was the top barrier in nine out of the 11 countries (See table: 3).  The exceptions were Mexico, where "brands not promoting the importance of green" was the top barrier, and Italy where "disagreement internally/political" reasons were the top barrier.

Although price is seen as the highest barrier among all job titles surveyed, CXOs chose "price" as a barrier with lower frequency (only 33%) than Line of Business Managers (40%), CIOs (39%) and IT Managers (38%) according to the press report.

Green IT Purchases in the Upcoming Year
IT decision-makers were also asked to look at specific technology hardware (laptops, desktops, servers, storage and network hardware) through the purchasing lens of the next twelve months. When faced with these products over the next year and asked "Will your organization look to purchase products that are considered 'green'?" respondents said they probably or definitely would look for green versions of these products:

  • Laptops (74%)
  • Desktops (72%)
  • Servers (64%)
  • Storage (63%)
  • Network Hardware (63%)

This global data shows that green laptops and desktops will be sought after more frequently in the next year than "green" back-end technology.

Globally, CIOs state they "definitely will" look to purchase green technology products of some kind this next year at a higher rate (48.3%) than CXOs (39.4%), IT Managers (37.3%) and Line of Business Managers (37.1%). CIOs also show a higher affinity for "green" laptops. They "definitely will" look to purchase "green" laptops this next year at a higher rate (38.8%) than CXOs (32.3%), Line of Business Managers (30.3%) and IT Managers (28.1%).

>> For further details and for video commentary on the results, you can visit: www.greenfactorstudy.com
 
 
 
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