The Public Sector is trying to cut its IT footprint
Environment Agency signs "greenest ever" IT contract
13 Nov 2009, Tom Young, Computing
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/1822350/environment-agency-signs-greenest-it-contract
The Environment Agency has signed a seven year otusourcing contract with supplier Capgemini which it claims will cut 50 per cent of its carbon emissions from IT.
The Agency says the deal is the most environmental IT contract ever signed by a public sector body and will also result in significant costs savings.
"This contract not only aims to exceed the Government’s sustainable IT targets, it also sets a high standard for environmental performance which we hope that other public sector organisations and businesses would wish to reflect," said Graham Ledward, director of resources at the Environment Agency.
The agreement includes hosting services, application operations and maintenance, network services, a support desk, security, and disaster recovery.
Much of the Environment Agency’s existing hardware is due for refresh so Capgemini can install more energy efficient systems.
All disposals of end-of-life equipment will be done in accordance with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations and new hardware will be produced and transported sustainably and consume less energy in operation.
In September the Government claimed it had saved £7m in the previous year through its green IT strategy, cutting the carbon footprint of Whitehall technology by the equivalent of 12,000 tonnes of CO2.
According to Whitehall figures, IT is responsible for up to 20 per cent of carbon emissions generated by government offices - some 460,000 tonnes a year, or the same as a million households emit in a month.
The Cabinet Office aims to make the energy consumption of public sector IT carbon-neutral within four years.
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Green Credentials
Every organisation is under increasing pressure from customers, employees, shareholders and government to be more environmentally aware.
But the green bandwagon has proved too tempting for some organisations looking to boost ethical credentials via headline-grabbing policies way before they have achieved tangible change.
The increasing pressure on UK businesses for green credentials will create a significant cost for them unless organisations get their asset registers in order.
Assessment of environmental practices and reporting is certainly on the increase for business and generic statements about green strategies ? from procurement to recycling, carbon footprint to flexible working ? will not suffice in the long term: organisations will have to prove their commitment through information transparency and auditable policies.
At the heart of such transparency will be consistent, detailed information about the life cycle of every asset - from country of origin through maintenance schedules to final disposal.
Existing green policies such as the WEEE directive and measuring carbon footprints assume a level of asset management far beyond that achieved by the majority of UK business.
How many UK businesses can accurately identify the location of their WEEE equipment within the organisation and confirm when it was purchased and from whom?
By linking the asset register to a document management system organisations can create the required audit trail, so helping them to gain valuable insight into their own assets and adapt to the 'green economy'.
Karen Conneely
Real Asset Management
Posted by: Karen Conneely 18 Nov 2009