Avanade’s Toby Velte has a post discussing the perception and reputation of Green IT.
The Reputation Green IT Doesn’t Deserve
“For the rays, to speak properly, are not coloured” - Sir Isaac Newton, 1730. What Newton was talking about is our perception of color. The reality is that visible light is electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths. So that rays of 400nm are perceived by people as blue, 540nm green, and 700nm as red. The point is that the rays themselves do not contain color; it’s people that create this perception in their brains. So, our ‘green’ will be perceived differently by a turtle or a bee. I like this observation because it demonstrates the fundamental disconnect from reality and perception. Green IT is suffering this disconnect at the moment.
The post goes on to discuss how people are pro-green, yet IT’s actions are lagging.
The bottom line Toby points out.
If the real challenge is to change the behavior of businesses to adopt Green IT principles, then I will put my money on the ability of money to drive that change. Let’s see Green IT for what it really is – the right way for organizations to treat their customers yet stay healthy and competitive.