Have you thought about thinning?
In an age where many mobile workers now rely on laptops, palmtops and mobile devices in order to keep in touch with the office and prepare documents, is there any longer an argument to permit the use of desktop computers (PCs) in the workplace?
Although there is still a great need for office based working (all those essential administration and support function), are you still running a host of hot-burning, power guzzling PCs?
Studies from as long ago as 2007 proved that thin client technology is better for the environment and, because it is better due to lower power consumption and lower cooling requirements, it’s also better for your corporate pocket. I was reminded of this earlier today in a discussion with a local technology company who now spend most of their time switching clients over to a thin client environment - using workstations that merely draw their data and client-specific software from a central (and usually shared) server bank, although they do need an embedded operating system to function.
The fact is that a thin client uses 51% less power than a PC (and emerging technology will widen this chasm even further). That means that the average PC costs approximately £15 per year more to run than a thin client (or workstation)… it also costs less in carbon – just over 4.5 tonnes per PC per year. Now, I understand why there may have been some reticence by IT people to go this route a few years ago; apart from security concerns, there was also the threat to the supremacy of the IT guy! It is also true that servers banks situated in old buildings were actually negating the benefits through the excessively high cooling costs in unsuitable locations, but that was then and this is now. It has been calculated in a study in the USA that if all business PCS (there are +/- 23 million of those) were switched to thin clients, US business would save approximately US$ 355 million per year. Convert those figures to the UK market or even our own organisation and the argument is clear.
Still not convinced? Too many tree hugger arguments? Then consider this; if you switch to thin client technology, you can enforce IT best practices, you can embed protocols into the workstation and monitor everything remotely to deliver a more secure and compliant workforce. So there are business sensibility reasons for adopting a modern approach as well… and migrating a percentage of your workforce to home-working becomes a whole easier too.
If your IT department is unsure of the next step, then (1) find out who can (Biz4Green are not the only company who can help you here) and (2) ask yourself why you are still paying for an IT department! The simple fact is that money is short and carbon-based energy is even rarer – only an environmental consideration will lead to a business-sensible and sustainable answer. Sometimes these issues are not the exclusive domain of the green lobby and we should be careful not to treat every sound business solution with scorn just because the messenger is not wearing a blue city suit.
