Green IT consulting market is set to reach $4.8 billion by 2013 as
companies across the world grapple with expanding carbon footprints,
spiraling energy bills and other eco-oriented woes, says a report by
Forrester titled "The Dawn of Green IT Services."
In a survey conducted by Forrester, all the Green IT consulting
services providers, involved in the study, said it is a $500 million
market for 2008. When asked if they had enlisted any outside providers
to assist them in the planning and implementation of green IT policies
and practices, just six percent of respondents said yes. Another six
percent said they were planning to, while 18 percent said they were
considering hiring one.
Given the momentum of the green movement that's reshaping organizations
worldwide, Forrester expects that spending on green IT services among
enterprise users will grow by an impressive 60 percent annually over
the next five years.
The report predicts companies such as Dell, HP, Sun, and Intel will
gain some traction in the market as they offer services around
data-center energy efficiency. However, "the long-run winners in this
market will bring a holistic perspective to clients looking to
incorporate IT into a corporate-wide effort to improve environmental
responsibility. Such an approach is being pioneered by services
providers like Accenture, Deloitte, [IBM], and EDS," the report says.
The Forrester report also provides a useful guide to understanding how
green IT consulting services work, breaking the process down into three
interlocking phases: assessment, planning, and implementation. The
assessment process entails "creating a baseline of energy usage and
carbon footprint and sketch an overall approach to green IT including
ROI."
The planning phase (done by 50 percent of the clients that undergo the
assessment process, according to the report), entails "developing
detailed roadmaps for specific green IT initiatives like procurement,
data-center optimization, and recycling."
The final stage is implementation, a step undertaken by 75 percent of clients that go through the planning process.
