Green IT consulting market to hit $4.8 Billion by 2013
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 19 March 2008, 02:03 IST
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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.

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