Tech firms ramping up green IT projects

Delivering Smarter Print Management with Green IT

It is pleasing to read that green IT projects that demonstrate return on investment (RoI) are gaining more traction within technology companies. Organisations often struggle to make the link between cost-effectiveness and environmentally friendly business approaches. In the past, such strategies have been seen as inherently expensive. In fact, the reverse is often true. For the majority of companies, the terms ?green? and ?cost-effective? complement each other well when applied both to an overall approach to business and to the roll-out and use of technology. Printing solutions are a case in point. A recent survey by the centre for economics and business research (cebr) indicates that firms and organizations across the UK could potentially save between £500 million and £1,760 million per year from more efficient management of existing in?house printing tasks. One of the key benefits of this focus on smarter printing is a reduction in wastage and a related reduction in the impact of the activity on the environment. Critically, these benefits also help organisations to cut costs and improve their bottom lines. The Role of Education At OKI, we clearly see the benefits organisations can achieve simply from being more environmentally aware in carrying out their business printing. The key lies in educating the workforce to focus on reducing print wastage. There is a widespread lack of awareness of these issues. Recent industry research, for example, indicates that up to 25 per cent of pre-printed material is wasted, with 70 per cent of larger organisations admitting that they did not know how much they spent in a year on either their outsourced or in-house print requirements. Users can save on resources by following the ?think before your print? guideline and never printing emails simply to read them and using colour only when really necessary, for example. In addition, they can reduce paper wastage by always using print preview; printing in duplex and using a web print utility when appropriate. And organisations could further reduce wastage and costs by cutting down on the number of expensive outsourced printing jobs they undertake. Over 20 per cent of all outsourced printed material is never used. Hundreds of business cards and reams of headed paper are discarded every year. Today, it is increasingly important from both a cost saving and environmental perspective to improve the ?utilisation ratio? when printing. Producing documents and brochures on-demand, using a combination of in-house printers and in-the-box software to customise them to your precise needs, is a sure-fire way of cutting costs and improving productivity. Another key initiative companies can make to minimise the environmental impact of their use of printing technology is recycling their used consumables. At OKI, we facilitate free recycling of toner cartridges provided, via a green bag issued to the customer using a free address label available from our website. In a business world where budgets are increasingly tight and resources scarce, efficient printing can bring ever-more attractive benefits. The ?green? approach is very much alive and well in today?s difficult economic times. Organisations across all business sectors should take note.

Posted by: Graham Lowes, marketing director, OKI Printing Solutions 29 Jan 2010