A recent study by Gartner, Inc. has revealed a significant gap in adopting cost-effective, sustainable IT initiatives, with some of the most promising initiatives currently being utilised by less than 30% of organisations.
"Sustainable IT progress is underway at a solid pace," said Kristin Moyer, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner. "The survey found that executive leaders have completed an average of nine sustainable IT initiatives in the categories of data centers and cloud, digital workplace, data, and software. However, sustainable IT adoption patterns show that executives may not always be implementing the most cost-effective initiatives."
Underutilised but cost-effective opportunities
The survey of 200 executive leaders across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific also found that 64% of respondents believe they do not receive the emissions performance data they need from vendors.
Further, respondents have accomplished the most sustainable IT initiatives in the data center (86%) and the digital workplace (79%).
It's a missed opportunity for 78% of respondents yet to leverage the potential benefits of circularity in IT. Only 22% of them choose to purchase refurbished assets, aiming to significantly improve circularity, reduce waste, and reduce GHG emissions.
Instead of leveraging analytics and telemetry insights to replace devices as needed, the study found that many organisations still refresh devices based on a fixed (three- to five-year) expected life span.
Looking ahead, Gartner projects a significant shift in PC procurement. By 2027, PC as a service is expected to account for 50% of all PC procurement, a substantial increase from the current 20% in 2023.
