Is the Green Kool-Aid all Dried Up?
July 8, 2008 at 12:53 pm | Filed under: TechnoBlogBy most accounts we are in the midst of the green tech boom. Alternative energy is looking about as “alternative” as alternative music these days, and going green in your data center is not just a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Yet new data suggests that the tide may be turning.
46% of participants in the new survey said they were not willing to pay more to work with green vendors–up from 29% last year. Why? Well the economy is suffering and many industries have felt the effects. This could also a be a signal that we were living in a green bubble that is about to burst and real companies need to see real profits.
Coming on the heels of this new announcement are two other announcements by big industry players that seem to sum up the two different responses to this growing resistance. IBM issued a call-to-arms a few months ago by including environmental purchasing and “greening” as part of a corporation social responsibility. Environmental responsibility is simply a cost of doing business and therefore a necessary part of any plan for growth. Meanwhile, Dell appeals to business owners’ pocket books over social responsibility by announcing its new FlexAddress system management that manages its ultra-green M-series blade servers. Are these two approaches, crying CSR and creating appealing price cuts, mutually exclusive methods to promoting green technologies? No, but the response could indicate which of these two giants will weather the storm.
