Green IT at Wipro - Assignment Example

Green IT at Wipro Word count: 1497 Q1. What were the various green initiatives undertaken by Wipro? Wipro was involved in a number of green initiatives. First, the company used virtualisation and consolidation to reduce the rate of energy use in its data centre. This came as a result of increased server use which had significantly increased energy costs. The company used blade servers and consolidation to reduce energy use and optimise the utilisation of space. Server consolidation, which can be achieved through virtualisation, combines the functions performed by several servers into a smaller number of servers (Mani & Jee, 2007). The reduced number of servers reduces the use of energy and optimises the use of space since a smaller space is required, as was achieved by Wipro. This helped the company to open space and optimise its cooling requirements. Another initiative was the decision by the company to tackle e-waste by having its manufacturing unit certified under ISO 14001 in 2005. Since ISO 14001 is a standard that pertains to environmental management aspects and commitments by companies in regard to their operations (Edwards, 2004), this shows that Wipro was very committed to environmental management. Wipro also collaborated with its vendors and customers by having discarded systems collected from customers and taken to suppliers approved by the Pollution Control Board to dispose of the parts in an environmentally friendly manner. Further, the company launched an initiative known as Green Computing, by which it was able to manage e-waste throughout a product’s lifecycle. Wipro’s other green initiative was the manufacturing of environment-friendly desktops and laptops known as GreenWare. These products complied with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive of the European Union (2003), which limits the use of six hazardous substances in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. Also, in 2008, the company became a member of Green Grid, and a global consortium that advocates energy efficiency in data centres and computing environments. In the same year, Wipro launched the EcoEye initiative, an elaborate programme aimed at increasing ecological sustainability in all operations and interactions with the company’s shareholders. The various green initiatives undertaken by Wipro depict the company as one of the few companies globally that have taken a broad view of the green possibilities that are available today (Olson, 2010). Q2. What were some of the challenges faced by Wipro? What benefits did Wipro reap from green computing? Challenges Changing from a non-green data centre to a green one was challenging because of the high cost involved, the need to restructure the entire data centre to incorporate the new computing infrastructure, and the need to review the energy and cooling needs of the data centre. Specifically, the initial amount of money used in virtualisation was Rs. 6 million, which needed to be increased by 5-10 percent as business needs increased. Evidently, processes such as restructuring the data centre to facilitate virtualisation and reviewing the energy and cooling needs of the data centre could have had significant cost implications at the start, a viewed that is supported by Shields (2009). Benefits Through green computing, Wipro was able to lower its energy use, optimise the use of space, manage e-waste in an improved manner and initiate many other environmentally friendly practices. For instance, by adopting green computing practices such as consolidation and virtualisation, the company was able to reduce its servers by 75 per cent from 400 to 100, which enabled it to save about 1 million KWh of power annually. In addition, Wipro’s power consumption decreased by 26 percent due to the deployment of power management tools. As well, through the green computing technologies, the company was targeting to reduce its server footprint by 3 percent. There is no doubt that data centres usually have challenges such as high power consumption, space and the need for cooling (Schulz, 2009). However, as the case study illustrates, when companies engage in green computing initiatives such as consolidation and virtualisation, they are able to overcome these challenges and hence benefit greatly from green computing. Wipro also benefited from its involvement in green initiatives such as management of e-waste through ISO 14001 certification, production of eco-friendly devices, monitoring products throughout their lifecycle, and commitment to enhancing energy efficiency. All these measures can be said to have raised the company’s reputation among various stakeholders as a responsible company. Q3. What lessons can other organisations learn from Wipro’s experience? From Wipro’s experience, other organisations can learn that commitment to green initiatives can be an expensive undertaking at the start, but it is beneficial in the long run. Indubitably, data centres are expensive to run given the infrastructure and high energy costs involved. For instance, Hitchcock and Willard (2009) argue that as many as 30 percent of the servers being used in the United States are being underutilised and just end up wasting space and energy. This is because many servers are conventionally used to run one program per machine. However, as shown in the Wipro case study, it is possible for organisations to control the high costs involved. This can be achieved by having systems that ensure greater energy efficiency and optimising the use of space (Hitchcock & Willard, 2009). This has been shown in the Wipro case study, particularly given the benefits that the company derived from virtualisation and consolidation of its servers. Notably, Hitchcock and Willard (2009) indicate that many organisations are shifting toward consolidated data centres to optimise use of equipment. Hence, other organisations can borrow from how Wipro achieved this. Other organisations can also learn that becoming a responsible organisation involves engaging in a broad spectrum of initiatives that touch on various stakeholders. Wipro engaged in reducing energy costs, optimising space use, managing e-waste, ISO 14001 certification, producing eco-friendly products and promoting energy efficiency together with other organisations through the Green Grid consortium. Companies can learn that in order for such initiatives to be successful, internal and external stakeholder engagement must be conducted as noted by Reuvid (2010). Finally, from Wipro’s experience, other organisations can learn that for change to be successful, everyone in the organisation must be involved in the planning and execution process. For instance, at Wipro, people at all levels were involved in green computing. These include the CEO, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), the General Manager of IT Planning, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the CFO at senior management level, and business units and the more than 95,000 employees of Wipro at the lower level. Additionally, it is clear from the case study that the implementation of the green initiatives was spread over a considerable period of time. This is an important consideration for other organisations when planning to implement green initiatives. Q4. Should green computing be driven by IT vendors, or should it be driven by corporate customers? Discuss. Both IT vendors and corporate customers should be at the forefront of driving green computing since the benefits that emanate from the green computing are enjoyed by both groups. Notably, green computing involves the use of computers in an environmentally responsible manner (Information Resources Management Association, 2010). The purpose of green computing is to offset or reduce the secondary carbon caused by utilisation of computing equipment such as data centres, personal computers and laptops, as well as use of green computing initiatives such as cloud computing, virtualisation and consolidation (Information Resources Management Association, 2010). Based on this idea, it is apparent that both IT vendors and corporate customers need to be involved in ensuring that green computing is a success. IT vendors need to come up with technologies that promote green computing. At the same time, corporate customers, being among the key determinants of what IT vendors produce, need to emphasise the significance of green computing technologies. This interrelationship can be explained through a ‘green organisation’, which comprises a green supply chain, green computing practices and green marketing as illustrated by the Information Resources Management Association (2010, p. 113). Success can only be achieved when all players in the ‘green organisation’ partake in green computing initiatives, and this is the reason why both IT vendors and corporate customers should drive green computing. References Edwards, A.J. (2004). ISO 14001 environmental certification step by step. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Hitchcock, D., & Willard, M. (2009). The business guide to sustainability: Practical strategies and tools for organisations. Abingdon, Oxon: Earthscan. Information Resources Management Association (2010). Green technologies: Concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Hershey: Information Science Reference. Mani, K., & Jee, B. (2007). On the edge: A comprehensive guide to blade server technology. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd. Olson, E.G. (2010). Better green business: Handbook for environmentally responsible and profitable business practices. Upper saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Reuvid, J. (2010). Managing business risk: A practical guide to protecting your business (7th ed.). London: Kogan Page. Schulz, G. (2009). The green and virtual data centre. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Shields, G. (2009). The shortcut guide to implementing virtualization in the small environment. New York: Realtime Publishers. Read More