Frankly CSR

We all want our views validated.  In the IT industry that often comes via analyst firms.  A year or so ago when Lawson began looking at the role IT in CSR, very few analysts were talking about it. That’s changing – quickly. Some recent examples include:

At its recent Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Green IT topped Gartner’s list of the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in next few years.  Gartner focused primarily on hardware and data centers.  Green IT occupied the top 10 list with more “traditional” IT topics like business process modeling, metadata and Web platforms.

Forrester recently released a report entitled, Creating a Green IT Action Plan. It’s essentially a “how to” guide CIOs can use to create and implement Green IT programs.  The report has a broader perspective than just hardware and data centers, looking at the role of the IT organization in an organization’s overall CSR initiative.

AMR Research has probably done more than any analyst firm around the area of CSR and sustainability.  AMR launched a green technology research service in 2006 and most recently initiated the Sustainability Peer Forum. Introduced in August 2007,  the forum brings together a variety of environmental and sustainability industry leaders to share and discuss best practices, lessons learned and business strategies that support their sustainability efforts. 

I’m excited about how this focus by analysts will help validate the topic and drive the CSR message to more organizations.  In particular, I hope it will get IT professionals thinking about how they can lead the way.

Jeff