Many companies realize that "going green" will increase their appeal to clients and prospective hires, and of course, do some good for the Earth. But Accenture is looking to expand on that perception. The consultancy, though a new initiative, is looking at ways companies can save green by going green. "We are awfully excited about it," says Rockwell Bonecutter, Accenture's green IT lead and managing partners for the firm's Data Center Technology and Operations practice. "This has been a culmination around 18 months of work where we have invested a significant amount of dollars and time and resources."
That work has resulted in a Green Technology Suite that analyzes a company's technology program, but with what Bonecutter calls a "green lens." Bonecutter explains that whenever a firm looks to implement a new technology program, it does so for one of three reasons: cost reduction, risk mitigation or increases in service level to the end user. But Accenture is looking at these issues, as well as environmental ones, in a way, Bonecutter says, that looks at "also the right thing to do for their bottom line."
The perception has traditionally been that implementing green initiatives were more of a cost outlay than cost savings. But Bonecutter and his team aim to demonstrate the opposite—with the help of some number crunching. "A lot of companies start off by saying, 'We want to do the right thing, we want to reduce carbon emissions, we want to make that sure we're doing the socially responsible thing, but we don't even know where to start,'" Bonecutter says.
And that's where the suite really shines, he says, explaining that through the Green Data Estimator Center, the Green Maturity Model and the Workplace Estimator, Accenture can "look at not only the amount of emissions that are being caused because of the technology, but look at the actual processes that you're using to operate your environment and how green those are." Then the firm can make suggestions around which levers to pull in regards to simultaneously reducing cost and increasing environmentally friendly practices. These can include flexible work arrangements, as well as standardization and consolidation programs. Accenture now has the data to tell a company that "if you pull certain levers, this is the impact that it would have on the environment, this is the impact it would have on your carbon footprint, but equally importantly, this is the impact it would have on your bottom line."
Bonecutter says sometimes the green conversation is one initiated by Accenture, and sometimes it starts with the client. But Bonecutter knows that if he can't demonstrate the economic merits of change, he might as well head for the door. "Even though there's a lot of social pressure to try and be green, to try and be sustainable, if I can tie the green agenda to cost savings, risk reduction or service level increases, I'm always going to get someone's ear in the executive suite. And it makes it easier for people to want to do the right thing." —Jacqueline Durett
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