Green Tech Equals Greenbacks

VARs that invest in a 'Green" IT solutions practice will see a significant increase in their bottom line.

That was one of the highlights of a day-long "Capitalizing on Going Green" virtual tradeshow on Thursday from ChannelWeb parent Everything Channel. The bottom line channel benefits of Going Green were driven home in an opening panel session moderated by Everything Channel CEO Robert Faletra that included top executives from IBM, Hewlett Packard and Juniper Networks.

Rich Lechner, IBM vice president of IT Optimization and System Software, said there is "absolutely" increased margin that comes with a Green IT practice.

In fact, Lechner said the consolidation initiatives at the heart of a Green practice usually involve centralizing on a larger system such as a mainframe which brings significantly more margin than an X86 server. What's more he said there are significant software licensing margins from implementing products like VMWare and services to assist the client.

If that isn't enough, Lechner stressed that higher margins come with big impact cost savings with a Green solution. He said that customers save $6 to $8 dollars for every dollar spent on IT efficiency through initiatives like virtualzation.

Lechner predicted that the cost benefits of going Green are going to become more acute, while at the same time he anticipates more regulatory pressure on IT organizations to go Green. "This is not something that is going to go away," he said. "Partners should make this investment today."

Ultimately, Lechner said solution provider and customers will view Green as a "very good barometer for overall business efficiency. Approach it that way and it is a very compelling sales offering (for VARs)."

"Where there is value, there is margin," agreed Tara Agen, chief of staff for HP's Imaging and Printing Group and a member of HP's environmental market leadership team. "Clients are looking for these solutions. Partners that invest in this will see additional margin."

Agen said customers are demanding Green solutions. She said CEOs and CFO are driving what she called an "explosive" opportunity that is having a high impact on the bottom line of customers. A recent study from market researcher Gartner has listed Green as one of the top priorities of IT executives. Gartner has said that by the first half of 2010 the majority of Fortune 2000 will be looking Green solutions.

Bobby Guhasarkar, senior manager of product marketing in the Ethernet Platforms Business Group of Juniper Networks, said the bigger boxes that come with a network consolidation Green solution mean more margin. "The Greening of IT is helping solution providers position larger boxes into their customer environments," he said.

Juniper and partners have seen big success bringing Green IT networks to state and local government and high education markets, said Guhasarkar.

The key to being successful with a Green IT practice, said Guhasarkar, is hammering of the "tangible" bottom line benefits of Going Green. "Customers want to know how much they are going to save," he said. That means a focus on the specific economic impact of going to a Green network in terms of power and cost savings, he said.

In a question and answer session, Robert DeMarzo, vice president and editorial director of Everything Channel, advised solution providers to deal head on with the capital expenditure associated with Going Green. He said a recent survey conducted by solution provider behemoth CDW showed that 51 percent of those surveyed were hesitant about going Green because of the costs associated with a Green solution. "Everyone is very cost focused," said DeMarzo.

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