Green Business Tools

Please don't roll your eyes. Although it's still a relatively new discipline of business, terms like sustainability and the green movement are starting to become a little hackneyed and marketers are now faced with presenting the idea in fresh and engaging ways. I'll leave that to the eco-branding experts.

For now, I'd like to share my ideas on the merits of using "green" business tools in the work place. If not only to preserve the environment for future generations, these tools are quickly becoming attractive to the bottom line.

The three main distinctions that make a business tool green are the following:
1. They're Open-source. Open-source tools are green by their very nature as developers are committed to improve design efficiencies that reduce energy requirements. Also, these communities are constantly cranking out improvements to these systems for free, as opposed to paying a core group to do this and charging it back to the customer by way of expensive upgrades. In addition they:

* Use less packaging
* Increase efficiency of shipping/receiving
* Cut back on unnecessary print advertising
* Don't force customers to purchase more product than they need

2. They're Free. Not having to buy the product means less salespeople traveling around in cars and planes (let's leave all the travelling to jet-setters like your truly ;^). Free business tools also benefit us by:

* Their sped-up product development cycle
* Not using resource-heavy validation management services or expensive anti-piracy campaigns

3. They're web-based. By hosting data and functionality on centralized servers designed for optimal performance, companies no longer have to dedicate resources and real-estate to manage server rooms, which include costly environmental controls to keep them cool. Other benefits include:

* Less office space allocated to servers
* Less energy costs
* Server consolidation through virtualization

Here are some examples of green business practices and tools that I recommend:

1. Cloud Computing. A typical server runs at just 15% utilization, so most of the power drawn to run the server is wasted (A rack of blade servers uses enough electricity to satisfy the peak demand of 30 homes). A solution offered by outsourced data management vendors is to consolidate multiple servers on the same hardware platform through virtualization. That is, though their data is on the same server as another company, it appears to them as if they have their own server. They only use the power that they need and can scale up or down as necessary (i.e. seasonal requirements).

2. Netbooks. On a smaller scale, most laptop users use only a fraction of the programs installed on their laptop. They run on Linux so the expense of a Windows operating system is cut. As more companies are using Software as a Service (SaaS) products, most if not all of their work is done through a web interface. Netbooks use much less power than their notebook counterparts and are much less expensive as an added benefit. Potential Downside: Limited capability for people who need better processing capability like graphic designers and video editors.

3. Cell Phones. Google's Android open-source operating system for mobile phones has a community of developers that are continually adding and tweaking applications that rival or surpass the options offered by the iPhone.

4. Powering Off Unused Machines. A company can reduce power consumption by nearly 50% by turning off servers, printers, fax machines, desktops, notebooks, etc that are not in use. Power management software is available that automatically shuts off systems. Potential Downside: Loss in productivity and power surge for booting up machines.

5. Telecommuting. Among the benefits of allowing employees to telecommute is the reduction in greenhouse emissions from driving and hedging real estate costs by requiring smaller offices. Instant messaging and teleconference programs keep employees in check with their employers. Potential Downside: Energy costs tend to increase at the employee's home.

6. Teleconferencing. Air travel costs and greenhouse emissions can be curbed by holding teleconferences with off-site partners and clients.

7. Software to support the above

* Word Processing and Spreadsheets: Google Docs -- Web based word processing and spreadsheets. Potential downside: Limited robustness of formatting and execution of formulas, etc.
* Project Managment and Collaboration Software like Open Workbench
* Operating System: Linux
* Web Server: Apache
* Database: MySQL
* Web technology: PHP
* Teleconferencing: Skype*
* Web Content Management: Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress.
* Social Networking (Marketing): Facebook*, Twitter* (of course, and countless others I'm sure you've heard of. I guess I'll post another article about up-and-coming social networking, marketing, and CRM applications)

*I should note that apps like Skype, Facebook,and Twitter are proprietary web-based free tools, but not open-source. Though it really isn't a concern since they are such specialized products.

Businesses, especially start-ups, should implement these tools and practives now since they are difficult to convert to once non-green tools are already in place. However, most of this still works on non-green platforms.