Five fabulous New Year's resolutions for tech professionals

Shrink your carbon footprint, train employees, experience the power of virtualization, and boost productivity in 2009. A tall order? In this feature we show you how you can do all this, while reducing costs and improving work-life balance.
12/31/2008 9:45:00 AM By: Michelle MacLeod

As you fill out the last page in your 2008 agenda and rip the cellophane and price tags off your new leather-bound replacement or palm-sized digital upgrade, it's also time to consider what changes you'd like to introduce in your company in 2009.

With the current economic downturn, many budgets will be shrinking and cutbacks could affect productivity and output.

However, there are many practical ways knowledge workers can resolve to do more with less.

Resolution 1: Go green

The first New Year's resolution all professionals should seriously ponder is how to reduce their carbon footprint and extend their company's "green" footprint.

Over the past year, many firms, including HP and IBM, focused on making more energy-efficient hardware – and these products could make a big difference when looking to cut back on office expenditure.
Many vendors offer tools that can reduce redundancies in your office.

Using virtualization technology to cut back on the number of servers is also something to seriously consider.

(Want to find out more about green solutions? Check out our related story and slideshow on CDN's Top 5 Green Solution Providers).

Every company and department have a "green champion" who can create change at a personal level, says Anna Jaeger, director of TechSoup Global's GreenTech Initiative.

TechSoup focuses on products and services that meet the needs of non-profit groups the world over.

"A lot of managers [believe] green strategies are costly but that's not the case," said Jaeger. "You need one person to look at all options available, pick a couple and start tracking the economic gains made by making more environmentally-friendly choices."

Jaeger offers five tips for making 2009 greener and recommends professionals choose one or two, rather than become overwhelmed.

She says the easiest way to reduce a company's carbon footprint this year is to allow staff to telecommute.

Telecommuting provides the biggest green benefit because it puts fewer cars on the road and reduces the amount of carbon dioxide going into the air each day.

Workers spend an average of 47 hours per year commuting in rush hour traffic, which adds up to 3.7 billion hours and 23 billion gallons of gas, according to a report by Morristown, N.J.-based DataMotion Inc.

A telecommuting strategy, supported by efficient technology, can improve productivity levels by reducing travel time, and also saves money on office equipment.

Virtualizing your company's servers will also save money and energy by lowering purchasing and maintenance costs, Jaeger said. Fewer servers mean less power and lower energy bills.

Jaeger recommends looking for a green host provider.

"Ask them if they use a form of alternative energy, such as solar or wind power. Or find out if they are purchasing carbon offsets," she said. "Adaptive power, which spins servers up and down as needed based on demand, are also great for avoiding waste."

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