By Colin Barker
Wednesday, October 15 2008 07:02 AM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62047154,00.htm

A survey conducted by the organizers of Storage Expo 2008 has concluded that IT budgets are getting tighter because of the credit crunch, but that this will have an uncertain effect on spending on green issues.

Of the 513 organizations surveyed in the United Kingdom, 70 percent said green IT and efficiency were still priorities, but with the provision that it must be saving them money.

Only 4 percent said it was "a priority even if there were no cost savings", the survey said. Ten percent said they are no longer pursuing green IT because of budget cutbacks, and 4 percent said green IT was never a priority.

While there are worries about job security because of the financial situation, only a few respondents (2 percent) said they were so worried about their job they could not even think about it.

IBM is sponsoring an energy-efficiency zone at Storage Expo this year. Mick Walker, an IBM green-efficiency consultant, believes the pressure to drive down costs is making companies look again at green issues. "The increasing cost of energy...is making an energy-efficient data center a more compelling proposition," Walker suggested.

Storage Expo 2008 runs on Oct. 15-16 at Olympia in London.