Green IT can help firms cut their carbon footprint, as well as their computing expenditure.
Business owners who have invested in document scanning might be keen to look into more green IT solutions to help reduce their firms’ carbon footprint and expenditure on power.
Using document scanning services is a good first step as it eliminated paper wastage from printing hundreds of copies of the same document, which could be made available to read online.
According to TechQuarters, the benefits of green IT are numerous and there are many things businesses can do to make their computing infrastructure more eco-friendly.
Managing director Chris Dunning said: "Implementing green IT, such as cloud computing, allows staff to work from home or indeed anywhere in the world, without incurring large travel costs [and] expelling CO2 into the environment on the commute.
"With corporate social responsibility (CSR) so high on the agenda for many businesses, implementing green IT practices reduces their energy bills by off-setting much of their previous in-house server farms and making benefits from large cloud hosting providers."
He added that there is no longer a need for server rooms packed full of equipment as it is possible to condense the power-hungry boxes into smaller units; sometimes even a single server.
"By reducing the need for space, this also [reduces] the need for office square footage and costly air conditioning units [that] soak up energy."
Mr Dunning added that using green IT policies can also save on expensive upgrades, which can be an important saving for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The specialist said that such firms were becoming more aware of the need to cut their computing budget by using eco-friendly IT techniques.
Document scanning allows information to be shared digitally with anyone, meaning it is much cheaper and efficient to have data online, rather than printing and sending masses of paperwork through the post of by fax.
"Remote working lowers their overheads and expenses, whilst looking after the environment," concluded Mr Dunning.