Major factors other than energy efficiency are now driving the take up of green IT policies at firms, says analyst IDC.

IDC (www.idc.com) says energy still remains the dominant reason why companies have adopted green IT. However, an IDC survey among 1,650 firms worldwide found that energy is less of a factor today than it was twelve months ago.

A year ago, 77% of companies identified energy efficiency as the primary reason for their green IT strategies. Now, 64% cite energy as the driving force for green IT adoption.

The most dramatic change among the factors driving green IT and sustainability policies was the increased focus on the growth of corporate-wide IT infrastructure.

In 2008, 31% of respondents identified corporate IT growth as an important policy factor, placing it fourth overall. In the 2009 survey, it was the second most important factor according to 46% of survey respondents.

"IDC believes that IT executives are feeling the pinch of their budgets being squeezed," said IDC analyst Vernon Turner. "Because they understand that much of their expanding infrastructure remains underutilised – adding to their company's capital and energy costs – green IT policies can help establish a more comprehensive approach to utilising their assets."

The survey identified four green IT project areas that the majority of respondents hoped to initiate within the next 12 months:

• Change customer behaviour from print to online
• Migrate to a modular data centre design
• Implement a "thin client" or "client device" strategy
• Deploy software for data centre thermal dynamic modelling and control

Each of these project areas address business functions that consume a lot of energy. Success, said IDC, involves moving customers (both internal and external) from energy intensive practices to more efficient ways of conducting business.

IDC believes that all these projects should be on all green IT "to do" lists.