The Think Green Alliance: Business can be Environmentally and Financially Sustainable

By: Jean Jerome Baudry, Founder and CEO, Cybernomics
In 2005, when Cybernomics evolved its Lean Solutions-based IT service offerings to incorporate Green IT, the business case we made to our clients was simple – less equipment, lower energy usage and added management and maintenance capabilities equaled a tangible ROI. Today, nearly 80% of our client base is virtualized and using green technologies and services in their day-to-day IT operations, and over 90% of our
IT Management and Infrastructure services are delivered remotely.
Once our clients understood the concepts of Green IT and saw the tangible benefits for their bottom line, they began to look at incorporating sustainable initiatives into other aspects of their business – from office and building retrofitting to carbon footprint measurement to printing solutions.
As part of the complete IT outsourcing option we offer, Cybernomics often fills the role of CIO/CTO in our clients’ organizations, actively assisting in the IT decision-making process. As our clients began looking for greener options, we were often asked for our recommendation for other green consultants and solutions. With the launch of the Think Green Alliance, we were able to showcase these other pieces of the puzzle.
The Think Green Alliance is a business community that outlines the intrinsic link between environmental and financial sustainability – what we call “ECOnomics”. Through its member companies, joint projects and its collective expertise and knowledge, the Think Green Alliance shows that sustainable business practices, including Green IT, have a concrete and measureable ROI and benefit a business’ bottom line. These benefits include reduced OPEX (e.g. electricity, real estate, shipping and service costs), reduced CAPEX (e.g. infrastructure, materials and resource costs), decreased and/or redirected waste, and leaner purchasing via green procurement practices.
The Think Green Alliance was launched on June 1, 2008 and since then has grown to nearly 40 members, including Intel, which was our first anchor member.
Although newly formed, the Think Green Alliance has successfully completed 13 joint projects between its members, has hosted 4 events including a seminar with Miller Thomson LLP that tackled the subject of the “Green RFP”, and has had such members join as BOMA, Dell, TELUS, Softchoice, Bullfrog Power, Whole Foods, EPEAT and many others who are considered the Who’s Who in Green Business today.
Think Green Alliance members span multiple industry verticals and therefore lend a multidisciplinary approach to companies looking to start adopting green principles into their business plan and operations, as well as provide a benchmark to companies who have already embarked upon a green plan.
The Think Green Alliance also aims to provide a safeguard against “greenwashing”, which is common in the marketplace today when so few standards and regulations exist for determining whether a company is truly environmentally friendly and if so, just how environmentally friendly they are. The criteria for membership, established by Cybernomics, are simple but telling.
Think Green Alliance members (1) must show tangibly that they have incorporated green principles into their business plan, (2) must have a concrete, measureable and step-by-step approach to integration of these principles, and (3) must be committed to a continuous cycle of improvement.
For more information on the Think Green Alliance, or to apply for membership for your company, please visit www.thinkgreenalliance.com.
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Jean Jerome Baudry founded Cybernomics in 1993 as a Professional IT Consulting, Management and Support firm. Today, Cybernomics is a leader in Green IT and financially and environmentally sustainable solutions. Mr. Baudry is also the founder of the Think Green Alliance, a green business community dedicated to the promotion, development and awareness of fiscally sound green business practices. For more information on Mr. Baudry or on Cybernomics, please visit www.cybernomics.net.