Last week I was happily listening to the itSMF monthly podcast (http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/connect-learn-grow-the-itsmf/id377099874) and the main topic of discussion was about “green IT.”  During the session a good point was made that, unfortunately, the reason for “green IT” initiatives is more related to saving money due to the economy and not actually for environmental concerns.  I couldn’t agree more – money does make the world go ’round, but that’s not the point of this post.  What strikes me as odd is that the “efficiency” projects have focus when they’re needed the most instead of when they’re easiest to implement.  Take “green IT” as an example.  I think it’s safe to say that environmental conservation was just as important 10 years ago as it is today, but being green is in the spot-light now because it’s seen as a way to cut costs instead of simply being as “good” practice (since I live in ITIL V3, I’m making an effort to use “good practice” instead of “best practice”).

Alright, you should be picking up on my topic that we always need to think about efficiency and money in the IT world (I personally hate thinking about money, which is why I’m in IT).  So why am I dragging Southwest Airlines into my blog?  First, my current director used to work for their company and he always describes how fun it was to work there and it sounds awesome, so I’m kissing tokhes.  Secondly, I always hear about how Southwest is one of the few airlines still making money and a big reason for that is because they inherently function as efficiently as possible.  Amazing!  A company that has simply functioned efficiently, and now when the economy goes south and money is tight, they’re still out there just as strong as ever.

So the lesson I learned, and am trying to really put a focus on, is that an economical recession is not the time to push for improvements in efficiency, be it with “green IT,” ITIL, virtualization, etc.  The best time to make those changes are when resources (a.k.a. time,  money and people) are readily available, then when times get tough an organization doesn’t have to react to survive.  Hey, no wonder why successful companies are studied to find those “best practices!”

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Started working in IT in 1999 as a support desk analyst as a way to help pay for food during college. Studied Electrical Engineering for two years before realizing biochemistry was more fun than differential equations, and so ultimately graduated with a Biology degree in 2006. Having (reluctantly) failed at getting accepted into dental school, embraced working in IT and has gone broke becoming an ITIL Expert. Likes to jog, sing camp songs, quote Mel Brooks movie lines and make dumb jokes and loves working for an Israeli tech company where December 25th is a regular work day.