Firms are overlooking initiatives that could bring down costs as well as help the environment, according to technology research firm Gartner.

According to a new report from the research house, some of the most cost-effective sustainable IT initiatives currently have less than a 30 per cent adoption rate by organisations.

The survey of leaders from across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific found that 64 per cent believe they do not receive the emissions performance data they need from vendors. This results in some of them struggling to prioritise sustainable IT initiatives or neglecting those that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Gartner, these overlooked initiatives include using uninterruptible power supply and enhancing cooling in data centres.

“Sustainable IT progress is underway at a solid pace,” said Kristin Moyer, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner. “The survey found that executive leaders have completed an average of nine sustainable IT initiatives in the categories of data centres and cloud, digital workplace, data and software.”

Another area which is often overlooked by senior leaders is the use of refurbished technology. Around 22 per cent of those surveyed said they will purchase refurbished assets to improve circularity and reduce waste.

Additionally, Gartner said that many organisations are refreshing devices based on a fixed term expected life span instead of using analytics to determine the optimum time for replacement.

Gartner recommended that companies should use device performance analytics and telemetry insights to replace devices on an as-needed basis. Gartner estimates that by 2027, PC as a service will grow to half of PC procurement, an increase from 20 per cent in 2023.

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