Consulting, technology and outsourcing company Capgemini have published (on 16 October 2008) a new paper: Green IT Report 2008 - The Computer Equipment Lifecycle Study

The study was done on Capgemini's technology partners, who are among the leaders in the IT industry: Google, EMC², IBM, HP, Sun Microsystems and Intel.

"Although not a hardware manufacturer, they say, "Google delivers an optional component of Capgemini’s managed desktop service and so a view on Google’s green credentials has been included."

They set out, in what they term a Computer Equipment Lifecycle Survey, to establish how these partners are responding to today’s economic and environmental challenges and also to determine how much of the market messaging is backed by genuine developments in power efficiency.

Among their conclusions are that: "Despite their best intentions, most surveyed partners highlighted the difficulty in extending their own green or sustainability policies throughout the supply chain due to its complexity."

"In addition, with regards to reducing the distance from point of production to end-user, surveyed partners expressed their agreement with delivering as locally as possible, wherever feasible."

"However, the view was also expressed that it is neither commercially viable nor environmentally friendly to have in-country manufacturing sites in all major markets."

Also: "Regardless of the decision taken by a corporate executive on IT hardware deployment, there will be an environmental impact. A decision to remain on older hardware means continuing to consume more power/emit more heat/require more air conditioning, than would be the case if a decision were made to upgrade to newer, more efficient technology."

"However, upgrading to newer technology results in more resources used during the manufacture of that hardware and the imposition of the legislative requirement to dispose of equipment."

Get your own copy (free, but site registration is required) to find out how Capgemini's six technology partners fared in this lifecycle survey.

The report is quite comprehensive (104 pages), but it's a pity that we don't have the same information about other IT vendors.