CIOs and the new green banks

BANGALORE, INDIA: World Environment Day may have just whizzed past by but it's nice to see that many in India IT corner rooms take the green cause beyond just one day in a year.

And it's not just highly tom-tommed implementations or policy level talk but real groundwork like saving energy and power in daily work routine. At IDBI Bank, things like turning CRTs into flat monitors, putting printers on automatic power-offs and getting PC configurations based on least power-consumption, are some glimpses.

V Subramanian, CISO, IDBI Bank may say modestly that there's nothing very special as of now on Green IT, but small things go a long way in making the big paradigm shift. “At data center level, we were facing some power outage issues, so we have tried appropriate work scheduling, reducing AC requirements etc,” he shares.

But not all is small and humble. The Green awareness has started surfacing on strategic radars already. Areas like vendor selection, contract decisions etc are being impacted with a green lens now.

At IDBI Bank, the recent example is of a laptop procurement contract. “Some time, we put in clauses that have a green preference built in. We also put certifications on priority, wherein vendors adhering to right and responsible behavior on waste disposal etc are encouraged in the bidding process,” Subramanian tells.

New upgrades to IT infrastructure are also getting the green twist at Bank of India. “Whatever upgrade or improvement to our infrastructure would happen now, it would be green-based. Most of the devices are strongly considered and deployed with a green perspective, that supports Green IT,” says Sameer Ratoliker, CISO, Bank of India.

The roadmap for infrastructure upgrades, as he stresses, would be with green intentions in mind, at the Bank.

Green is not a one-day ceremony for some, at least.