In a survey conducted by Connection Research, 1355 IT decision makers in Australia and New Zealand were asked about their priorities and only 33 per cent said green initiatives were a top or high priority. Forty-eight per cent said it was a low priority or wasn't even on the agenda.

Cost-cutting dominates

The global financial crisis has clearly had a big impact, with a top or high priority placed on cost savings (85 per cent) and increasing productivity (82 per cent). "Money is tight and senior management is taking a greater interest in the justification of IT expenditure than was previously the case" concludes the executive report from CNET Direct.

Optimising or controlling costs was seen as a top or major challenge by 66 per cent of IT professionals, with the manufacturing (80 per cent) and finance (75 per cent) the most impacted by this demand.

IT companies are least green

Despite the importance the environment has on the national agenda it has clearly not been translated onto the agenda for Australia's IT departments. Only 7 per cent of respondents said green initiatives were a top priority, with almost half saying they were a low priority or not on the agenda. There were no clear standouts by sector here, although it's notable that companies specialising in the IT sector appear to come last.

Larger businesses (10,000 staff or more), however, are more likely to treat it as a top or high priority (56 per cent) than the average (33 per cent).