Intel Corporation set itself a goal to reduce its global-warming greenhouse gas footprint by 20% by 2012 from 2007 levels. Through the use of sustainable IT, the Intel IT organization is recognized as a significant contributor to the company’s sustainability strategy by transforming its IT operations and overall Intel operations. This article describes how Intel has achieved IT sustainability benefits thus far by developing four key capabilities. These capabilities have been incorporated into the Sustainable ICT Capability Maturity Framework (SICT-CMF), a model developed by an industry consortium in which the authors were key participants. The article ends with lessons learned from Intel’s experiences that can be applied by business and IT executives in other enterprises.

1. 1
Developing
an
Sustainable
IT
Capability:
Lessons
From
Intel's
Journey
Edward
Curry
Digital
Enterprise
Research
Ins7tute
(DERI)
Bill
Guyon
Intel
Coropora7on
Charles
Sheridan
Intel
Labs
Europe
Brian
Donnellan
Innova7on
Value
Ins7tute
(IVI)

2. Curry,
E.,
Guyon,
B.,
Sheridan,
C.,
and
Donnellan,
B.
2012.
“Developing
an
Sustainable
IT
Capability:
Lessons
From
Intel’s
Journey,”
MIS
Quarterly
Execu7ve
(11:2),
pp.
61–74.

3. 3
The
Environment
is
on
Everyone’s
Agenda

4. 4
ICT’s
Mass
ProducGon
Carbon
Cost
2%
ICT
Accounts
for
Approximately...
…of
Global
CO2
Emissions.
Source
Gartner

5. McKinsey
2020
Report
ICTs
could
deliver
approximately
7.8
GtCO2
of
emissions
savings
in
2020,
represen7ng
a
15%
of
emissions
cut
in
2020
and
600
billion
($946.5
billion)
of
cost
savings.
ICT
can
provide
business
solu7ons
that
can
alleviate
at
least
five
7mes
the
GHG
footprint
of
ICT
itself

6. • Align
all
IT
processes
and
prac7ces
with
the
core
principles
of
sustainability,
which
are
to
reduce,
reuse,
and
recycle;
and
• Find
innova7ve
ways
to
use
IT
in
business
processes
to
deliver
sustainability
benefits
across
the
enterprise
and
beyond.
6
2%
Reduce IT
Improve Efficiency
Sustainable
IT
98%

7. Sustainability
1.0
Case
Study

8. Intel
IT
Vital
Stats
2012
100,100
Intel
employees
150
sites,
62
countries
6,400
IT
employees
56
global
sites
87
Data
Centers
~75,000
servers;
458,694
square
feet
>110,000
Devices
>90K
PCs
(80%+
mobile),
>20,000
Handhelds

9. Sustainability
@

10. Sustainability
@
Intel
At
the
start
of
2008,
Intel
CEO
Paul
Otellini
set
out
an
ambi7ous
five-­‐year
goal
to
reduce
environmental
impacts
in
key
areas,
including
energy
and
water,
with
a
20%
reduc7on
in
emissions
on
2007
levels
by
2012
Intel
CEO
Paul
Otellini

11. IT
Sustainability
@
Intel
CIO
saw
opportunity
for
Intel
IT
to
play
a
key
role
in
enabling
the
company
to
achieve
its
corporate
sustainability
goals
Commiged
Intel
IT
to
helping
the
business
deliver
its
objec7ves
through
use
of
sustainable
IT
Intel’s
CIO,
Diane
Bryant

12. Developing
an
IT
Sustainability
Capability
• Aligning
IT
and
Corporate
Goals
• 3
Phase
Sustainable
IT
Roadmap
• Understanding
The
IT
Footprint
• Iden7fying
High-­‐Impact
Opportuni7es
• Develop
a
Sustainable
Culture
• Use
Employee
Incen7ve
Programs
to
Drive
Innova7on
• Build
the
Business
Case
for
Sustainability

13. Employee
Bonus
Employee-led
Activities
Small Office IT
Footprint
LED
Light Fixtures
Telepresence
Rooms
Solar
Panels
“LEED Gold”
building design
High efficiency
Data Centers
Energy
Management Software
Sustainable
IT @ Intel IT
Reduced
Business Travel

14. Understanding
the
IT
Footprint

15. Understanding
the
IT
Footprint

17. Data
Centres:
An
Inefficient
Truth
*
Source:
EPA
Report
to
Congress
on
Server
and
Data
Center
Energy
Efficiency,
August
2007
32%
Processor
Drives5%
Peripheral Slots 20%
PSU 15%45%
IT
Load
55%
Power,
Cooling
&
LighGng
Data
Center
Server
Processor
100
Wa]s
Supplied
14
Wa]s
supplied
to
CPU
11.2
Wa]s
used
for
computaGon
45
Wa]s
supplied
to
IT
equipment
Up
to
88.8%
of
the
power
consumed
by
a
data
centre
is
used
before
computa8on
17
80%
UGlised
20%
Idle

18. Server
Refresh
• Moore’s
Law:
Doubling
of
chip
performance
every
18
months
• Energy
consumed
by
the
chip
does
not
double
• Moore’s
Law
drives
con7nuous
chip-­‐level
energy
efficiency

19. Telepresence
and
Video
Conferencing
• 435,000
employee
travel
hours
• $73
million
in
travel
expenses
• 65,000
metric
tons
of
CO2
emissions

20. Increasing
IT
Performance
2009-­‐2011

21. Intel’s
Overall
Corporate
Sustainability
Performance
2007-­‐2010
and
Intel
IT’s
Sustainability
Performance
2009-­‐2011

22. Trends
in
Intel
IT’s
Sustainability
(Source
Intel
IT
Annual
Performance
Report,
2011-­‐2012)

23. Impacts
of
Sustainable
IT
@
Intel
• Total
cost
savings
of
over
$114
million
• Avoidance
of
more
than
87,500
metric
tons
of
CO2
emissions
• Intel
was
named
to
Computerworld’s
2010
and
2011
lists
of
“Top
Green-­‐IT
Organiza7ons”

24. 24
Sustainable ICT Capability Maturity Model
Category
Capability
Building Block
Description
Strategy &
Planning
Alignment
Definition and execution of ICT sustainability strategy to influence and align to
business sustainability objectives
Objectives Definition and agreement of sustainability objectives for ICT
Process
Management
Operations
& Life Cycle
Sourcing, operation and disposal of ICT systems to deliver sustainability objectives
ICT-Enabled
Business Processes
Provision of ICT systems that enable improved sustainability outcomes across the
extended enterprise.
Performance &
Reporting
Reporting and demonstration of progress against ICT specific and ICT enabled
sustainability objectives, within the ICT business and across the extended enterprise.
People &
Culture
Language
Definition, communication and use of common sustainability language and vocabulary
across ICT and other business units including the extended enterprise, to leverage a
common understanding
Adoption
Embedding of sustainability principles across ICT and the extended enterprise.
Evangelising of sustainability successes and contributing to industry best practice
Governance
External Compliance
Enablement and demonstration of compliance with both ICT and Business
sustainability legislation and regulation . Clear accountability for sustainability roles
and decision making across ICT and the enterprise
Corporate Policies
Establishment of common and consistent policies to support an ICT sustainability
strategy to meet current and future sustainability objectives, as part of periodic review.

25. Maturity
Levels
Ad
hoc
Basic
Intermediate
Advanced
Op7mised
No
SICT
roles
&
Responsibili7es,
Ad
hoc,
project-­‐based
Formal
technology
roles
within
projects,
Key
stakeholders
iden7fied
and
informed
Regular
consulta7on
with
business,
Formalised
roles
and
responsibili7es
Pro-­‐ac7ve
communica7on
and
feedback
with
business;
Clear
professional
career
track
Collabora7on
with
extended
enterprise;
Pro-­‐ac7ve
development
with
external
input

26. High Level IT Posture Within the Organization
Optimizing
Initial
Advanced
Basic
Intermediate
Sustainability
and
IT’s
Overall
Posture
Continuous,
sustained IT
efficiencies
Predictable
incremental cost
savings
Cost savings driven
by tech upgrades
Defined objectives,
accountable
individuals
Cost Center
Continuous
sustainable service
improvement
Limited
sustainability in
service areas
Regular, predictable
service enhancements
Defined process to
meet business
sustainability needs
Service Center
Aligned to business
strategy, embedded
in portfolio
Unmanaged,
unfunded, undefined
value
Individual efforts,
limited recognition of
sustainability
Investment Center
Limited
opportunities
Occasional
product
sustainability
improvements
Cross-functional
capabilities to
identify new
sustainability
opportunities
Value Center
Undefined cost
savings, limited
Occasional service-
level sustainability
efficiency
Driven by IT strategy,
projects return
predictable
sustainability
impacts
Defined governance,
new IT deployed with
defined
sustainability output
Sustainability
opportunities
drive business
revenue
Emerging
strategy,
repeatable impact
to the business
Maturity

27. Key
Lessons
• Sustainable
IT
is
different
to
Green
IT
• Align
Business
and
IT
Sustainability
Objec7ves
• Build
the
Business
Case
for
Sustainability
• Use
Incen7ves
to
Drive
Change
Across
the
Organiza7on

28. Further
Reading
Material
• Curry,
E.,
Guyon,
B.,
Sheridan,
C.,
and
Donnellan,
B.
2012.
“Developing
an
Sustainable
IT
Capability:
Lessons
From
Intel’s
Journey,”
MIS
Quarterly
Execu7ve
(11:2),
pp.
61–74.
– hgp://www.edwardcurry.org/publica7ons/MISQE_SustainableIT_Intel_2012.pdf
• Donnellan,
B.,
Sheridan,
C.,
and
Curry,
E.
2011.
“A
Capability
Maturity
Framework
for
Sustainable
InformaGon
and
CommunicaGon
Technology,”
IEEE
IT
Professional
(13:1),
pp.
33–40.
– hgp://www.edwardcurry.org/publica7ons/donnellan_ITPro_SICT_2011.pdf
• Curry,
E.,
Guyon,
B.,
Sheridan,
C.,
and
Donnellan,
B.
2012.
“Sustainable
IT:
Challenges,
Postures,
and
Outcomes,”
IEEE
Computer
(45:11),
pp.
79–81.
– hgp://www.edwardcurry.org/publica7ons/Curry_SustainableIT_Computer2012.pdf

29. Teaching
Case
• Curry,
E.,
and
Donnellan,
B.
2012.
“Sustainable
IT
at
Intel:
A
Teaching
Case,”
In
Interna7onal
Conference
on
Informa7on
Systems
2012
– hgp://www.edwardcurry.org/publica7ons/Curry_Intel_Teaching_Case_ICIS.pdf
• Courses
and
Level
– Suitable
for
use
in
upper-­‐division
business
undergraduate,
graduate,
or
execu7ve
MBA
educa7on
course
in
IT
sustainability,
IT
strategy,
or
IT
management
• Teaching
Objec7ves:
– To
provide
conceptual
underpinnings
of
Sustainable
compu7ng
– To
trace
the
evolu7on
of
the
Sustainable
IT
strategy
at
Intel
– To
evaluate
the
Sustainable
IT
strategy
as
deployed
by
Intel
– To
iden7fy
possible
improvements
– To
iden7fy
next
steps
and
define
associated
business
case