Going Green seems to be the new mantra of technology manufacturers, with organizations like The Green Grid becoming popular as companies try to position themselves to customers as being environmentally friendly. The problems, however, are global and huge.

A new report from Greenpeace says much
e-waste is being disposed of with mixed waste in landfills and incinerators, or exported-often illegally-for dumping in Africa or for rudimentary recycling in Asia, where it has a high toll on health, safety and the environment.

Even in regions such as the European Union that are subject to tighter regulation, there is no precise information on what happens to as much as 75 percent of e-waste generated. In the United States, this figure is higher.

In newly industrialized countries, estimating the amount of e-waste escaping any form of treatment or management is nearly impossible, although in India, an estimated 99 percent of domestic and imported e-waste, 143,000 tons per year, ends up in the informal recycling sector or is simply dumped.

"It is the scrap yard workers in Asia who are bearing the toxic burden of e-waste. They are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals when the products are broken apart, polluting the water, air and soil of not only the scrap yards but the surrounding neighborhood," says Martin Hojsik, Greenpeace International. "The mountain of obsolete electronic products is expanding at a huge rate as our consumption of electronic devices continues to grow rapidly."

Figures provided by four PC manufacturers who have already developed take-back and recycling activities suggest that only around 10 percent of own-branded end-of-life products are recycled. The figures for mobile phones are even lower, with only 2 percent to 3 percent being recycled. This means that, even for those companies reporting their own brands, the hidden flow of e-waste branded products currently amounts to an average of 91 percent of past sales.

"The reality is that we cannot say with any certainty what happens to e-waste once it has escaped responsible recycling," says Hojsik. "This is why manufacturers of electronic goods need to increase their efforts to collect and responsibly treat e-waste, introduce voluntary take-back schemes and remove hazardous substances from their products so they can be more safely and easily recycled."

In another report, OnRelay, a United Kingdom telecommunications software company, calls for businesses to reconsider their investment in redundant IP telephony hardware like desk phones. Calculating the real cost and waste implications of IP telephony, Marie Wold, president and CFO of OnRelay (a company that sells alternatives to IP phones), notes that the e-waste organizations, globally, will ultimately be held accountable for from 2008 IP telephony investments is: 103 million pounds of solid waste (the weight of a WWII battleship) and 3.3 million pounds of cabling, enough to stretch to the moon and back.

This month, Communications News debuts a monthly column, written by Associate Editor Denise DiRamio, that will delve into the issues revolving around the green IT movement. In GreenTech, she will provide insight into what technology companies are doing from a pro-environment perspective, as well as what they are not doing.

How to staff for social computing

If your organization is planning to add social networking applications to its Web site, warns Forrester Research analyst Jeremiah Owyang, you will need at least two people dedicated to the task: the social computing strategist to lead the internal charge, and the community manager, an external customer advocate. "Working in tandem, these roles will align social computing programs with the business and ensure that community members are happy," Owyang says.

Owyang describes the social computing strategist as the internal leader who uses business experience to make sure the community serves the needs of the company. The community manager, who reports to the strategist, focuses on the community itself and should be a skilled social media conversationalist. These two should work together to plan, launch and maintain the program.

"Community programs affect many departments within the company, causing uncertainty and sometimes fear," Owyang explains. "As a result, you' ll need someone within your company to manage those interactions, lobby for support within the company and make sure the community is accomplishing business goals."

In its recent report, Forrester describes this internal leader as:

An internally focused program champion. This manager spends a majority of time getting approval from executives, mitigating risks with legal, coordinating with corporate communications and educating other customer stakeholders. After obtaining approval to launch the community, this person manages the budget, resources and staff and oversees the social computing programs.

Experienced at managing marketing programs. The social computing strategist should already have experience successfully managing marketing programs or working closely with customers or product teams. This person determines headcount, does the primary hiring, and assembles and grows the team.

Responsible for understanding business objectives and developing plans. The social computing strategist knows the primary mission of marketing; is able to tie social computing programs to corporate objectives; able to identify business needs, analyze feasibility, manage resources and develop plans; and articulates the value of social computing programs using cost-and-benefit models.

Meanwhile, the community manager:

Spends a majority of time supporting the community. The community manager' s primary duty requires externally facing and engaging in conversation with members.

Boasts expertise with social media tools. Community managers are native to tools like forums, blogs, social networks, tagging tools and media.

Is superb at online conversational marketing. Unlike traditional marketers, community managers are experts at engaging in two-way conversational marketing. The community manager also defuses conflicts between members and uses conversational marketing techniques to promote the company' s objectives.

The disconnect on hiring

With technology and telecommunications companies still looking to lure talent using traditional compensation-based approaches, there is a disconnect between human resource practices and candidates' priorities, according to a new Deloitte survey.

The study, "Competing for Talent," found that the vast majority of companies in these sectors are relying on financial incentives to attract and retain employees. In contrast, the study found that today' s workforce values greater freedom in schedules and control of where and how they work over financial compensation.

"The conflicting perspectives between technology and telecommunications employers and employees suggest that the respondents are significantly challenged in how they capture their fair share of talent in the near term," says Jeffrey Alderton, principal and national industry leader with Deloitte Consulting LLP' s human capital service area. "Despite our experience in seeing organizations wanting to shift focus on long-term retention strategies, the urgency of â€˜getting talent in the door' versus showcasing career scenarios to new recruits is causing some disconnection whereby companies still view financial incentives as a quick fix."

Mobile devices not protected

More than three-quarters of mobile phone users surveyed by F-Secure are aware that malware can infect a mobile device via Bluetooth, but fail to have security software installed. On average, 28 per cent of all respondents said they use their mobile device to access the Internet, but 86 per cent admitted to having no mobile security.

Independent research commissioned by F-Secure questioned Web users aged 20 to 40 across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France and Germany about their knowledge of online and mobile security issues. Out of all the countries questioned, the UK had the highest percentage (47 percent) of users accessing the Internet through their mobile device, while at the same time being the least likely to have a security product installed on their mobile phone.

"While the mobile threat is low at present, it' s only a matter of time before Internet criminals start utilizing the growing potential that smart phone usage presents to them," warns Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure. "So far, there have been about 400 mobile viruses detected, but as smart phones replace PCs as the dominant Internet platform, we can expect this figure to rise."

While the threat from mobile viruses remains low, there has been increasing activity with spyware applications for mobile phones. Such applications make getting covert access to all the functions of the affected phone possible, including recording of phone calls, access to messages and switching on the phone' s microphone for listening. The low amount of security software installed on smart phones, coupled with the rapidly increasing volume of these devices, Hypponen says, makes them a vulnerable target for hackers.

Security in virtual environments

Server consolidation, faster provisioning, higher utilization and lower energy costs are among the benefits of server virtualization, but organizations venturing into the virtualization world would be wise to reflect on new security concerns related to the changeover. Among concerns, according to Nemertes Research: Are virtual servers less secure? Is higher risk being entered into the data center?

"For server virtualization to deliver benefits, we have to examine the security risks," says Andreas Antonopoulos, senior vice president at Nemertes. "As with any new technology, there is much uncertainty mixed in with promise. Part of the uncertainty arises because most companies do not have a good understanding of the real risks surrounding virtualization."

With the rapid adoption of virtualization technology and the corresponding reliance on virtual servers for critical applications, concerns about server virtualization security are increasing. Nemertes says that among those who have adopted virtualization technologies, up to a quarter are deploying it on production systems.

A server virtualization program can demonstrate ROI in less than 18 months, according to Antonopoulos, based solely on increasing utilization of existing servers and postponing new hardware purchases. "Beyond consolidation, companies see major benefits from the secondary effects of virtualization," he says. "The encapsulation of server images into virtual machines makes those server images portable, replicable and hardware independent."

Short Takes

Customer friendly

Quirk Auto Dealers, a family owned and operated automobile dealer in Massachusetts, is using Mitel unified communications solutions to improve the customer experience, ensure business continuity and enhance business processes and operational efficiency. Until recently, Quirk had been using more than 600 Centrex lines to connect its dealerships located throughout the state. "Our biggest concern was to lower our dropped call rate and make our phone system more customer friendly," says Dave Thomas, IT administrator, Quirk Motors. "But we were also concerned about total cost of ownership."

Wireless in AZ

NEC Unified has completed two major phases of one of the nation' s largest wireless LAN deployments for voice and data at the University of Arizona, which serves more than 32,000 students in Tucson. "Access to cutting-edge technology is a key factor in attracting and retaining students at the university level," says Michele Norin, CIO for the university. "NEC' s ability to manage our VoIP network turnkey, meet our aggressive deployment schedule, and install and service Cisco equipment were our deciding factors. NEC managed the university' s wireless project turnkey, from site surveys to cabling infrastructure, to vendor and budget management, all the way through deployment."

Fool me once

Krieg DeVault, a law firm headquartered in Indianapolis, now has disaster recovery for its voice services, thanks to the managed IP communications solution provided by Appia Communications. "In 2006, the high rise we were in was hit by straight-line winds. We had to vacate our building for 12 weeks," says George Smith, Krieg DeVault' s IT director. "Since the firm' s management had lived through a disaster, disaster recovery is very significant; we see that as value for the future." With Appia's managed voice services, incoming calls can be routed quickly to backup locations, mobile phones or home phones.

Picture this

Kodak has selected SecureMail from Voltage Security to secure its external e-mail platform. "Our business units regularly communicate with outside clients and some of the information shared is confidential," says Janel Egli, IS systems and business analyst, Eastman Kodak. "We need a secure and easy way for our businesses and clients to send and receive e-mail. With Voltage, we no longer need to maintain keys for our employees or hand-hold them on how to use the system."