All businesses should be working towards creating a more environmentally-friendly global IT infrastructure based on green technologies like desktop and server virtualization.
According to new research from Green Grid, businesses and data centre operators need to work together to improve the sustainability of next-generation IT infrastructure by reducing power consumption and cooling demand.
Green Grid's Data Centre Maturity Model calls on end users to be provided with in-depth resource-efficiency statistics from their chosen data centre or cloud computing service provider - giving them the chance to pick the most environmentally-friendly operator.
The organisation said that clear energy efficiency goals were needed and businesses would have to take an active role in enforcing them by opting for service providers which adhere to sustainable best practice.
Speaking to eWeek Europe, Green Grid's Jim Hearnden, who works as a data centre specialist at Dell, said: "We are not being prescriptive.
"We preach virtualization, but it is sometimes not practical in a given company."
Green IT magazine reminded businesses that eco-friendly IT solutions could save them money in the long term.