Is Videoconferencing The Best Corporate Green Initiative?

Building relationships and fostering ongoing nurturing communication are part of the bedrock of any growing business. With business opportunity now a global pursuit for most companies the pressure to be everywhere and go everywhere is tangible and often leads to substantial business travel for employees. This travel has an unpredictable balance sheet cost with rising energy prices and a more intangible effect on employee morale.

However, the biggest loser with all of this excessive business travel may be our planet. Few companies have more salespeople on the road than SAP. How did they save money, boost productivity and make a meaningful reduction in their corporate carbon footprint? Videoconferencing.

Fluctuating energy prices, new regulations, employee satisfaction and market opportunities are prompting large and small businesses to adopt green technologies.

But where do you get the most bang for your buck?

At the Palo Alto campus of SAP, the answer turns out to be videoconferencing. The company, as part of an overall energy retrofit, installed three telepresence systems from Cisco Systems (CSCO) in Palo Alto for a cost of $300,000. The units will save $300,000 in reduced travel costs in the first year alone. Besides that, they boost productivity.

“No one wants to fly every few weeks to Germany,” said Rami Branitzky, the managing director of SAP Labs North America.

Source: Seeking Alpha

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