Going "green" is all the rage across the public and private sector as environmental concerns continue to rise (Al Gore must be thrilled). Executive Order 13423 requires the federal government to reduce its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by the end of 2015. Major corporations, such as IBM, Microsoft, HP, CSC, and Sun Microsystems have fully embraced the idea of green technology and have full- fledged strategies for helping government use them to reduce its environmental impact.

What these companies and many others – hopefully your own – have figured out is that lighting a fire under the green IT market in the federal government requires a comprehensive green IT business strategy. Everyone and his cousin claims to be green, but the companies that have a well-defined business strategy that is infused with new messages and - most importantly - focuses on cost savings will be the market leaders.

A Google search on "Green IT" brings up the usual offenders - energy-efficient electronics and virtualization of data centers. These areas are the low hanging fruit, because they are top-of-mind issues for government and areas where progress has been made. Building expertise and teaming relationships to play in these markets could offer real near-term opportunities. The flip side, however, is that these markets could quickly become crowded. If your company is looking for ways to help green the federal government, you can consider the following green technology offerings:

There are many other technology solutions that can help government reach its green objectives. Don't forget about some of the "fringe" green IT solutions, which are not necessarily green in and of themselves, but their implementation results in lower energy consumption and better resource utilization. SOA and SaaS are good examples. Scanning and electronic document management technologies, which could save a lot of trees, are another.

Green IT is all about delivering the same or better performance using fewer resources, so there are many potential technology solutions that can do that. However, government may not think about them as green IT if contractors fail to present them that way. And that all starts with the strategy.

For more information about developing a green IT strategy for government, view INPUT's latest report, "Going Green: Strategies and Solutions to Serve the Federal Government."