Two of the industry's notable visionaries, John Hagel (top photo) and Eric Openshaw (bottom photo), both from Deloitte, joined us for a recent Network World chat where they discussed green IT, outsourcing, protecting intellectual property and making the most out of Web 2.0.

Moderator-Julie: We want to welcome all of you joining us for today's chat. Our guests today are John Hagel and Eric Openshaw. John is co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation and author of the best selling series Net Gain, Net Worth, Out of the Box and The Only Sustainable Edge. Eric is principal with Deloitte's Technology, Media & Entertainment, and Telecommunications Group and a 30-year industry veteran (and former Oracle vice president).

Eric_Openshaw: Good Morning/Afternoon; I 'm looking forward to today's discussion.

John-Hagel: Hi! It's great to be here - looking forward to some interesting conversation.

TimDC: What is your opinion on the green IT initiatives -- are they just fluff or do they serve a true business purpose? Does an international standard such as ISO 14001 help the idea of green IT or muddy the waters?

Eric_Openshaw: Green IT is very much for real. We will see a lot evolve in the next two years, and likely standards will help at some point. We are placing our bets in this area. The amount of venture capital and size of investments is staggering. Literally everywhere our clients are asking about green IT and making plans.

ITgal: So, can you offer some examples of green IT initiatives that are worthwhile (short of yanking out all the gear I've got installed now)?

Eric_Openshaw: The most basic starts with the same place we were 20 years ago, which is how much paper is being consumed for printed output. From there many are examining what needs to powered all the time, and why. Significant amounts of data etc., are stored and forgotten, yet left on. Downsizing is possible.

John-Hagel: Another example would be adopting processes and software to increase utilization of existing servers and storage facilities rather than adding more capacity.

rpw188: The chat promo said that you can give advice on ways to save money that most IT people overlook. I feel like I've turned over every stone. What are some suggestions for cost cutting that I might not know about?

Whitepapers

• Advancing the Economics of Networking
• Enterprise Data Center Network Reference Architecture
• Implementing HA at the Enterprise Data Center Edge to Connect to a Large Number of Branch Offices
• File Integrity Monitoring: Secure Your Virtual and Physical IT Environments
• 6 Simple Steps to Disaster Recovery Planning
• PRICING STUDY: GROUNDWORK OPEN SOURCE VS. HP SOFTWARE

View more DATA CENTER whitepapers

Webcasts

• PoE Plus: Impact on the PoE Market
• Creating a high performance workplace with wireless networking
• Harnessing the power of communications to increase workplace performance
• Making data centers the IT strategic focus
• Protecting assets and employees with IP Video Surveillance
• Stay out of the headlines: Detecting and preventing network intrusions

View more DATA CENTER webcasts

Special Reports

• How to lower software costs, complexity
• IT Buyer's Guide To: Data backup and Replication
• Bringing IT Operations Management to Open Source and Beyond
• Data Centers: At the center of the action
• Executive Guide: Virtualization Reality Check
• Executive Guide: Storage Heats Up

View more DATA CENTER special reports