When it comes to Green telecoms, some resellers feel vendors could still do a lot better in their role as thought-leaders, focusing less on single issues such as power consumption and paying more attention to the total picture, right down to recycling the packaging that the server arrives in.

"The ultimate goal is green-as-best-practice, and that take on the whole IT infrastructure needs to come from the big vendors," says Richard Siddaway, Microsoft practice leader at IT services provider Centiq. "Most of the major hardware vendors seem to be falling over themselves to promote their green credentials but in reality, much of it boils down to power saving during operations."

Patrick Copping, Business Development Director at Swyx reseller Atia Solutions (the company recently gained carbon neutral status), agrees: "They're not doing enough. Every little bit helps, but they need to demonstrate their commitment and help make customers aware of the impact they are having on the environment."