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6. Lead on green. Green techniques -- from energy reduction to reducing the use of toxic materials -- save both the environment and money. So what's good for the planet is good for the business, and that's a string motivator in 2009.

" without a corresponding increase in business value. There is a lot of pressure to reduce IT costs in 2009, and it's an easy choice between paying less to a utility and laying off experienced employees," says CTO Council member Marvin Richardson, managing director of Trexin Consulting.

Rein in energy waste. "There are plenty of steps companies can take to reduce power costs," notes Ted Samson, InfoWorld's blogger. Utilities are sweetening the deal by giving . "This is a real opportunity for the CTO to provide visible, popular leadership that will be appreciated by his or her company, employees, and customers. Oh, and it's the right thing to do for both ecological and economic reasons," Richardson adds.

Among the steps you can take are and for nontoxic manufacturing methods. "Reduce travel by 20 percent and increase the videoconferencing budget by 20 percent," suggests PricewaterhouseCoopers' Ricart. properly, such as through sales or donations to employees and charities and hiring recyclers that won't ship the materials overseas, where they end up being disassembled by hand, poisoning the people there.