ERP specialist Lawson has become the latest IT vendor to tap the growing interest in green IT and corporate responsibility. At its annual CUE user conference in San Diego, the firm launched a new initiative that will deliver software to help firms manage their social responsibility projects.

The Lawson Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative will involve pre-configured applications with BI features such as dashboards and implementation methodologies. The software is mapped to the UN-backed Global Reporting Initiative’s list of more than 100 issues that organisations are considering reporting on, such as cutting greenhouse emissions and energy consumption.

A new survey conducted by AMR Research and commissioned by Lawson found that 70 percent of organisations are looking for a technology solution to support their corporate social responsibility projects.

But Lawson chief executive Harry Debes told IT Week that he could be taking a risk with the initiative. “This is all a bit new – we may be a bit ahead of ourselves and the market here, certainly in the States,” he added. “Now we’re breaking down the components and looking at how to provide the tools to measure, monitor then [allow firms] to report back to their stakeholders.”

According to AMR analyst Nigel Montgomery, European companies recognise the business opportunities to be gained from operating in a more ecologically responsible manner, but need to be more proactive in using IT systems to achieve this.

“Firms have lots of metrics but currently there are not any environmental ones – companies should build that into their decision processes,” he argued. “It’s no good having BI systems just reporting on waste and energy [consumption], they need to get proactive too.”

He added that the Lawson initiative could help the vendor to raise its profile among potential customers.

“Lawson has taken a while to get over the consolidation of Intentia to a situation where it’s selling to new businesses,” he argued. “Although it can sell products once it is on firms’ shortlists, the biggest challenge for Lawson is getting on that list and this could help.”

Peter Matteo, CIO of plastics compounder Teknor Apex, said that corporate social responsibility is a growing business issue for his firm.

“Having the confidence that what we produce is being ethically handled and providing value to society is very important,” he added. “Software [to support this] would be very valuable indeed.”

Cormac Watters, CIO of food group IAWS Group, said that environmental issues are a big issue for his company and he was keen to find out more about the new Lawson initiative.

“The real impact of corporate social responsibility is on the employees – doing something so that they feel like they work for a company with a conscience,” he explained. “If a BI dashboard could ensure this then I think it would be good for us.”