Enterprise IT users are being confused by vendor 'greenwash' as the industry changes its focus to environmentally friendly IT, according to a report by Gartner.

The talk of long-term and medium-term green IT products at conferences is leaving CIOs baffled about what is and is not available.

"The IT industry is saturated with green IT talk," said Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner.

"Unfortunately, with so much hype, users are left with a sense of confusion about where and when they should invest their time and money."

And the possibility of upcoming regulation is further clouding the issue, with vendors claiming that their products will help with compliance.

Gartner has split green IT issues into the immediate, the mid-term and the long-term to help users focus their attention.

Immediate issues include data centre cooling, virtualisation, server efficiency and energy management.

Mid-term issues include green IT procurement, environmental labelling, encouraging behavioural change such as turning off machines, and video-conferencing.

Long-term issues include carbon trading, heat recycling, software efficiency, green building design and green legislation.