Most U.S. enterprises pay lip service to improving the environmental impact of their IT facilities, but their action plans aren't solidified. Most don't even know how much power they actually use.
That's the conclusion drawn from research by The Nemertes Research Group Inc. , according to president Johna Till Johnson. During a presentation on going green at the Interop 2008 conference in New York yesterday, she apologized for not being able to offer the audience more detailed cost information.
But no one really knows what they're doing yet. "Almost 80 percent of data managers we spoke to did not have green policies in place," she said.
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Just 13 percent of a sample group of roughly 100 IT pros reported knowing their data center energy costs. That's got to change, Johnson said, even if IT pros have to hire interns or temps -- or invest in emerging smart power monitors or self-reporting IT gear -- to create a baseline. "Everyone knows what to do. Come on, guys, we can do better!" Johnson chided.
Most organizations interviewed aren't even turning off power to machinery that's not in use. A full 50 percent said they leave desktops on all the time; and 25 percent leave them on 80 to 90 percent of the time.
Just three out of a subset of more than 20 of those surveyed had a green IT supervisor. And even the ones who had chosen someone had only done so within the last three months. "Typically, they're not IT people... and mainly they just run around and nag," Johnson said.
Even the vendors aren't cooperating fully. While firms like Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) have programs that support gray-market resale of their gear, others, like Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), have resisted such efforts.
Many firms still don't know why they're going green. "The biggest decision is, Are we about saving the world, or about saving money?" Johnson said.
Whichever side wins, both approaches to green IT are "converging around a specific group of technologies." These include the following:
- Virtualization
- Automated power management
- Modular HVAC
- Conferencing technologies, including cutting-edge telepresence
- Renewable energy sources
Some of these techniques, such as consolidation of data center space, virtualization, and conferencing, have the dual advantage of cutting costs and reducing carbon footprint.
None of this will help, though, unless clear green policies are hammered out, Johnson maintained. These include consolidating data centers, reorganizing staff only where needed, creating policies for telecommuting and virtual work, ensuring sustainable supply chains, and recycling.
Just setting telework policies will increase telecommuting and related carbon savings by 37 percent, she added, citing other research.
Perhaps one reason more enterprises haven't turned green is that the move brings big changes. In some places, IT is becoming part of a larger facilities organization. Security is taking a broader role. Managers are learning to embrace formerly alien technologies like social networking. There are legal issues to consider.
Is it worth it? Absolutely, Johnson said. "Green is about efficiency as much as it is about anything else. It's much more effective to use something more efficiently than to use more of it."
— Mary Jander, ThinkerNet Editor, Internet Evolution
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