After being focused in the area of Green IT and energy efficiency for nearly five years now, it still astounds me that organisations still object to the deployment of pc power management technologies within their operations. Without question, pc power management is still the number one green IT project and is still the low hanging fruit when it comes to energy reduction in the IT department.
The question one must ask is what are the reasons why these technologies are not more widely adopted? Why are they often ignored by IT professionals, specifically in South Africa.
The main reason I believe is that the IT department is largely still on a free ride when it comes to consuming energy. In many
companies, IT executives are not targeted with reducing energy and hence there is no incentive to do so. If this is the case, why would and operations or facilities manager bother? It makes no sense at all.
Secondly, in South Africa at least, we have no legislation governing carbon emissions. There is no requirement to reduce and there is certainly no requirement to measure. Again, there is no compelling reason to act for the IT department.
Finally we look at education and understanding what options are available in the PC power management technology space. There is a distinct lack of understanding in terms of how these tools operate and what there benefits are. With this narrow minded viewpoint, many IT managers fail to grasp the operational potential of these tools and are crippled with viewpoints that are outdated.
If we examine these three reasons further, we need to examine some further facts. IT globally and to a lesser degree in South Africa is rapidly being positioned as the bastion of measurement and reduction when it comes to energy efficiency. CIO’s take notice that this is only a matter of time when this is squarely on your agenda and this should be ignored at your peril.
Secondly, carbon taxation is mooted for introduction in the 2013/14 tax year so measurement and report start becoming key now. Companies need to start preparing now for what is coming. This is also against a background of energy prices that have increased 78% in the past three years, with a further increase of between 14 and 22% in 2012 depending where you are located. Is there a better time to start reducing energy?
Finally, there are so many myths around PC power management that they can’t be covered by this post. Suffice it to say that you need to do your homework because solutions exist that overcome all of your unfounded fears. These normally include network security, end user experience, cost savings etc. In fact, pc power management solutions result in a far healthier PC estate and result in measurable savings that are sorely needed at the moment.
If you need a flagship green IT project, look no further than an automated pc power management solution to power down when not required and power up when devices are needed.