Green IT: Saving Money while Saving Energy Moving Beyond the Hype to Build a Powerful Business Case

White Paper
Green IT: Saving Money
while Saving Energy
Moving Beyond the Hype to Build
a Powerful Business Case for
Power Management
Umesh Shah Senior Manager, Product Marketing Adrienne McAninch Senior Product Marketing Manager January 8, 2010White Paper
Green IT: Saving Money while Saving Energy Moving Beyond the Hype to Build a Powerful Business Case for Power ManagementExecutive Summary Moving Beyond the Hype: Examining Key Drivers This white paper moves beyond the hype of green IT and Fueling the Green IT Movementprovides substantial support for implementing practical, yet cost- There's been a fundamental shift in public sentiment toward effective power management policies and tools to "green" your IT greener, more sustainable business practices over the last environment and boost your bottom line. We begin by outlining decade, and as a result, many organizations are listing green IT key drivers for adopting green IT practices: increasing government initiatives as a top priority. What's driving this shift? The obvious energy regulation, enhancing corporate image, and achieving reason is the collective desire to reduce our society's carbon considerable cost savings. footprint, but there are of course additional motivating factors A key incentive for adopting green IT policies stems from shifts for businesses. Government incentives are putting money back in government energy policies and regulations. Though strict in the pocket of those businesses favoring greener IT practices. enforcement and mandatory compliance measures are yet to Companies are preparing for legislation, such as the impending be implemented, organizations should recognize the impact that carbon tax and "cap and trade" regulations now under review many of these energy regulations and incentives could have on in Congress that may penalize them not following "green" best their business, and be more proactive about establishing more practices. energy-efficient policies. On top of that, increasing pressure By far, the most significant driver in the green IT initiative is that from investors, shareholders and even internal personnel to "be these types of policies can help IT organizations address the green" is playing a role, spurring the adoption of green policies constant pressure to reduce costs and maximize ROI, especially to improve public relations, and demonstrate environmental in light of the recent recession. And the substantial savings from responsibility. effective power management policies is the clinching reason Though government legislation and corporate image are most businesses are putting green IT at the top of the list.important, by far the most influential aspect in the shift to Though the initial interest and momentum behind green IT "go green" is the potential cost savings from cutting back on policies tends to come from CIOs, the onus is on IT managers unnecessary energy consumption. to plan and execute initiatives that simultaneously reduce the organization's environmental impact and save money. As a prime Žexample, a recent study by Enterprise Management Associates TM(EMA ) shows that roughly 57 percent of companies have 1already implemented green IT initiatives.
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Industry Statistics Supporting the Value of Green IT Government Policies: Carbon Taxes, Cap and Trade, and YouEMA: The U.S. government has been calling for tough legislation . In a recent study by of Enterprise Management Associates and harsher regulations on energy consumption and green (EMA), workstations account for roughly 90 percent of total house gas emissions over the past few decades. The Obama businesses' power use, while servers make up the remaining administration and current Congress have pushed these issues 10 percent; and power for these workstations is often not to the forefront and continue to debate new climate bills in the managed from a central location making it difficult to assess House and Senate. Though the U.S. hasn't established national 1overall power consumption climate change levies or carbon taxes, there is still considerable . As cited by Dennis Drogseth of EMA, the U.S. Department of momentum toward establishing state-wide carbon taxes and Energy says that the U.S. National average electricity costs for "cap and trade" legislations to encourage more energy-efficient I... [download for more]