Going Green??? Don't forget Software

CIOs shouldn't limit their focus to server and storage hardware when launching energy-efficiency programs.

By Bob Violino
August 15, 2008



Going Green? Don't Forget SoftwareWhen people think of “green” IT efforts, chances are they consider areas such as server consolidation, energy-efficient storage and other hardware-related initiatives. After all, servers and storage systems are consuming much of the power in data centers.

But software can also play a significant role in running more environmentally friendly technology infrastructures. CIOs who fail to look at how software can help reduce energy consumption are missing out on good opportunities to make their organizations greener.

There are three distinct areas to consider when it comes to green software efforts, says Richard Hodges, founder and CEO of GreenIT, a consulting firm that specializes on the emerging field of environmentally sustainable IT and communications systems.

First, software “needs to drive hardware decisions [that] create the eco-footprint of IT,” Hodges says. “The more efficient your applications and system software is, the less hardware is needed to run it. Less hardware means less power, less cooling, less material used and less electronic waste.”

The second area encompasses software tools that can be used for measuring and managing the eco-footprint of IT. For example, Hodges says, software is available to help organizations figure out what hardware and software they actually have, and what they can do with it. Specialized applications can be used for automatically managing desktop power consumption. “There are numerous software tools available for data center power monitoring and management,” he says.

The third area is comprised of software tools that support information and communication technology-driven innovation. For example, Hodges says, corporate social responsibility software automates reporting and supplants basic record-keeping tools such as spreadsheets. Other software, such as dashboards and enterprise sustainability reporting, will become an important new product area for software and will help drive the realization of sustainability goals, he says.

“Greening, [also called] sustainability or eco-responsibility, is not a fad,” Hodges says. “It is a major, long-term trend,” and any enterprise that wants to be successful must have a sustainability plan and partner with the right people to execute it. “That plan should explicitly address the role of IT, which is too often overlooked,” Hodges says. “CIOs are well-positioned to take a leadership role for the sustainability program of the entire enterprise and demonstrate their credentials as strategic thinkers.”

When implementing greener IT operations, Hodges says CIOs should adopt what GreenIT refers to as the ER3 Principle: Eliminate, then reduce, reuse and recycle. “This is particularly true for software,” he says. “The results are better eco-performance, reduced IT costs and more-efficient overall operations.”

Hodges says the biggest mistake organizations can make with a green IT effort is not making a long-term commitment and developing a systematic process that assesses opportunities, quantifies benefits and develops a practical plan for efficiency and innovation.

What’s at stake if organizations fail to implement strategic plans for green IT? For one thing, they could miss out on immediate opportunities for a competitive advantage, Hodges says. For another, there’s “the long-term inevitability that if you don’t develop an ongoing process to make your operation more efficient and eco-responsible, somebody will come in to make you do it.” Selengkapnya...

HP, Sun Applying IT to Environmental Goals

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The world of IT has a long ways to go to improve its environmental footprint: one has only to look at the often-cited statistic that the industry contributes the same amount of emissions as the global air travel industry for an example.

But in addition to the many ways that IT manufacturers and tech professionals are improving the performance of their computers, servers and data centers, high-tech solutions to more bricks-and-mortar corporate environmental issues are increasingly coming to the fore.
The new HP Handheld sp400 All-in-One scanner and printer. The new HP Handheld sp400 All-in-One scanner and printer.

Two cases in point: yesterday both Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems unveiled new and upgraded solutions to problems that companies are facing every day.

HP teamed with UPS to develop a new, paperless printer and wireless device that can save time and significant amounts of paper. Sun Microsystems gave its OpenEco.org climate-management website a significant upgrade. Both technologies bring the companies' IT expertise to decidedly non-IT arenas.

The new HP-UPS printing system is a wearable and hands-free, mobile scanning and printing device that the companies say will save over 1,300 tons of paper each year by printing shipping information directly onto boxes. UPS already brought the scanners to 41 of its package centers in the United States, and plans to expand that number to 55 centers in the next two months.

From the physical to the virtual, Sun Microsystems yesterday unveiled an overhauled version of its OpenEco.org emissions-mapping website to incorporate emissions data from many different types of sources. Based on a social network model like Facebook or LinkedIn, OpenEco.org encourages business leaders to measure and share the emissions associated with their facilities, whether they're office buildings, data centers or hospitals. The only requirement for joining OpenEco.org is sharing emissions data, which companies can do transparently or anonymously.

Launched just over a year ago, the site is still on the fledgling side, but yesterday's updates to the site's functionality bring more flexibility and the ability to compile more accurate data for businesses. Selengkapnya...