Forget Green, Think Cheap

Techworld
May 11, 2009 | COMMENTS

Vendors haven't been slow to hype the benefits of green computing.

It's become one of the all-pervasive buzzwords that the industry's famous for and has already spawned an industry in its own right: there have been at least two green IT conference and exhibitions in the UK this year and I'm sure that event companies are drawing up plans for even more.

What's less clear is whether all this hype is helping. There's been plenty of evidence that the green message has been putting people off. Last July for example, a Brocade survey revealed the strength of IT manager indifference to buying green gear—not even being tempted by the possible savings.

Could that be about to change? A report from Gartner has indicated that managers of the greenest data centers are not just saving a few dollars, they're cutting their costs by half—and with rising electricity prices that cost-cutting is probably set to continue.

The smartest data centers are now building from green principles from the outset. That's certainly been the thinking behind the proposed development of three data centres in Scotland, where renewable energy has played a major part in the planning process.

Perhaps, we're going to hear a lot of less about “green IT” in future and a lot more about “cheaper IT.” And in these economic times, that's a message that should find more favor with data center managers.

This article first appeared on www.techworld.com and is reprinted with permission.