IT Services » Power & Energy

Earth Hour on election night: Cast a vote for power

In a chance case of progress versus sustainability, the NSW Electoral Commission will be in the middle of counting electronic votes on the evening of March 26 when everyone else will switch their power off for Earth Hour.

By Rodney Gedda | 17 March, 2011 12:37

Tags: earth hour, energy, government, green IT, NSW Electoral Commission, NSW State Government, power

Turning service management green - Part 2

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?..No! – it’s service management! ITIL Version 3 may not explicitly talk about sustainability but at every stage of the service lifecycle there is implicit guidance that can assist organisations in addressing the environmental challenges of its operations.

By Karen Ferris | 09 March, 2011 14:27

Tags: eco-ITSM, green IT, ITIL, Macanta Consulting, service management

Turning service management green - Part 1

Green IT is a widely talked about subject at the moment. Organisations are undertaking numerous initiatives to address the challenge of increasing power consumption, growing carbon footprint not to mention increasing costs. An initiative that most organisations are not undertaking is embedding sustainability into processes and workflow.

By Karen Ferris | 08 March, 2011 09:21

Tags: eco-ITSM, framework, green IT, service management

Are sealed-in laptop batteries a good idea?

When Apple introduced its new MacBooks recently, it touted a doubled battery life -- but noted that the laptops' batteries were sealed into the case, not user-swappable as is the norm on laptops.

By Paul Venezia | 30 June, 2009 13:40

Tags: laptop batteries, laptops, notebooks

Taking a lead on e-waste

Doing the right thing makes sense from a business point of view as well as from an environmental and corporate social responsibility perspective.

By Ian Kiernan | 23 April, 2008 12:13

Tags: environment, e-waste, green IT, ian kiernan

Survey: Technology key to SMBs' green strategy

Motivated to help the environment as well as their businesses, SMBs are increasingly embracing green practices. One of their primary approaches: employing green technology, according to recently released survey results from KRC Research.

By Ted Samson | 03 October, 2008 09:07

Tags: green IT

Profiting from reduced IT energy dependency

While I applaud any company's attempt to be environmentally responsible and implement "green" projects, I remain skeptical of long-term commitments to green initiatives that don't decrease costs, fatten the bottom line, or polish the organization's image.

By Ephraim Schwartz | 01 October, 2008 09:54

Tags: green IT

Growing cynicism around going green

Evidence is mounting of a growing cynicism regarding green initiatives within the IT infrastructure space. We may be reaching a point where vendor hype has hit a saturation point and beginning to meet with customer resistance. While there is a genuine concern about data center power consumption, particularly with regard to accommodating increasingly dense technology footprints, the larger concern for most, particularly in the current climate, is controlling costs.

IT admins should also think green

"Plug data leaks" and "Embrace Web 2.0" are among the pieces of practical wisdom shared this week by InfoWorld's Dan Tynan in an article titled "Seven things IT should be doing (but isn't)." It's a sound list, to be sure, but I believe there's an important omission. For the sake of your company's bottom line, its legislative peace of mind, its CSR (corporate social responsibility) standing, end-user morale, and yes, the planet as well, No. 8 on the list should be "Think green."

Six tips for safely choosing an IT asset disposal partner

The prospect of disposing of old IT equipment -- PCs, servers, storage gear, and the like -- may very well fill your heart with dread. After all, you're putting a lot of faith in a third party that the machines will be thoroughly wiped of confidential information, resold for a fair price, and, when applicable, properly disassembled, recycled, and disposed of. If your partners' practices end up being sloppy -- or downright criminal -- you could find yourself in regulatory and PR hell as confidential data protected by HIPAA or SarBox ends up in the wrong hands or 500 of your PCs end up in a landfill or river somewhere.

Going green, virtually speaking

Broadly speaking, there are two main reasons for companies to go green. The first is to reduce energy costs, thereby saving the company money. As one IT executive put it to me recently, "Green computing is all about saving greenbacks."

Are green IT premiums worth the cost?

Organisations are investing in green computers -- that is, machines that are energy efficient and built in an environmentally responsible manner -- at ever-increasing rates. Sometimes they pay a small premium to do this. Is it worth it? They seem to think so.

Green IT numbers don't lie

Stark statistics shed light on the needs driving green computing

SynapSense employs wireless sensors to monitor and map datacenter health

Measure, measure, measure: It's one of the pieces of advice repeatedly doled out to companies looking to make their datacenters more energy-efficient. Without question, it's a sound suggestion; if you don't know where you're starting from, how do you know where you should go or whether you've made any progress?

No easy green strategy for storage

I find it ironic that Seagate chose Earth Day to celebrate the shipment of its billionth disk drive. After all, increased drive dependency in the datacenter is fast transforming into an unsustainable energy demand.

Harnessing datacenter heat for savings

The heat that pours out of your datacenter machinery represents a hefty chunk of your monthly utility bills. After all, were it not for that heat waste, you wouldn't be pouring dollars into running that pricey cooling equipment to ensure your valuable hardware doesn't get fried.