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Chapter 10 • Global, Ethics, and Security Management 285

consumes 50 percent less power than a laptop. They have labeled it a “green computing
alternative.” This is possible because of the following reasons. It is free of hard drives, memory, and
operating system or application software. The Tadpole’s core computing is done at a secure central-
ized server. As this will replace many laptops that have spinning hard drives and where computing
uses up precious resources, this will cut costs for the company. These Tadpoles are already being
used in enterprise systems by Derby College in the United Kingdom and Cascade’s IT departments.
Not only is ERP’s hardware green, but the software is where ERPs really have green poten-
tial. The newer ERP software allows organizations to track their carbon emissions. Virtualization
allows multiple applications to run on a single server. It can significantly reduce the amount of
hardware necessary for an ERP implementation. Less hardware means less energy needed to run
that hardware. This is one of the leading green practices for IT. People in F5 Networks and Pace
Harmon say that virtualization allows an organization to eliminate about 5–10 pieces of
hardware equipment and improves the utilization of a server by up to 85 percent.
A nonvirtualized data center can have all of those servers running at about 5–15 percent of their
capacity. This means about 10 servers are being used to do the job that virtualization allows 1 server
to do. Undoubtedly this allows an organization to drastically reduce power consumption and its
carbon footprint, not to mention the equipment needed for cooling all of those servers. Virtualization
allows for maximum power management, permitting an organization to only use what it needs. If a
company can regularly and effectively monitor the metrics on applications and servers, they can get
the most out of new virtualization tools, including moving virtual machines to lower energy costs.
Virtual data centers can be moved to different areas depending on electricity costs. If costs
are cheaper, let’s say in Montana than in New England, a company could move its virtual data to
Montana to decrease its costs further. This would not do much for its carbon footprint, however.
Virtualized computer resources will also allow workers to work from home. This will
allow an organization to save on heating a facility. This is useful especially in climates like that
of New England, where the winters are very cold and will require much heat to get through a day.
An employee would be taking that heat cost from the organization to heat his or her home while
he or she works in comfort, reducing the need for a facility to be heated.
Another big step for green ERP is that ERP vendors are now including carbon-monitoring
applications in their software suites. These allow organizations to track the amount of carbon
they are producing by powering and heating their businesses as well as using fuel to deliver
goods and move equipment. These factors are becoming increasingly important to companies,
especially package delivery companies like UPS and FedEx. They have been able to alter delivery
routes to minimize greenhouse gas emissions by using ERP software.
The government has taken a great initiative in setting an example for green business. In
addition to the Energy Star Program, the government will offer tax cuts to organizations that can
reduce their carbon emissions, which is a very positive incentive. It is not always easy or cheap
for a company to implement green ERP. However, over time, an organization can save a lot of
money by becoming green and this will also contribute to the health of the planet. There is a
common saying by hardware vendors that “green desktop and server hardware is good for the
planet, and what’s good for the planet is good for business.” This is the view that needs to be
shared by all businesses in today’s global economy.
The future of ERP is definitely green. Companies benefit greatly by becoming green,
whether it be by reducing heating and electricity costs and materials costs, being more efficient
in their data processing, or using their greenness in their marketing. Monitoring CO will
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become a more and more common module for ERP in the coming years. Companies will be