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are at an all-time high and the emissions from processing and using that energy are choking
our atmosphere. And we certainly can’t look the other way anymore when mercury, various
manmade contaminants, and other toxins as are showing up in our water supplies and our
food chain at dangerous levels.
Although we all want to stop destroying our environment, Green IT is as much about
doing the right thing as corporate citizens as it is about making the best business decisions
from a cost and growth perspective. Adopting Green IT practices will provide you with
astonishing financial benefits, and position your company to thrive moving forward.
Although it grabs more than its fair share of headlines and generates considerable
consumer angst, it isn’t just the price of gas that is causing alarm. As worldwide energy
demand increases, coal costs more, too. As you have no doubt noticed, the cost of running
your datacenter is more expensive now than it was last year. In addition, operational
efficiency, automation, and other business benefits have driven the need for more and more
IT infrastructure. That means more power will be consumed with already expensive
electricity. What’s worse, datacenters around the world are consuming huge amounts of
electricity, and demand will only increase. It’s starting to look like we could see a future
where there just won’t be enough power generated to go around, at any price.
But that doesn’t mean the game is over just yet. With some forethought followed up by
mindful action, you can reduce power needs, get energy from alternative sources, and lessen
the impact of your company’s IT infrastructure. There’s a lot you can do to make less of an
impact on the planet.
The fact of the matter is, you will likely spend more money on green technology in the
short term. Energy-efficient power supplies cost money, even those compact fluorescent
light bulbs cost more. But in the long run, you’ll save money with a well-thought-out and
implemented green plan. Up front it’ll cost you some money to install solar panels, for
instance. But wouldn’t it be a great business advantage to skip paying the electricity bill,
and maybe even have enough power to sell back to your utility? What cost money initially,
eventually becomes a money saver, and then a money maker. Even if global altruism isn’t
something you care about, saving money has to be.
You can be as hardcore about this as you want. You can go the Ed Begley route and
compost and recycle religiously; get your power from solar cells; use filtered rainwater to
flush the toilets; and find each and every way to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Good for Ed. But in the real world, a business-driven green initiative requires balance, and
it will realistically need to be cost-justified. We’re not talking only about capital expenditures,
though. An assignable dollar value is associated with having a green image—just make sure
you are backing it up with more than a pocket full of carbon credits. The more you really do
to help save energy and curb pollution, the more your customers will come to appreciate
your efforts.
Although we all desire to revamp our IT departments to be as eco-friendly as possible, it
is simply not going to happen overnight. However, if you start consolidating your servers
onto a few machines, you’ll save electricity, and you won’t have to buy as many electronic
devices. If you start routing incoming faxes to a computer rather than having them spew
pages and pages of transferred data, you’ll save paper. It’s taking a step in the right direction
that is important, and every little bit helps. Really.
In this book we’ll talk about the different aspects of implementing green changes into
your company’s IT infrastructure. Let’s take a closer look at what we’ll be covering.