Due to the steady increase in the cost of electricity over the last few years, many organizations have begun to focus on reducing energy use. When looking for ways to lower the utility bill, the spotlight often shines on the company energy hog: the IT department. The prevalence of computing equipment in most enterprises makes the IT department a major source of power consumption.
Every organization that wants to cut costs looks at reducing power consumption. The energy costs tied to computers, servers, cooling systems, switches and storage systems consume a large percentage of the IT budget. For every dollar spent on computer hardware, a company typically spends 50 cents on energy-related costs each year, according to research firm IDC. By 2010, 71 cents of every IT dollar will be devoted to powering and cooling IT equipment.
IT executives say they are concerned about energy efficiency, however, many are not aware of how much energy their IT operations use — even though this information is fundamental in energy-reduction efforts. CDWs Energy Efficient Information Technology (E2IT) Report, based on a survey of 778 information technology professionals, indicates that almost half of IT organizations in business, government and education do not know exactly how much energy they use.
Typically, those who manage technology have little, if any, interaction with those who pay the utility bills. “The first step in reducing energy consumption is to know what you are spending, yet more than 40 percent of technology professionals say they don’t see their organization’s energy bill,” says Mark Gambill, vice president of CDW.
IT executives armed with information about their energy consumption are more likely to implement energy-reduction measures, Gambill says. When someone in the IT department receives reports, authorizes payments or otherwise has responsibility for the amount and cost of energy used in the organization’s IT…