Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.
To “Go Green” or not to “Go Green” within IT isn’t the question anymore; the real question revolves around how much, how fast and at what cost. Companies are mapping out their “Go Green” strategies and coming to grips with separating the hype from the opportunities.
Perhaps one of the best sources for learning more about “Going Green” is the Institute for Global Futures (IGF)(1). According to IGF, companies need to understand the “Green Paradigm" including the following:
Conservation,
Waste reduction,
Energy efficiency,
Reducing costs on travel
Telecommuting
The current trend in greening up IT appears to be focused on data centers. The “Green Data Center(2)” conference taking place in New York this October is the third within the United States this year. Perhaps the focus on data centers is due to the capital-intensive investments needed to affect a green transformation, and that has huge appeal to the vendors promoting their green solutions. In addition, data centers account for about 15% of a company’s energy consumption. By 2011, data centers are predicted to collectively consume over 120 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), more than twice that from 2006(7). Given the instability of the nation’s grid and the dire prediction of power rationing, it is easy to see why there is so much intense focus on technologies that save energy and thus money.
One of the biggest culprits stifling the efforts to reduce data center energy consumption are--of all things--new, more energy-efficient processors that are running non-energy-efficient applications, at least according to Rob Bernard, the chief environmental strategist for Microsoft (MSFT)(7).
"Applications are architected in the old paradigm," … The application isn't energy-aware, it doesn't matter that every other application on the client is, … That one application will prevent the computer from going into a power-saving sleep mode.”
Ironic how the desire to have all applications and data at our fingertips fosters the inefficient use processors and thus impedes our green aspirations in this area. Perhaps developing metrics that measure the energy efficiency of applications will be the next step in the evolution of Going Green.
Question: A new PMP® exam is here. The head of our PMO asked me to see if it would have any effect on how we train our people to sit for the exam. Also, does it foretell any changes we may need to make in the way we do business? I’m concerned that there may be new information or alterations in the way existing employees, whether PMPs or not, should be conducting the day-to-day business of our organization if we want to stay competitive?
Continuity can be fragile in healthcare. A portfolio perspective does not replace clinical expertise; it reinforces the underlying architecture that makes it possible. It brings coherence to decisions, stability to operations, and a more consistent experience.
Are sprints still helping teams become more agile, or are they becoming a process that teams follow simply because they always have? And what should teams do instead?
But there is much more to implementing Green Data Centers than just use of energy-efficient processors and applications. The importance of data center design was emphasized in an article by Amit Verma, published in June of this year. In that article Verna contends that high density data centers tend to be the most energy efficient and recommends the following be included as part of the data center design process(3)
Room layout with rack locations
Row-by-row specifications
Design tools to match the specifications to size of rack, power and cooling elements
UPS Efficiency
Cooling efficiency and monitoring systems
Clearly designing a data center from scratch is easier than transforming the current data center from an energy hog to a leaner, greener facility. Here the process starts by understanding the current center’s energy efficiency (or lack thereof) and then developing a realistic model of what can be achieved given the constraints of budgets, location, building structure, etc.
Whether building from scratch or revamping an existing environment, you will most likely need the support of experts in the data center design field including architects, HVAC suppliers, UPS providers and infrastructure gurus. Successful Data Center design initiatives require close collaboration and coordination in order to achieve significant results. Often, the ROI of these projects takes years and years to realize if, ever at all. Balancing social consciousness with financial paybacks is a tricky proposition when it comes to investing in greening up data centers. Perhaps this is why I strongly encourage CIOs to take long and hard looks at co-location options. It is a much easier process and often far less expensive.
What has your experience been with “Going Green” with your data centers? What is working and what isn’t? How are you measuring success? Sharing your experiences with fellow gantthead members helps us all be smarter and wiser on our quest for Greener IT Pastures.
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