Sustainable IT | Ted Samson » Make IT accountable for tech-related power bills

March 13, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Make IT accountable for tech-related power bills

TAGS: Energy conservation

If more IT managers were directly responsible for their department's energy bills, they'd be more likely to implement greener, energy-saving practices.

That's one of the take-aways from a recent survey commissioned by 1E, developer of a PC power-management product called NightWatchman. Among 100 IT managers at enterprise organizations in the U.K., 90 percent said they were aware that their employers have broad environmental policies. However, around one-third of the survey respondent said they felt zero pressure to reduce power consumption.

1E attributes this seeming discrepency to the fact "that only 23 percent of IT managers surveyed by 1E have direct ownership of their corporate power bills."

"1E has always believed that only by giving IT teams direct ownership of corporate power bills will they feel truly empowered to address this globally important issue. The findings of our latest research survey support this view," said Simon Francis, 1E's VP for Energy Solutions, in a written statement.

I'd say there's indeed something to 1E's assessment of the data. Many vendors and customers I've spoken to in regard to sustainable-technology practices have noted that there's a disconnect between IT departments and whomever at their respective companies is responsible for paying the energy bills, e.g. the facilities department.

As a result, IT admins tend to have have what amounts to a blank check when it comes to powering an organization's IT equipment, from the desktop systems to the datacenter hardware. But what would happen if the IT manager was suddenly held accountable for those costs and was given incentives to reduce energy consumption from month to month? The resourceful IT manager would no doubt find ways to do so. Heck, even the not-so-resourceful one would find ways; there's plenty of them, from the desktop to the datacenter.

For more on the subject, check out this a fine piece by James Murray over at BusinessGreen blog.

Does it makes sense for your IT department to be responsible for energy bills associated with IT operations? Let me know what you think.

Posted by Ted Samson on March 13, 2008 04:07 PM

RATE THIS ARTICLE: