Desktop Power Cuts Beat Server Savings

Globally, he makes a rough stab and suggests that desktops use about as much energy as servers – and clients use massively more than servers if all the phones and home computers are added in, he says: “There isn’t any clear research that answers that question.”

So which should users do first, we ask, virtualisation or desktop management? The answer is an easy one: “I would say Desktop power management is the quickest and easiest win. Virtualisation is a big project with multiple reasons and implications. You don’t do it merely for power savings. Desktop power management, on the other hand, will produce a fairly quick return on investment within six months, with relatively little disruption to people’s work practices or IT as a whole.”

That equation is even more obvious in the US, where users in some states get a financial rebate for using less power. “In California , PG&E gives you a rebate. It actually affects their profitability if they can’t show they are reducing energy consumption. It’s often cheaper for US utiltities to persuade people to use less power than to build a new power station. And I think you will see more of that over here.”

Should IT take over?

Green IT has so far focused on cutting the energy used within its own servers and equipment, but should it set its sights higher? “IT is a great enabler of saving energy and carbon generally,” said Lawrence. “The IT industry has been very defensive over the last few years, because of its own high energy use. Over the next few years it will have to justify itself by showing how it can help the company use less energy elsewhere.”

If IT managers can seize the high ground, there is no reason why they shouldn’t take over other parts of the company. “Energy and facilities management could become IT functions,” said Lawrence. “If you take a large modern office building, with all its elevators, escalators, CO2 monitors, heat, light and aircon – everything will have a chip, and an IP address. Everything will consume energy, and can be turned up or down.”

“It should all be managed by IT,” he said, “and people are calling for that. They want the CIO to become the energy czar.”

Do CIOs understand enough of the real world to do that, we ask: “That’s a re-run of old debates about board representation for IT. Almost every CIO I’ve met is perfectly capable of running facilities as well as IT. The energy management of the entire building has become a big issue, and it’s something for which IT has lots of tools, – though they are quite immature.”

“I’ve heard many people say IT should run facilities,” he says, “but no one is saying facilities people should be put in charge of IT.”