Board Room Data Centre Efficiency Discussions Are ‘Not Happening’

Not enough discussions are happening in the board room when it comes to keeping data centres green, leading to difficulties reducing future costs of data centre operation.

This is according to The Green Grid, the non-profit industry consortium dedicated to improving the efficiency of data centres around the world, whose highest profile members include IBM, Cisco and Intel.

Green energy issues

“There are two issues that are leading many organisations to struggle in understanding resource efficiency and how best to increase it. Firstly, the conversations are not always happening at the right level,” said The Green Grid’s Roel Castelein.

“Sustainability is an organisational issue and therefore it needs to be understood by the board – especially as the data centre is often one of the largest resource drains in an organisation. Secondly, even when it is discussed at the board level, many are uncertain about the subject due to a lack of data and experience in order to make effective decisions.”

Read: Apple Plans Renewable Energy Sale With New Company

The Green Grid asked 150 IT decision makers about their data centre efficiency conversations, and found that just two-thirds of organisations are discussing data centre energy efficiency at the board level.

“IT leaders must be willing to knock harder on the boardroom door with more insights into resource efficiency, when discussions on CSR (corporate social responsibility) are raised,” said Castelein.

Almost all of the respondents agreed that monitoring within data centres could be improved to increase energy efficiency.

Around two-fifths believe that the future costs are the top challenge perceived by the board.

“The only way to bring clarity on improving sustainability and resource effectiveness is by measuring and monitoring the data centre effectively and providing clear advice on how to make further improvements,” added Castelein.

“Our research shows that there is far more room for improvement with monitoring processes and the time spent analysing the data. Only when IT leaders start tackling this head on and enhance their offering in this area will board directors start to get the clarity that they need.”

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