CA Launches ecoDesktop Power Management Software

CA Technologies has expanded its ecoSoftware suite with two new applications designed to help businesses monitor and reduce their energy consumption.

The company has released an updated version of its flagship energy monitoring system CA ecoMeter and a new CA ecoDesktop application that sees the software developer move into the PC power management market.

Power down

CA ecoDesktop is designed to manage PC energy use and automatically power down machines that are left on overnight. John Madsen, IT manager for the municipality of Ballerup, Denmark, said the system is expected to reduce its carbon emissions and save it around $549,000 (£457,000) over three years.

Businesses have been reluctant to embrace power management software, despite the potential savings, as they fear that it may disrupt their IT operations. Much of the adoption of such schemes has resulted from employees taking the initiative with research showing that half of users turn their PCs off at night because of their concerns about the environment and the cost – not as a result of company policy. However, this is expected to change in the coming years due to the rising cost of energy.

“As organisations become increasingly dependent on data centres – either on premise or in the cloud – to provide critical applications and services, the challenges and risks associated with uptime, power and cooling capacity have become more pronounced,” commented Terrence Clark, general manager for CA ecoSoftware.

“In addressing these challenges, our CA ecoSoftware solution reaches from the desktop to the data centre and across the enterprise. It helps customers provide for availability, reduce costs, and more rapidly meet the demands of the business,” he claimed.