EU Code Of Conduct For Data Centres ‘Failing’

The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres, intended to help data centre owners become more efficient,  is not getting any significant level of support in the UK, according to a data centre specialist

The Code of Conduct was launched in late 2008, as a practical set of guidelines designed to improve energy efficiency within the data centre industry, bringing vendors and data centre operators together, to develop good practices for reducing the energy consumption of data centres, which Gartner analysts have warned warned now made up 12 percent of data centre expenditure.

Few Adopters?

The code is voluntary, and has faced persistent criticism over the small number of organisations that have publicly embraced it. Some have  argued that unless more people adopt it, it may have to be embodied in mandatory regulations.

Executives working on the Code, have argued that take-up is increasing. There are now  60 data centres signed up, with a further 70 currently having their applications processed, according to a report in Business Green.

The Code’s website currently lists only 28 participants, and 101 companies endorsing the code, but Lam Newcombe, CTO at Romonet, reportedly said that the code had attracted a large number of high profile participants with data centres responsible for over 100MW of energy use.

“We are clearly having an effect on the market and, for a campaign that has had very little PR, we have made really good progress,” Newcombe told Business Green.

He also said that at least one high profile search engine firm and several major service providers operating multiple server farms across Europe are currently considering signing up to the code. And he said that the Code’s best practice guidelines are now being adopted internally by other organisations in Asia and the US.

Toothless Guard Dog

But this view was in stark contrast to a recent report from data centre solutions specialist Sentrum, who earlier this month said that the EU Code of Conduct is failing to engage the data centre industry, with a significant lack of support in the UK.

This is a problem, as London remains the largest single data centre market in Europe according to a Tariff Consultancy report.

Sentrum said that its report had found that that by mid-2009 only a minority of companies (12 percent) had adopted the EU Code of Conduct. And even worse, it said that in 2010, only 15 percent of large UK organisations have adopted it.

Thirty-six 36 percent of IT managers say that for them, there are more important IT priorities to manage, and 48 percent cited stretched resources as the most common obstacle. And it seems that signing up also does not necessarily indicate that the Code has been adhered to: 47 percent of the early adopters blame the recession for the continued lack of compliance.

“Our research showed that the failure of the Code to gain traction within the industry is largely due to the way in which it has been set up, introduced and administered,” said Franek Sodzawiczny, development director and partner at Sentrum. “By being presented as a voluntary choice, the Code has simply become a toothless guard dog – essentially lacking the tools to police, and enforce, the associated necessary standards.”

Compliance Failure

Eighteen percent of respondents blamed the low profile of the Code for hindering compliance within the industry, the same number citing a lack of policing. Separately, 27 percent believe a lack of potential financial penalties associated with non-compliance is to blame.

“The net result of this is a failure of the Code to deliver upon its basic remit,” said Sodzawiczny. “Not only are we seeing pathetically poor levels of adoption, but of those who have signed up, 87 percent admit to failing to comply with the Code recommendations.”

Trying to get the industry to focus of the Code during a recession was always going to be a tough proposition, but looking forward, 48 percent said that they were very likely to adopt the Code, compared to just 33 percent in 2009 – but only if future adoption can also be equated to compliance.