Green IT : The Blossoming

As the global economy went downhill and companies took a severe beating, the
concept and theory of green IT was severely tested. In the past couple of years,
thanks to the ever increasing concerns about climate change and limited
resources, green IT has been touted as a panacea for all ills. And the coming
year could be an inflection point for green IT as organizations start looking at
green not merely as a purchase function but also as a product potential.

From Data Center to Storage

The biggest push for green IT has come from the hardware side. Vendors like
IBM, HP, Cisco, Dell have been drumming up support for a more power efficient,
or green infrastructure. The main thrust has been on the data center side, as
they are known to be great guzzlers of power and electricity. According to
estimates, data centers across the globe account for 2% of the global
electricity consumption and are growing at a fast pace. So, even a small
improvement here would go a long way for any company.

Thin clients have been around for quite a few years, though companies and
CIOs have recently woken up to its benefits. By replacing desktop machines, a
company can make a power saving of as much as 50% straight up. Also, the fact
that these machines can be more efficiently managed with RIM makes it all the
more compelling.

Another major area that will see much action is green storage. With the
current storage utilization hovering at around 20-30%, the need of the hour is
higher utilization which saves power and physical space. The coming year will
also see a lot more focus on more efficient storage management, while simple
stratagems like cleaning up the data center need to be adopted, there will be
newer technologies, like virtualized storage services that will help companies
cut down costs.

Arrive, Green Software

Virtualization is a buzz word at the moment, and in the coming years the
buzz around the term is only going to increase. In a typical scenario,
enterprises will have a host of servers, often one for every enterprise-wide
application, or racks and racks of storage containing archaic information.
Virtualization of software or server can be of immense help as companies can
then consolidate their infrastructure. In fact, a virtualization device or a
software application can track the server space and remap applications to
different physical locations as necessary. With virtualization, information can
be made location-independent and can be redirected across multiple I/O devices
and platforms.

While the cloud has nothing much to do with green IT, it can still be an
enabler of green as it helps in conservation of power. With the use of cloud
computing (or basically SaaS), many companies have been able to do away with the
need for physical infrastructure and thus reduce their energy footprint. In the
years to come as cloud computing spreads there will be much talk about this
hidden aspect of the cloud as well.

GaaS on the Way?

Green IT is not merely a way to save money, smart companies can also make
money from the same. In the coming year, there is going to be a lot of
excitement around GaaS or Green as a Service, as enterprises start offering
services around the same. Already quite a few companies like Wipro, Infosys, and
even Zensar are offering consultancy services to companies on how they can
reduce their energy footprint. As companies across the globe become more and
more conscious of their carbon footprint, Indian services companies can innovate
and provide solutions that help them go green. Wipro, for instance, has built
special solutions that help clients to cut down on carbon emissions.

Shashwat DC

shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in