Data centres are adopting green initiatives but are wary of vendors' marketing messages

A survey by the Aperture Research Institute (ARI) of more than 100 data centre professionals has shown that green initiatives are gaining traction in the data centre, but data centre management does not trust the environmental claims that vendors attach to products and services.

Although 70% of organisations are adopting green initiatives, the Aperture Research Institute study found two alarming gaps: 19% of those with a green initiative admitted it did not include the data centre, and 13% of those with an initiative did not know whether it did. Since the ARI was interviewing those with responsibility for planning and managing data centres, the green initiative would be unlikely to have any effect in a data centre where management does not understand the initiative's implications.

Numerous opportunities were suggested for cutting energy use in the data centre, with 44% naming cooling and 24% naming power efficiency. 27% proposed virtualisation or consolidation as a strategy, but only one person
suggested powering off unused CPUs. The minority of managers appear willing to adopt strategies that will help them to use existing assets more effectively. Most are calling for more energy efficient equipment to be
invented, bought by their organisations and then installed in their data centres.

Despite that, data centre management is unconvinced by vendors' claims to be marketing more environmentally friendly equipment. 26% dismissed such claims as hype, and 42% said they had no way to validate the claims. It seems that even those organisations that are committed to reducing their environmental footprint do not trust vendors to help them do so.

Steve Yellen, Principal of the Aperture Research Institute, said: "Some commentators have suggested that the IT industry is responsible for more carbon emissions than aviation, and it is time for the IT industry to start taking its responsibilities seriously. Our study found that 70% of organisations are adopting a green initiative, but some have left alarming gaps as far as the data centre is concerned. There's also a lack of trust between vendors and the data centres they supply. Managers recognise the positive contribution that more-energy-efficient equipment can make, but they are quick to dismiss vendors' green claims as hype or impossible to verify."

Yellen concluded: "This ARI survey investigates managers' attitudes towards the so-called 'green data centre'. In the next research note, we will investigate whether the actions of data centre management reflect their stated aims."

The Aperture Research Institute is the first organisation dedicated to researching data centres, their challenges, and best practice management. It was established by Aperture Technologies Inc., the leading global provider of software for managing the physical infrastructure of data centres.

The Aperture Research Institute's latest research note, entitled 'Data Centres are Adopting Green Initiatives but are Wary of Vendors' Marketing Messages', is available free, as a PDF from: http://www.aperture.com/about/research_institute/ari_data_centers_green_attitudes_110308.pdf

About The Aperture Research Institute

The Aperture Research Institute has been established to share expertise and market intelligence about data centres and how they are managed. The Aperture Research Institute is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aperture Technologies.

About Aperture

Aperture is the leading global provider of software for managing the physical infrastructure of data centres. Aperture's solutions reduce operational risk and improve efficiency through the planning and management of data centre resources and real-time monitoring of the environment. Aperture delivers the best practice processes that enable organisations to take control of an increasingly complex physical infrastructure including equipment, space, power, cooling, network and storage.  With over 20 years of experience, Aperture provides organisations with the information required to optimise their data centre operations, delivering better services at the lowest cost. Aperture's customers include the world's largest companies, half of which are Fortune 1000 and Global 500 organisations.