Robert McCarthy, manager, Innovative Environmental Solutions at IBM Ireland, explains: “IBM has formulated a new strategy called Smart Planet. It’s all about using green technology to do smart things for people, infrastructure and our eco system in general,” he explains.
Referring to the reasons for implementing a greener IT infrastructure, McCarthy says right now people are looking at the main drivers such as regulations and directives for water and energy infrastructure.
“Other drivers are around cost. There’s also the whole brand image and corporate social responsibility opportunity. So, there are many reasons why organisations should spend money on green projects.”
IT can and should help to reduce emissions in a twofold way: by making more efficient use of the infrastructure and by using the economy of scale provided by data centres.”
Virtualisation and outsourcing are two areas where companies can achieve tangible change, says Tinkiel.
One proposition that IBM Ireland has developed is Green Sigma, which it runs out of its cloud infrastructure.
The three areas Green Sigma looks at are carbon emissions, water management and waste management.
McCarthy says with a proposition such as Green Sigma, companies can cut their costs by 20–25pc.
“We’ve been running this proposition for about a year and it looks like we’re going to make significant savings.
“It’s all about a return on investment. Anything that can show a return within 18 months should become very visible to IT managers,” he adds.
Source: Silicon Republic