IT is being forced to go green -- Do you monitor power consumption?

IT departments must stop using up power as if it's an infinite resource, according to Gartner analyst Simon Mingay.

This week at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, Mingay said:

"Whether you believe in climate change or not, you have to prepare for that reality. There's a mistaken belief that IT organizations will be able to continue to consume the power they do today… The question is not why should you bother, but what are the risks if you do nothing."

Gartner reported that information and communications technology account for two percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, which is roughly the equivalent of what the airline industry produces. As a result, Gartner believes that IT is going to come under increasing pressure to change its conduct, and particularly to reduce its power consumption.

You can read the full story at ZDNet and Cellular-News, and eWEEK has an interesting slideshow of IT strategies for going green.

Over on ZDNet, Tom Shinder responded to this story by commenting:

"So we should waste more money following the [Global Warming] Religion? There are plenty of good reasons to reduce energy consumption (like reducing costs), but to bring in the GW BSology is really sinking to a new low."

To that, George Ou responded:

"Agreed, being 'green' in IT doesn't have to mean believing in Global Warming. Even if we ignored the hysteria in Global Warming, there's a good case to be made for saving power from a 'green' as in money perspective. Electricity is a major cost center in IT and it needs to be addressed." 

How much do you monitor and manage the power consumption of your IT department? What strategies have you implemented to reduce consumption, and how much money have you saved? Join the discussion, and take the poll below.

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