Originating Author: David Vellante
At the February 24th, 2009 Wikibon Peer Research Meeting, we asked if there's been a change in the situation that CIO's don't own the power budget. The answer-- somewhat but not nearly enough to affect change. Wikibon user estimates from the spring of 2008 indicate that less than 10% of CIO's have responsibility for the IT portion of the power bill, while December 2008 Forrester data pegs the figure at a whopping 11%.
Heightened sensitivity to data center energy efficiency, continued uncertainty around energy prices, and the global recession will increase scrutiny of data center environmentals. Moreover, as heat densities for IT equipment increase, more and more legacy data centers are up against the threshold of energy capacity and floorspace. These realities threaten to expose CIOs to unforeseen budget items. The best advice is to act now.
Action Item: CIOs need to get a handle on data center power consumption before it becomes a critical issue. Start by getting a copy of the energy bill and estimating the percent consumption from the IT equipment and forecast consumption over time. Work with facilities professionals to develop plans and practices to manage energy thresholds on an ongoing basis, with the goal of freeing up more space, creating electricity consumption headroom, and forestalling new data center build outs.
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