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TOO
MUCH "GREENWASH"? It is certain that Green Data Centres are now very important to most markets, although their development is being lead by companies in the US and Europe where it is already an issue that is hitting at board level. BroadGroup expects that current attitudes towards the Green message will change in the next twelve months as the environmental impact of data centres becomes clearer, and users are hit by a combination of regulatory, customer and investor pressure. In the interim, the need for vendors to articulate a green strategy will continue to grow – and being Green will be “essential” to being a selected vendor within the next 13-24 months. These results come from a new survey conducted by Digital Realty Trust which reveal that more than 60% of respondents confirmed that the need for vendors to articulate a green strategy will only increase in even the short term. (Interviews were conducted with senior level executives in European firms with more than €1 billion in revenue). More than 70% of firms interviewed plan to upgrade existing facilities, and the same percentage indicated that being Green will be essential to selection as a preferred supplier. Data Centres are also concerned about retrospective legislation that will impose requirements to upgrade their facilities to meet new carbon emission standards. However, in three years time, BroadGroup believes the term green data centre will disappear as all new data centre builds will have a green focus, and there sophistication increases about the meaning of Green. The short-term opportunity for green solutions will fall in markets where green issues are already important, or where they offer an important area of differentiation. The key is understanding the issue from both the IT perspective, and the data centre/facilities management and board/senior management levels. A Green Data Centre is, by definition, a more efficient one (a recent BroadGroup report concluded that right sizing was the most important element of a Green Data Centre) – with clear cost and efficiency savings. Equally, reliability is the primary requirement of a data centre and so technology mist be proven and reliable, and redundancy and back-up in place. Winning vendors will be those who are able to understand these issues and help users develop this strategy. Drivers for green DCs are a mix of fear (regulation, governments, cost savings, marketing the influence of CSR on RFPs and differentiation (as illustrated by supermarkets). Current barriers are proving the value and contribution of Green to
RoI, a lack of clarity over how a Green Data Centre (and impending standards/regulations)
is defined, and practicalities from the availability of renewable energy
to scalability of technologies.
Have you also seen our other consultant articles? Too Much
Greenwash?
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