To address the growing need for CIOs to generate more value from their IT and networking investments, 3Com, a contributing member of the Green Grid, has outlined several ways to improve an organisation’s sustainability through its networking infrastructure.
According to a new white paper from industry research firm IDC, “Building the case for an environmentally sustainable networking strategy”, the pervasiveness of networking across the entire enterprise makes it a key enabler of sustainable IT, from the supply chain to improved communications and personal productivity. It also provides numerous opportunities to slash the $6 billion that was spent powering data centres throughout Europe in 2007.
3Com’s David Law, consultant engineer at 3Com, and 3Com’s representative on The Green Grid highlights 7 ways to ensure an organisation benefits from sustainable, energy-efficient networking:
Move to Voice over IP to take advantage of the cost savings offered by teleconferencing. A recent IDC survey showed that only 32 percent of organisations have VoIP, and only 15 percent of meetings are teleconferences, indicating a huge opportunity to reduce travel costs with efficient IP communications.
Employ technologies like Power over Ethernet that, for example, enable the network to switch off power to IP phones when they are not in use.
Plan to take advantage of energy-efficient Ethernet when the standard is ratified in 2010.
Choose a networking vendor that provides energy efficiency improvements at the chip, memory and power supply unit levels. As each new generation of processor technology reduces the power consumption of networking devices more than PCs or servers, the impact on the budget is accordingly greater.
Ensure that network bandwidth can handle video for videoconferencing to cut travel costs. Currently, only 9 percent of meetings are videoconferences.
Move network services and applications such as WAN optimisation into the network with integrated network infrastructure solutions.
Upgrade the network infrastructure. For example, changing older generation switches such as 3Com Switch 4924 to 3Com Switch 4200G in a typical enterprise LAN of 100 Ethernet switches and 2000 network nodes could equate to savings of around 77,890 kilowatt hours.
3Com believes that most organisations are failing to take advantage of the real benefits of sustainable IT because of their incomplete approach to “green” technology. A holistic approach to sustainability, led by IT, can result in significant improvements in cost savings and energy efficiency while meeting the regulatory requirements and government targets.
“Enterprises need to avoid the “tick-in-the-box” approach to sustainable IT and networking,” says David Law, consultant engineer at 3Com, and 3Com’s representative on The Green Grid. “Regulation is undoubtedly driving many organisations to meet defined targets, but this can lead to a piecemeal approach that misses out on the undeniable cost-saving opportunities today and in the future.”