How to Green Your IT with Cloud Computing: Facts Every CEO/CFO Should Know

“Going Green” in your business means making a reduction in the overall environmental impact of your business. Typically, there are a number of areas you’ll look at: energy inefficiency and consumption, materials (stopping waste and using sustainable/renewable materials), and finally, making sure you’re using “green” products, equipment, and services. Some of the things you do will save you money; other things may cost you more.

Fortunately, there is one aspect of your business that you can change that will have the benefit of being “green” and also save you money: moving your IT to the cloud. IT often misses the mark when thinking “green” because businesses may not appreciate the huge impact their data processing is having on their carbon footprint and bottom line.

Did you know, for example:

A mid-size server has the same carbon footprint as an SUV, achieving 15 miles per gallon (Gartner Analyst, September 2006)

100 PCs left on without power saving settings will consume up to $11,000 of electricity per year (Global Action Plan 2007) and for every unit of electricity consumed about another half unit is required to dissipate the heat generated.

Servers typically require as much power to cool them as they consume directly.

· A typical PC has a carbon footprint of about 620 lbs of CO2/year, which is the same as driving 611 miles (HP website).

So what is cloud computing? How can The Cloud help you make your business greener while saving you money?

Cloud computing is computing that is delivered over the Internet as a utility that delivers water or electricity. It can be accessed from virtually any device that has an Internet connection. The computing power is located and produced outside the company on external servers, so the company does not need to own or operate any computing hardware.

Moving your IT to the cloud is less difficult than most CEOs/CFOs imagine. It involves relatively easy migration of vital business applications, desktop systems, and any custom server environments to new servers configured and running from a secure data center. Employees will have access to all of their computing through a secure, encrypted Internet connection. Ideally, a business will replace PCs with Microsoft Windows virtual desktop environments, complete with Microsoft Office™ software. Each user will be able to access their own desktop using a PC, tablet, laptop, thin client, or virtually any smart device with a network connection. People will enjoy a truly mobile work environment and will be able to access their desktop directly anytime, anywhere!

Once the transition is done, all your servers are gone, you don’t need a server room. Because you no longer need to power and cool these servers, you realize big savings and have reduced your carbon footprint. And because the new servers built for business in the secure data center are virtualized, this enables massive compute and energy efficiency that translates into savings that are passed on to you, the business.

Once you’ve moved your IT to the cloud, the next greenest thing to do is replace all your PCs with Thin Clients. A thin client is small, with no moving parts, no hard drives, and no noisy fans. Compared to a typical office PC, it uses 1/10th the power or less and has a three times longer life expectancy. It is simply a local terminal to plug in your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and network connection. Users have a normal desktop experience when connected to their thin client without any of the reliability headaches. By using Thin Clients, a business with 100 PCs can save energy costs of up to $5,000 a year directly without counting HVAC savings from not having to deal with PC heat emissions.

Now that your company’s IT infrastructure is in the Cloud, it’s easier for your employees to work flexibly. Anyone with an Internet connection and the right secure link will be able to access her desktop exactly as if they were in your office. CEOs could make the decision to allow workers more flexible work schedules, for example allowing them to work from home, telecommuting. They could allow employees to stagger commute time to lose inefficient and tiring rush hour commutes, knowing that employees can start working efficiently at their desks from home. These options are green options and help reduce the company’s CO2 footprint.

The move to cloud computing is underway. The green and cost-saving benefits of moving your IT infrastructure to the cloud are too important to ignore. By the end of 2012, Gartner projected that “20% of all companies will not own IT assets.” CEOs and CFOs would be wise to consider the option for their companies.