Infrastructure
Europe leading US in drive for greener datacentres
Nearly three-quarters of Europeans are thinking green
By Computerworld UK reporter | Published 10:44, 17 October 07
European businesses are overtaking taking the US in the drive for green datacentres, though both regions have a long way to go, according to research by network attached storage specialist ONStor.
The findings indicate that 72% of European businesses have either already implemented a green initiative, or would adopt one in 6 months to two years, while only 60% of US businesses have implemented a green initiative, with 40% admitting the it was not even a discussion point.
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But the importance of updating technology in the datacentre is beginning to strike companies both in Europe and the US, as the threats of power failure and excessive costs mount.
Over 40% of both European and US business have predicted that their currentdata centre will run out of space in less than a year. Worse still, 63% of US respondents, and 58% of their European peers, have already run out of space, power and cooling capacity in their datacentre.
Many businesses are also reluctant to encourage greener practices in their organisation with the notional hiring of a chief energy officer to take responsibility for energy efficiency. Only 18% of respondents in Europe and even fewer in the US showed any interest in this idea.
The survey showed that one of the best incentives to go green was the prospect of saving money. Nearly 40% of US respondents reported that a 20% to 50% saving in cost would encourage them to go green. However, European companies are less likely than their US counterparts to make green policies contingent on cost savings, with over a third agreeing that a saving of up to 20% would be enough of an incentive.
