Simplify, Save, and Save the Planet

In the past few weeks we've presented quite a few suggestions on how IT departments large and small can simplify their operations and save money in the process. For example, we've pointed out that companies that adopt a smart refresh strategy can actually consolidate as much as 50 percent of their infrastructure footprint, with dramatic opex savings. We've also talked about storage solutions like "de-duping" that can have a similar effect on budgets.

We'll offer more ideas in the coming weeks on the connection between simplifying IT and saving. But there's another important connection we haven't mentioned: the one between the "simplify and save" approach  and the environment. It's almost always a positive connection, because when the infrastructure footprint shrinks, so does the carbon footprint. Every server that's not refreshed due to virtualization, and every storage array that's not required because of a de-duping initiative results in reduced energy consumption. That in turn reduces the consumption of the fossil fuel that generates 85 percent of the primary energy consumed in the United States.

In the twentieth century, environmental goals and the goals of business were often at odds. In the twenty-first – at least in IT organizations, they're not. 

That's something to be thankful for.

About the Author: Todd D