The top two pressures that drive companies to adopt green infrastructure solutions in the data center are the rising cost of energy and maintaining the storage infrastructure, according to a benchmark report from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks company. A benchmark study on green initiatives finds best-in-class IT organizations benefit their companies as well as the environment. Free report, due in part to underwriters 3PAR and Nexsan.

“As always, IT organizations look for ways to reduce their data center power consumption and their need for cooling and these actions are consistent with a green initiative. These companies not only experience lower operating costs and improved application and data availability, but they also enhance their corporate image,” said Jeffrey Hill, Senior Research Analyst, Technology Group at Aberdeen. “Of course, a ‘going green’ strategy is really using current industry practices to leverage a more efficient infrastructure which benefits both the company and the environment.”

To achieve Best-in-Class status, organizations during the previous 12 months were required to have achieved reductions in storage power consumption, in storage cooling requirements and in overall data center utilities cost. Fifteen percent (15%) of these companies also experienced a reduction in data center floor space by implementing green solutions.

The report found that implementing a tiered storage architecture and replacing or upgrading infrastructure components such as servers and storage arrays help Best-in-Class companies outperform their peers.

The report also found that a key process differentiator between Best-in-Class, Industry Average, and Laggard organizations was the use metrics such as those proposed by the Green Grid to measure the infrastructure for energy efficiency (as was the case for 24% of Best-in-Class versus 14% of Industry Average and 6% of Laggards).

About this study

The Aberdeen Group report, “Green Initiatives: Lowering Costs and Increasing Efficiency in the Data Center,” is available for download free of charge This report examines how global enterprises are utilizing green strategies, processes, and solutions to enhance data center and storage efficiency and return on investment. In addition to providing insight into what Best-in-Class companies are doing, this report also offers recommended actions that all companies can take to leverage green solutions in the pursuit of more a cost-effective infrastructure. The report is a compilation of surveys and interviews from more than 175 organizations globally and highlights how Best-in-Class performers are using green initiatives as way to increase the efficiency of their data center.

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