Energy efficiency not a big factor in IT purchasing decisions

Survey finds power reduction opportunities wasted

Just 34% of IT executives say energy efficiency is a very important factor when considering equipment purchases, a new survey by IT products and services vendor CDW has found.

IT managers routinely say they care about energy efficiency, and a full 94% told CDW that they take some routine measures to manage energy consumption and cost of IT equipment. But with just one-third of executives calling energy efficiency a key factor in buying equipment, it’s clear that concerns about efficiency are not heavily influencing purchasing decisions, CDW concludes.

“While most organizations care about reducing energy consumption and [could achieve] significant savings, success comes only with sharp, persistent focus on energy-efficiency opportunities throughout the IT organization,” CDW says.

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Just 34% of IT executives say energy efficiency is a very important factor when considering equipment purchases, a new survey by IT products and services vendor CDW has found.

IT managers routinely say they care about energy efficiency, and a full 94% told CDW that they take some routine measures to manage energy consumption and cost of IT equipment. But with just one-third of executives calling energy efficiency a key factor in buying equipment, it’s clear that concerns about efficiency are not heavily influencing purchasing decisions, CDW concludes.

“While most organizations care about reducing energy consumption and [could achieve] significant savings, success comes only with sharp, persistent focus on energy-efficiency opportunities throughout the IT organization,” CDW says.

The survey involved 778 IT pros in U.S. organizations, including midsized and large businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions.

Critics of IT energy use often point out that few CIOs even see their power bill. CDW’s survey finds that executives who are given information about their energy consumption are doing more to reduce power usage.

About 57% of IT executives say at least one person in their IT organization has some responsibility for energy costs. Of that group, nearly nine out of 10 are developing strategies to manage power demand and energy consumption, whereas just 38% of IT shops that lack control over their power bills are doing so.

Buying efficient equipment alone isn’t going to solve an IT shop’s energy problems. For example, only 38% of IT pros who have purchased Energy Star-qualified computers said they make full use of the power management tools in those PCs.

Most organizations that have formal programs to manage energy consumption have been successful in containing usage, IT executives told CDW. One-quarter of such organizations said energy costs and consumption are still rising, but not as much as it would have if efficiency measures were not taken. Total cost remained flat for another one-quarter of these organizations, and 28% were able to reduce IT energy cost by 1% to 20%.

Nearly one out of 10 organizations with energy-reduction plans were able to reduce costs by 21% to 40%, and one out of 50 of these organization were able to reduce total IT energy costs by 41% or more.

Five methods proved vital to those organizations that were able to reduce energy costs: buying low-power computers; buying Energy Star-qualified devices; training employees to shut down equipment; making full use of power-management tools; and consolidating and optimize servers. (Compare server products.)

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