Government agency plans big power savings with BigFix

Industry analysis by Beth Schultz, plus the latest news headlines.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) estimates it can save between $750,000 and $50 million annually if a majority of government agencies implement power management software that would enable IT to program computers to automatically shut down during non-business hours.

Private companies such as Partners HealthCare are reaping the rewards of power management features in software from asset management vendors such as Altiris. And now the GSA is offering the personal computer power conservation software at an annual license fee of $3 per computer through its SmartBUY program, which is a federal government procurement plan designed to promote "effective enterprise-level software management." The $3 license fee remains in effect through fiscal 2008.

Tom Kirelis, Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Infrastructure Optimization, Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, says the potential savings justify the investment in BigFix's Power Management software. He explains the software became part of the SmartBUY program via the Department of the Army, which had a blanket purchase agreement for asset management and asset discovery -- two features of BigFix's broader product portfolio. He says the Power Management application is well suited to government agency's infrastructure needs and could reap big savings, based on energy statistics around power savings.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) estimates it can save between $750,000 and $50 million annually if a majority of government agencies implement power management software that would enable IT to program computers to automatically shut down during non-business hours.

Private companies such as Partners HealthCare are reaping the rewards of power management features in software from asset management vendors such as Altiris. And now the GSA is offering the personal computer power conservation software at an annual license fee of $3 per computer through its SmartBUY program, which is a federal government procurement plan designed to promote "effective enterprise-level software management." The $3 license fee remains in effect through fiscal 2008.

Tom Kirelis, Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Infrastructure Optimization, Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, says the potential savings justify the investment in BigFix's Power Management software. He explains the software became part of the SmartBUY program via the Department of the Army, which had a blanket purchase agreement for asset management and asset discovery -- two features of BigFix's broader product portfolio. He says the Power Management application is well suited to government agency's infrastructure needs and could reap big savings, based on energy statistics around power savings.

"We estimate that an agency with 50,000 endpoints could save up to $50 per endpoint, which would translate into about $750,000 on energy savings," Kirelis says. "The power management component is a viable and very attractive business model for the government, which has initiatives around green IT as well."

Industry data shows there’s money to be saved by switching off machines. According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the average PC wastes up to 400 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, and that can cost up to $50 per PC, depending on energy prices. Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency ha reported reports that computers and monitors in the United States are responsible for the unnecessary production of millions of tons of greenhouse gases every year, and more than $1 billion per year is wasted on electricity for computer monitors that are turned on when they shouldn’t be.

Today the software is being deployed in a couple of agencies, Kirelis says, and the government is still in talks with BigFix on future contracts. The Power Management module comes bundled with BigFix Enterprise Suite. It allows IT managers to wake up desktops and laptops that have been shut down for upgrades, remotely shut down client machines, and enforce configuration policies that would reset the machines’ settings to conservation mode when not in use. According to BigFix, a typical installation could help IT managers shut down computers up to 108 non-working hours for companies operating during normal business hours. Such features could help government agencies save big budget dollars.

"We could easily recognize $50 million in power consumption savings if adoption of the software becomes widespread," Kirelis says.

Read more about infrastructure management in Network World's Infrastructure Management section.

Schultz is a longtime IT journalist. You can email her or find her here.