Technology Trends: It Is Easy Being Green

November 19, 2009

If you listened to Kermit the Frog, you might agree it "isn't easy being green."  However, with new technology advancements, Green IT can not only be easy but also cost effective for many nonprofit and for-profit organizations.  Green computing or green IT allows organizations to use environmentally friendly computing in their everyday business practices.  We can all play a vital role in adopting Green IT practices that will ultimately make being green a little easier – and make our world a little better.
 
At NPower, we recently implemented virtualization for The Foundation for The Carolinas (FFTC) as a way of reusing power and resources.  Virtualization shares the memory and processing power of one computer among many computers, which reduces power consumption.  The same concept can also be applied to servers.  Many organizations use different servers for different functions. At FFTC, NPower saved money and conserved resources by consolidating multiple servers down to one.
 
In addition to computer and server virtualization, Green IT can also be applied to other technology practices including:

  • Operating assessment: Helps determine what Green strategies can be used to help an organization reduce their overall costs
  • Printer elimination: Reduces costs by eliminating printers that are used infrequently, saving on hardware, ink and toner
  • Work station consolidation: Reduces the number of physical work stations and extends the usability/life of work stations
  • Server processing: Takes processing off of desktops; processing is done by the server, which allows computers to last longer and makes maintenance easier
  • Living in the Cloud: Eliminates the need for a physical server, saves money and uses a third party to store data remotely
  • Power utilization: Saves power by turning off computers, printers and other hardware devices during non-office hours when not in use

All organizations have technology needs that can be translated into a variety of Green IT solutions.  Not every solution is right for every organization but there are always ways to be “greener.”  With the appropriate technology consultation and assessment, you will find it is easy being green.  Questions on Green IT?  Contact Troy Norman.