This has been an exciting few days with tracks that include the innovations and best practices in data center energy efficiency fare from my good colleagues Fred Mapp and Friends of Fred Mapp, and Ken Brill's extensive rolodex of brilliant CIOs that are discussing the urgency of energy efficiency but also some new faces with messages of innovation in related disciplines.
From speaking to colleagues in the hallway at The Uptime Institute annual event, the most popular talk was that offered by Deloitte's CIO Larry Quinlan, who had a very approachable speaking style that betrayed a similar management style - the audience found his message very compelling. When Larry spoke about putting together a green team with very tangible responsibilities for each team member, it resonated with the data center operations staff in the audience who often felt that the milestones are not specific enough and responsibilities not well delegated.
Over and over, the message came across that IT and Real Estate/Facilities need the assistance of the C-Level Suite to start and manage data center energy efficiency initiatives - AND, the process is iterative, and continuous, not a one time project. One speaker recommended that IT approach the CFO with a multiyear program on data center energy efficiency so that the amount of dollars requested is larger and more significant, and requires the CFO's commitment over a longer period of time, thus bypassing an annual "ask" by IT.
In one case study, one company said that while their data center comprised just 4% of their campus real estate, IT's contribution to the electricity bill topped 45%. In cases where that huge percentage was not yet determined, discovering advocates just isn't that easy.
Having consulted on the new content for the symposium, I was glad to see many new faces with different job responsibilities (who hadn't been Symposium attendees in prior years) join the audience. So while there was a small audience for the panel on what bloggers report is important to sustainable computing, the panel of Matt Stansberry, Rich Miller, Kevin Heslin and David Ohara enjoyed trading their insights on what is urgent or important or both to their readers. Similarly, the panel on the EMEA's response to IT and corporate social responsibility was faced with a very vocal contingent from Europe expressing their differences from the American model of carrots for industry leaders v regulation as it exists today in Europe.
Two of the highlights were the presentations by Tom Friedman (author of Hot, Flat, & Crowded) and Christine Ervine, former president of the Green Building Council. Tom, condensing the research reported in his excellent book, while admitting the damage to worldwide floodzones from just 1 degree centigrade average annual temperature increase, said "I am a cautious optimist... we have just enough time (to resolve global warming) if we start today" and Christine Ervine with more optimism, showed how much the LEEDs certification has accomplished in a short number of years with photographs of beautiful buildings that sent shivers up my spine. So much to do within the next five years. IT department managers (we!) cannot sit back and act indecisive because simply holding even will not halt the warming already starting to take place. "A rollback is required by all of us. we need a green revolution, not a green party" warned Friedman. I'll post photos when I return to my office...Other presentations by Bill Wiehl of Google, Lauralee Martin of Jones Lang Lasalle, Steve Sams and Rich Lechner of IBM, Mark Ascolese of EDSA, Neil Rasmussen of APC Schneider, and Bonnie Nixon of Hewlett Packard offered up varieties of innovation on the topic - the kind Tom Friedman will be been proud of. Have a green day!
Comments