The latest on green IT drivers in ANZ

From Earth Hour 2008 to last month’s 2020 summit, the green debate continues. Green IT was recently estimated to rival the technology investment around Y2K, but has it been embraced by local business?

Last year, Sun’s inaugural Eco survey found that almost two thirds of businesses have environmental or green practices in place.

Based on more than 1,500 responses from 758 large and small organisations across ANZ, the research found that 27 per cent of respondents had green plans in place for the IT department.

However, 48 per cent of those surveyed already had, or would, deploy eco technology within the next 12 months.

One year on, has business attitude to, and behaviour around, green technology changed? Is cost still the main driver for the uptake of eco-responsible IT?

Sun’s 2008 Eco Survey – have your say for the chance to win an iPod touch

Have your say on green technology and enter Sun’s ANZ Eco Survey 2008.

As part of Sun’s ongoing commitment to eco-innovation, this study is designed to further uncover local attitudes towards green technology and purchasing trends.

Participate in this quick quiz before 10 June 2008 for your chance to win one of ten 8Gb iPod touch's.

Macquarie Telecom selects Sun for green IT

An Australian company confident in Sun’s data centre eco-innovative technology is Macquarie Telecom. At the end of 2007, in a deal worth an initial $1million, Macquarie Telecom purchased 200 AMD and Intel processor-based servers.

Based on green credentials, Macquarie Telecom selected Sun as preferred supplier for its Hosting Data Centre, the Intellicentre. The move is expected to cut energy consumption by more than 650,000 KW a year – equivalent to 600 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

A review of vendors including Dell and incumbent HP based on criteria including CPU speed, proved Sun’s x64 servers to be 60 per cent more energy efficient.

“On the basis of our study findings, with an absolute focus on reducing our carbon footprint, we’re now moving to Sun,” said Aidan Tudehope, Managing Director, Hosting, Macquarie Telecom.

The data centre green test - how do you measure up?

Keen to green your data centre without spending extra IT dollars? Check out Sun’s ten-point health check that highlights the telltale signs that your data centre environment needs help.

Sun named eco-leader in InfoWorld Green 15

Last month, Sun’s creative energy-efficient consolidation project undertaken across its major data centres around the world was recognised by the InfoWorld Green 15 awards. Sun was named a winner based on its energy-saving, waste-reducing initiatives, where in the Santa Clara data centre alone Sun has:

• Cut power capacity demand by 75 per cent
• Saved $1.1 million per year in energy costs
• Increased its data centre processing power more than four times

So whether you choose Intel, AMD and SPARC processor-based technology, Sun ensures breakthrough performance throughout the entire network:

• x64 systems – AMD or Intel technology delivers speed, reliability and maximum energy efficiency
• UltraSPARC CoolThread servers – world’s first system on a chip offers the most functionality for the least wattage per core and thread available
• Blade servers – double the capacity, double the efficiency, at half the cost of competing solutions