A survey by the Aperture Research Institute (ARI) of more than 100 data centre professionals has shown that organisations are unable or unwilling to meet the expectations set by their adoption of green initiatives for the data centre. This follows an earlier ARI report published in March 2008, which discovered that 70% of organisations are adopting green initiatives, although 19% of those had omitted the data centre from that programme.

When it comes to procurement, energy efficiency and ease of disposal are the lowest priorities, rated as less significant than brand and price. 37% of data centres have no plans to measure energy efficiency, and 76% do not charge the business for the power used by the IT commissions. One reason for that is a lack of infrastructure for measuring power consumption.??Steve Yellen, Principal of the Aperture Research Institute, said: “Although many organisations have made a commitment to cutting their environmental impact, when it comes to the data centre, most lack the tools and processes they need if they are to deliver on that promise. The number one cause of increasing power consumption is an increase in demand for IT services, so business managers must be made accountable for the energy their applications consume. Only 24% of organisations we surveyed said the IT department charges the business for energy use. They simply don’t have the technology to be able to implement the management processes they need.”