This year, only one in eight data centre managers are implementing energy saving solutions to reduce carbon footprint compared to one in three during 2008

London, 19th February 2009: A survey of registered attendees at this year’s Data Centre World has revealed that only one in eight data centre managers cite a desire to go green as the key reason for implementing energy saving solutions, falling from one in three this time last year.  The effects of the credit crunch mean that reducing the carbon footprint of data centres has become less of a priority than ever before; saving money is still the number one reason for lowering power consumption in today’s data centres, according to the new survey released today by the organisers of Data Centre World, the UK’s first and only data centre expo (24th and 25th February 2009 at the Barbican, London).

The more positive news is that over two thirds of data centres are proactively implementing policies and technologies that will enable them to minimise power consumption.  Although the primary reason given for this was to save money during today’s difficult economic climate, the fact still remains that any reduction in power is a positive thing for the industry - especially when data centre energy requirements are expected to double over the next four years.  Any curb on this will be a welcome shift for the sector.

Worryingly, the research also revealed that 8% of data centre managers are not bothered about their future power consumption, and are not implementing any power saving strategies to be more green - a dangerous attitude given the sector’s power-hungry reputation.  One in ten data centre managers would like to be doing more to reduce power consumption, but concerns that implementing these strategies would be too difficult and impact upon the service they can offer customers are preventing them from taking steps.

Not a single respondent thought that their data centre was already completely optimised in terms of energy efficiency, highlighting the fact that there is still plenty of room for improvement in the sector, and with only 2% of managers stating that being more economical would be prohibitively expensive, it is a realistic aspiration for most data centres.

Sarah Williams, Event Director of Turret Group, organisers of Data Centre World comments:

“Last year, energy efficiency and power conservation were the words on everyone’s lips, from Government-backed green initiatives, to businesses and households being encouraged to ‘go green’, today  energy efficiency and power conservation are instead the main tools for keeping afloat during the credit crunch.  It is vital for data centres to cut costs at every possible opportunity in order to maintain their businesses, especially given the reduced customer demand at the moment.  It is fantastic that so many data centres are taking steps to reduce their energy consumption - for whatever reason - as this can only have positive effects in the long run.”

Operating a data centre during the credit crunch is one of the key focuses for Data Centre World 2009.  It will highlight how taking steps to reduce power usage can not only increase profitability, but also the associated environmental benefits can help improve the reputation of the data centre industry - traditionally seen as a very environmentally unfriendly sector, bringing it more in line with the national green agenda.   

Visitors to the show can take advantage of the free-to-attend conference programme, which will give advice, recommendations and top tips on how data centres of all sizes can ‘go green’, and in turn, improve profitability.  Attendees will be able to learn from and talk to industry experts such as Steve Bowden, IBM; James Griffin, Star and Anthony Foy; Interxion. Conference sessions will cover a range of issues such as professional planning, managing and hosting a data centre in the credit crunch.

For more information on the show and the conference programme please visit www.datacentreworld.com.