Media and advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) has drawn up an IT policy to tackle environmental impact which includes conserving power on desktops, slashing unnecessary printing, consolidating servers and increasing temperatures in datacentres.

O&M, part of global media and advertising giant WPP, calculated that it had been using more than 4.5 million kW of electricity and printing more than six million A4 pages a year.

To tackle this, O&M started by making staff think about recycling and power saving.
“Then we thought about the bigger things we could do, which is where IT fits in,” said European regional technology director Jamie McLellan.

“We are looking at moving from 60 messaging servers down to six and consolidating Active Directory environments by 50 per cent.

“We have also consolidated servers, for example, looking at whether we can run a server in Europe out of New York instead. And if we can, we will.”

The company has implemented Web Transporter 1.0, its third version of an electronic transfer tool for heavy users, which supports the secure transmission of files up to 20GB in size.

Described by O&M as “file transfer on steroids”, the tool allows clients to view and approve work online, and provides personal online storage space, reducing dependency on airline travel, courier services and storage on CDs, DVDs and laptops.

Screensavers have been replaced with blank screens, computers remind users to turn off monitors during breaks of more than 20 minutes, and automatic shutdown is enforced after 9pm, although anyone still working can cancel this and shut down manually later.

Anything specified within WPP’s global procurement model has to be as energy-efficient as possible, and where applicable, high-end equipment will be passed down the corporate ladder to be recycled in other areas.

Ogilvy’s Mac users in the US use a Citrix environment to access all applications, and the company is looking at whether thin clients can be rolled out on a larger scale.

“We have challenged everyone to increase the temperature in the datacentre by two to three degrees. It can be cool without being ice cold. We have also looked at ways to force people to use double-sided paper or larger printers,” said McLellan.

“There is a will in the company to reduce our impact as an organisation and as individuals.

“People are more likely to respond to an alert that reminds them about their environmental responsibility, than one that says we are trying to cut costs.”