IT chiefs caught up in power crunch

Energy and security can no longer be ignored by IT leaders

More than two years ago, Computing first reported that firms in the City of London and Docklands were facing serious power supply problems that could restrict their IT expansion plans (see www.computing.co.uk/2150433).

“Canary Wharf doesn’t have enough power,” said one financial services IT director at the time.

Now, with more firms such as investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort looking to move datacentres to out-of-town locations, the power crunch in major urban areas is increasingly real.

You may be fed up with hearing about energy efficiency, oil prices and the environment ­ but the confluence of these issues can no longer be ignored by IT leaders.

Electricity costs, supply restrictions and green regulations are boardroom problems, and you know where the chief executive will turn for answers. Nobody will benefit from ignoring the issue until it is forced on you.

Technology has driven much of the developed world’s economic gains of the past 20 years ­ but global macro-economics are biting back, and IT is central to both the problem and the solution.

Security is a business issue

Oh dear. In the very week that the Poynter report into HM Revenue and Customs’ information security problems is published, one small business owner comes across a security flaw in an online tax system.

This particular incident is small by comparison, but reflects the lackadaisical attitude that led to the data loss scandal in the first place.

We all know, of course, that the resulting publicity around information security breaches has led to so many being exposed in the public and private sectors in recent months. Similar losses have occurred in the past, but without such a high-profile focus on them.

Too many organisations have an attitude problem, not a technology problem. And until information security becomes part of business culture, rather than part of the IT department, that problem will continue.