Report: Firms missing out on PC power savings

IT departments are largely failing to make use of software that has been shown to slash corporate energy use, despite evidence that automated power management systems can deliver average annual savings of $36 per PC.

Research compiled by IT industry analysts Ovum released yesterday found average annual energy savings of 380kWh, equivalent to 586 pounds of CO2 per PC, were achievable when companies deploy software developed by 11 of the leading PC power management (PCPM) solutions.

The report also claimed that in many cases the energy savings delivered by PCPM software means that the technology pays for itself within six months.

However, Ovum warned that the rollout of these systems is being hampered by tight IT budgets and the "misconception" among some IT executives that power management systems will affect the everyday running of IT infrastructure.

"There exists a general mistrust among IT departments and a fear that power management solutions may disrupt core IT operations," said Rhonda Ascierto, senior analyst at Ovum and author of the report, in a statement. "But this is a misconception: none of the power-management solutions we review in this report disrupts maintenance or other IT processes."

The 11 companies reviewed in the report are: 1E; Autonomic Software; AVOB (Alternative Vision of Business); Data Synergy; Dell KACE; Faronics; IBM; LANDesk; Lumension; Verdiem; and Verismic Software.

The Ovum report also argues that companies are being overly complacent if they think power management functionality integrated into PCs will maximise energy savings, warning that such functionality often fails to deal with "PC insomnia" where a machine is idle yet unable to shut down or switch into a low-power mode.

"Organisations need to consider power management solutions as part of their broader business and sustainability strategies," Ascierto said. "The focus should be on solutions that deliver measurable and actionable results, which will encourage employee participation."