IT energy consumption “of no importance”

A survey conducted last month by diversified power management company Eaton has found that one in four IT managers view monitoring and tracking of energy consumption as unimportant to the overall efficiency of their data centre. At the same time, one in four IT managers face a consistent challenge of findings ways to improve energy efficiency with 17% claiming there are no ‘easy’ ways right now to track IT room energy consumption.

These findings result from a survey conducted at the VMware VForum in Sydney last month which also found that just under one (31%) of three IT managers claim to spend the majority of their work hours on monitoring and testing their in-house IT environments. Only 19% spend the majority of their time on IT security issues and more than one in ten (14%) spend the greater part of their work day on assessing and reporting the efficiency of their data centre.

The survey found that more than one in ten (14%) organisations are challenged by the sheer pace of technology change and finding ways to develop change management strategies appropriate to their organisation.  More than one in four organisations (26%) are also constantly challenged with the need to provide for adequate monitoring and management capabilities.

At the same time, when it comes to prioritising their requirements in virtualised environments, 42% of IT managers stress system reliability as their number one concern while 23% look at total cost of IT ownership when specifying IT requirements. 65% of IT managers favour data centre solutions that offer disaster avoidance. 

Michael Mallia, Senior Product Line Manager Power Quality - Asia Pacific Electrical Sector, Eaton, said, “Today’s IT managers and consultants are grappling with rapid technological change while looking to save money, enhance sustainability and provide for employee IT satisfaction.

“The issue today is that many organisations use stand-alone software from multiple vendors to monitor and manage their data centre’s uninterruptible power systems, power distribution units and other crucial power quality and environmental devices. Short on features and poorly integrated with other management resources, these outdated applications only add further complexity to a variety of common power-related administrative challenges.

“Fortunately, the latest generation of intelligent, logical and complete power management solutions can help organisations address those issues more successfully.  These solutions may just help IT managers reset their focus from spending time on monitoring and testing to focusing on how IT can better add value for the organisation’s customers and employees.”

Designed to provide a snapshot of current IT management opinions in Australia, the poll surveyed 118 IT managers and consultants with more than one in three (37%) managing more than 20 racks within their IT data centre.