How to ensure your IT department is eco-friendly.

Remaining online is imperative and companies that do not invest in resilient IT infrastructure are putting their companies at risk. With a shift from paper to online and computerised systems, IT is seen as a means to reduce a company’s environmental footprint.

We expect our IT department to support us in becoming eco-friendly, but do we really support them? Numerous businesses are realising that the original benefit of running your own server room in order to have your servers close by, is being outweighed by the advantages of an outsourced solution, as they realise that you could save money, have greater resilience and greener technologies in a data centre.

In an increasing digital world, companies need to be able to react and act quickly and always be open for business. Companies should be looking to unshackle IT departments from managing infrastructure so that they can focus on strategic IT projects.

Server rooms require cooling and power. Many companies cannot afford to invest in the latest environmentally friendly solutions to run these rooms, thus they utilise more power and cooling than a data centre.

Data centres offer companies the ability to maximise the potential within their businesses at a lower cost than if the service was kept in-house. They have the ability to have businesses up and running within hours, as well as provide the flexibility to grow alongside your organisation. Crucially, due to their scale they can afford to invest in new green technologies. In a colocation facility many companies utilise the same infrastructure. Instead of multiple companies using power hungry air conditioning at different sites, a data centre cools company servers collectively, yet securely in their own designated areas.

The hidden costs of sustaining your infrastructure to optimal levels can be surprising. Reducing operational costs can create the opportunity to invest in better equipment and state-of-the-art servers. Additionally, data centres have the time, resource and impetus to continually invest and research in green technologies meaning that not only can businesses reduce their own carbon footprints at their own office locations, they are also benefitting from continual efficiency saving research. Companies who move their servers from in-house server rooms typically save 90% on their own carbon emissions.

IT departments are a mission critical component of an organisation – a data centre can enable them to work efficiently and be environmentally friendly.

This article was written by Custodian Data Centre