A recent Info-Tech study of over 800 mid-sized IT shops found that only 25% have fully adopted an IT energy measurement initiative. For many shops, this information is unavailable: IT does not receive an energy bill, and does not use, or have, tools to identify its share of energy consumption. In the past, electricity costs, especially in smaller IT shops, were of minor concern –in many cases, the energy bill was simply left in the hands of the facilities director or company accountant to pay and file away.
However, in the same study, Info-Tech finds that 28% of IT departments are now piloting an energy measurement solution of some kind, and an additional one-quarter of shops are planning a measurement project within twelve months. Many converging factors drive interest in measuring and managing energy use, and the major ones are outlined here: