Energy efficiency has been a primary concern of data center operators and vendors for some time. There are compelling reasons for this focus. As high-density computing gains traction, enterprise data center operators are struggling with rapidly escalating costs to power and cool their facilities. Energy efficient data centers are good for business.
But in recent months the news pitches on "green data centers" have increasingly focused on corporate responsibility rather than cost savings. This trend has accelerated noticeably since IBM launched its Big Green initiative in May. The subsequent avalanche of environmental data center marketing has included some impressive new initiatives, and others that have sought to slap a green label on existing products and services. Matt Stansberry, who heads TechTarget's data center coverage, has had enough:
If one more person pitches me on a Green Data Center story, I will barf in my laptop. Unless your server literally sucks carbon dioxide out of the air and sequesters it below the earth, please don’t pitch me on your green angle. ... The environmentalists’ worst nightmares are coming true. This whole green wave could be just another fad — like the Macarena. Everybody is going to turn to whatever is next while marketers circle like vultures to suck the last bit of life out of the coolest pheonomenon to happen to IT since the Web.Yikes! Matt acknowledges that his green overload may be related to the fact that he's writing a book on environmentally responsible data center operations. But he warns that the eco-marketing is too often looking like "greenwashing" - the appropriation of environmental virtue to create a pro-environmental image in order to sell a product or policy.
The emphasis on energy efficiency isn't going away. It's good business, and it's here for the foreseeable future. As for how it's labeled and packaged ... well, that's another matter entirely. It's easy to be skeptical about large corporations professing to be motivated by concern for the environment rather than the bottom line. The tree-hugging impulse often goes overboard.
Having said that, America's emergent environmental awareness poses some real-world public relations challenges for the data center industry. Data centers are gaining a reputation as energy hogs, which could dilute or obscure their productivity benefits. The EPA report to Congress may further raise legislators' awareness and interest in data centers' energy usage. Major data center users and vendors need to act responsibly to manage power usage, and their PR and marketing departments are tools in that effort.
The data center greenwashing issue will work itself out over time. The more credible and valuable "green data center" offerings will prove their worth in the marketplace.
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By Rich Miller 
August 22, 2007 | Permalink | >Get Posts By E-mail
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Comments
Great post Rich, and thanks for the link. I think it's really hard for IT journalists to get a sense of the reality on the ground. By definition, we're covering what's new or coming soon. We try to take the temperature of our audience, make educated guessed based on page views of certain topics, but I feel like we're always on the front end of these trends. Maybe data center operators are really excited right now about green -- CFOs and politicians are paying attention the problems they've been running into for the past 5 years. Regardless, you're right -- efficiency will always be a popular mantra, scoring green in more ways than one.
Posted by: Matt at August 22, 2007 02:28 PM