Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Datotel Uses CA Tool To Reduce Energy Consumption: Page 2 of 2

Addressing these issues would enable Datotel to deploy its staff more efficiently, reduce its expenses, and make its service more attractive to potential customers. To make that change, the company needed a more detailed understanding of how energy was being consumed. But with thousands of disparate devices strewn within the data center, collecting and collating usage data represented a considerable challenge.

After examining its options, the IT service provider selected a CA solution because its ecoMeter energy management system provides real-time and historical consumption data. The deployment began in early 2007 and took several months. Management systems are not plug-and-play. Instead, they require a great deal of customization so businesses can collect and analyze relevant performance data. "A company needs to make a distinction between what is interesting to monitor versus what is useful information to collect," notes Brown.

The change helped Datotel better manage its energy consumption and reduce its costs. Usage information is available in real time and is broken down by categories, such as device and time of day. The new system increased employee efficiency. Rather than have data center technicians tinkering with all of the devices to extract usage information, energy collection is now automated. This enables technicians to work on other tasks, such as configuring new systems or troubleshooting problems.

Datotel shares the energy usage data with customers via an online portal. Since clients are now billed based on their energy usage, they are able to cut their expenses by implementing sound energy policies.

The IT services company is satisfied with the new system but would like one improvement. "More granularity is an ongoing request; we would like to be able to slice and dice
more energy usage statistics," says Brown.

Chances are such features will emerge in the future. Energy management is one of the new elements being woven into management suites. The tools are in an early stage of development but are expected to mature quickly as early users, like Datotel, become more familiar with them.

See more on this topic by subscribing to Network Computing Pro Reports The Data Center Balancing Act (subscription required).