Published: February 06 2012, 04:53 PM | no comments
by Dhesikan Ananchaperumal

Today in The CA Cloud Storm Chasers Blog, George Watt, Vice President, for the Enterprise and Cloud solutions group at CA Technologies, discusses the company’s progression through three levels of green awareness and maturity in its early cloud years. The levels included are:

1. Collateral Greenage
2. Deliberately Green
3. A Measured Approach
 
To find out more about each of these levels and how cloud computing can “make you greener,” check out George’s blog post “Pragmatic Cloud: Peeling the Cloud's Green Onion” here.

*Image: digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Published: February 02 2012, 12:42 PM | no comments
by Cynthia Curtis

When CA Technologies made sustainability a driving principle of our organization we immediately got to work on some good-old-fashioned governance initiatives. We performed a competitive analysis, gathered as much information and data as possible on our current status, set up a project management office to help drive key initiatives, and developed key metrics and lenses for examining projects and priorities. While doing this work, it quickly became clear that to integrate sustainability into the corporate culture as well as drive efficiencies and cost savings we needed engaged employees and a motivated workforce.

Green Teams Help Focus Grassroots Energy

As we reached out to employees around the world to discuss sustainability, it was obvious that there was good stuff happening. Individuals and ad hoc teams were spearheading projects and acting as advocates for their workplace. Unfortunately, there was no way to track success, share information, or even know what initiatives were underway in the various offices.

Enter Green Teams. The concept is simple:  Develop small groups of committed employees at individual offices and provide them with structure and corporate support in order to harness their innovation and effort in a manner more likely to produce concrete results. In order to test the concept and the process, we decided to initiate a pilot program to start. We chose three offices around the globe - Sydney, Paris and Framingham, Mass. - and recruited 44 employees to be part of the effort.
  
Providing Green Teams with Structure Promotes Success

In order to support the team’s efforts, we provided each group with:
•Potential projects:  We had defined a list of 12 pre-approved sustainability projects of which each team had to choose three
•The Playbook:  A business plan template defining the key components of the initiatives that the teams were responsible for defining and executing on
•Data:  Baseline data related to their projects, if available
•Executive leadership:  Each team had a direct line to me and my team for support and executive coaching

Prior to executing, the team needed to develop and get sign off on:
•Business model
•Metrics for measuring success
•Project plan
•Communications plan
•Budget

After sign-off, the teams executed on their projects in a two month sprint. Currently we are reviewing benchmarks and data from the first group of sustainability projects completed by the three pilot green teams. We are also gathering feedback from a post-project employee survey to identify changes that have occurred as a result of the projects. Initial indications are that results are very positive, both from a cost reduction perspective, as well as from an employee awareness point-of-view. We’re also reviewing “lessons learned” and taking away ideas that will help us execute more effectively on projects going forward and that we can share across the business.

Nine additional locations around the globe have already requested permission to start their own green team and we are in the process of recruiting leaders at these offices. Our intent is to roll out the green team initiative globally, thereby empowering local employees at every location to define and execute on projects that are of key importance to them in their geographic area (i.e. water conservation may be more important to some, building efficiency or recycling to others).

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you up to speed on the green team initiative as we continue to roll it out throughout CA Technologies. Be sue to visit often for posts on the projects that the first three teams chose, how they executed on them and the results produced. 

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Published: January 30 2012, 10:27 AM | no comments
by Terrence Clark

Today we announced new and enhanced offerings in our CA ecoSoftware solution that are designed to further extend the company’s support of Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) and IT energy management. The improved capabilities in CA ecoMeter 3.0 and our new CA ecoDesktop offering can help IT and facilities staff gain greater availability, agility and efficiency in their data center and IT operations.

As organizations become increasingly dependent on data centers – either on premise or in the cloud – to provide critical applications and services, the challenges and risks associated with uptime, power and cooling capacity have become more pronounced. In addressing these challenges, our CA ecoSoftware solution reaches from the desktop to the data center and across the enterprise. It helps customer provide for availability, reduce costs, and more rapidly meet the demands of the business.

CA ecoMeter 3.0:  Expanded DCIM Capabilities
In CA ecoMeter 3.0 we’ve expanded the existing DCIM capabilities to include template-driven auto-discovery of facility and IT assets to accelerate inventory capture for rapid implementation. The product also provides integration with CA Application Insight Modules for accurate mapping between logical or virtual components and the physical infrastructure on which they depend, for efficient management of IT and cloud-based services. CA ecoMeter 3.0 also leverages CA Executive Insight for Service Assurance to provide mobile device users with role-based insight into availability, performance and operational efficiency across the data center.

We’ve also partnered with Cisco to introduce new bi-directional integration capabilities in CA ecoMeter 3.0. The product has an advanced gateway that gathers a wide range of IT and facilities system parameters that can be published to and utilized by Cisco EnergyWise-enabled systems. Customers can also obtain power data from Cisco EnergyWise-enabled devices for improved energy management.

According Bruce Gorshe, Director, Data Center Operations at Avnet, “Avnet has chosen to implement CA ecoMeter in its North American data center environments as a part of a continuing commitment to environmental sustainability. We will work with CA Technologies over the next year to deploy the solution. When completed, CA ecoMeter will help reduce energy use by providing better consumption data and key metrics for Avnet’s data centers.”

CA ecoDesktop: Desktop Power Management
Many organizations incur substantial costs to pay for the energy consumed by desktop computers, with estimates showing that on average one third of all desktops are left on 24 hours a day. Enterprises and government organizations often seek to reduce the unnecessary consumption.

CA ecoDesktop is a new solution that supports an inventory-based approach to managing desktop power. It helps organizations identify savings opportunities and implement profiles to increase efficiency while addressing the requirements of end users for uninterrupted access to their systems. CA ecoDesktop also delivers reporting to help organizations demonstrate energy cost savings and reductions in carbon emissions.

CA Technologies has also entered into a partnership agreement with Devoteam, a leader in ICT consulting in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Under the agreement, Devoteam will offer implementation and consulting services for CA ecoDesktop customers in EMEA.

Our joint customer John Madsen, IT manager, Municipality of Ballerup in Denmark said about their implementation, “We use CA ecoDesktop for desktop power management and it was successfully implemented by Devoteam. It is easy to use, meets our requirements and has not disrupted our operations. We implemented CA ecoDesktop to reduce operational costs and to reduce our impact on the environment. This will save approximately $549,000 on energy costs over the next three years and reduce carbon emissions.”

We applaud Avnet, Municipality of Ballerup and all of our CA ecoSoftware customers for their efforts to provide for availability, reduce costs, and more rapidly meet the demands of their business as well as for their commitment to sustainability.

For more information on CA ecoSoftware, visit:
•CA Technologies Named a Worldwide Leader in Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)
•CA Technologies Named a Leader in Energy Management Software
•Brochures and White Papers
•Product Demonstration
•@CAecoSoftware on Twitter

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Published: January 23 2012, 03:40 PM | no comments
by Cynthia Curtis

When people think about Green IT, you don’t find a lot of people who immediately say, “Oh yeah, that’s all about mainframes.” Affectionately known as Big Iron, this tried-and-true technology that has been around for years is not always on top-of-mind when a discussion about energy efficiency in the data center comes up. But it should be for medium and large companies with significant computing requirements, says Dayton Semerjian, General Manager, Mainframe at CA Technologies.

“Mainframes are quite simply the most energy efficient computing systems available today. To start with, an entry-level mainframe provides the computing capacity of about 1500 servers and it does so in a device about the size of a refrigerator,” says Semerjian. “And because mainframes work as a single integrated system, they are designed to make extremely effective and efficient use of their vast computing resources.”

As we discussed in a post (Energy Savings: One of the Key Benefits of Server Virtualization) a few weeks ago, energy savings is one of the key benefits of server virtualization in a distributed server environment in a data center. By having multiple virtual machines run on a single physical server, companies have used virtualization as an effective means to lower energy costs. But here again, don’t count mainframes out, says Semerjian.

“Mainframes have been running at a 95% to 100% virtualization rate for years – well before it became all the rage in distributed environments. The closed environment of a mainframe allows the system to make extremely efficient use of its computing resources in much the same way a more complex, distributed virtualized environment does.”

More Reasons Why Mainframes Are Energy Efficient:

•Lower total power costs:  According to Sine Nomine, a research and analysis firm, mainframes are responsible for 1/7 the total power cost, when compared to distributed server environments
•Lower HVAC costs:  Sine Nomine also estimates that mainframes are responsible for only 1/20th the energy costs of dedicated HVAC systems
•Less space:  According to IBM, mainframe environments only require 40% of the physical data center space required by distributed server environments. Less area to cool and maintain
•Less support:  Fewer boxes and more efficient, integrated machines means smaller support staff per unit of computing capability.   At up to a 25% reduction in support reduction according to Clabby Analytics, this means less energy consumed supporting the machines.

“Obviously, mainframes are not right for every business,” says Semerjian. “However, for the many organizations they do make sense for, there are clear sustainability benefits, including lower energy costs, lower operating costs and a rapid return-on-investment.”  And when you add in a mature, stable, secure environment, what’s not to like?”

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Published: January 19 2012, 10:30 AM | no comments
by Cynthia Curtis

I don’t know about you, but I love Monty Python. Really, has there ever been a comedy troupe that so brilliantly satirized everything they touched? So when the Green Team in our Framingham, Mass. office decided to pay tribute to one of their classic bits when launching their e-waste recycling program, I knew it was going to be a hit.

Corporate e-Waste Recycling 

e-Waste. We all know what it is. That CRT monitor gathering dust in the basement; those discarded cellphones in the junk drawer; old printers, fax machines and modems hidden away in closets...and don’t even get me started on old laptops and computers....how do we stay on top it all? Now multiply that times a multi-national corporation, and that’s what our Green Team set out to address.

Sarah Johnson, the team leader, explains how the project got started. “We knew there was a lot of e-waste in our Framingham office. We decided to start with a pilot project focused on finding and recycling electronic and computer equipment that was, one, owned by CA Technologies, and two, either broken, had reached end of useful life or was not being used. We encouraged all employees from the IT team to HR to identify gear that had to go. If something was questionable, employees were directed to connect with their boss for approval.”

Putting up signs throughout the office featuring the “Bring out your dead!” tagline, employees were asked to round up eligible monitors, CRTs, laptops, computers, servers, routers, peripherals, and even dead power strips and drop them in clearly marked bins placed on every floor in the building. And the team responded. In a few short days, over 120 pieces of equipment were identified, deposited, inventoried and handed off to our recycling partner. The project was a highly visible “quick win” for the Green Team and is something that will be repeated on an annual basis going forward.

But what about all those laptops and printers sitting in employee’s basements you ask?  We’re looking into it....don’t be surprised to read something here in the future about how the “Bring out your dead” program has been expanded. 

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