Step 3: Consolidate and Centralise

Pack as many features, functions and services into the minimum amount of equipment and share that equipment across many locations and many users as possible. This can be applied to any IT situation.

Good examples of consolidation are virtual servers. Servers typically operate at less than 15% and often run at around 5% of their capacity. Therefore, around 95% of the power consumption is wasted energy. A way of reducing this waste of power consumption and capacity is virtualisation. This allows multiple ‘virtual servers’ to run, hosted on one machine, rather than many. Once considered cutting edge, it is now an essential IT strategy.

Other examples of consolidation include using VoIP phones which use less power than traditional phones and use the existing office network, multi function copiers which additionally scan, print and fax, or simply limit staff to a desktop or a laptop computer, but not have both.

Another approach to consolidation is the physical migration of higher form factor servers to smaller form factors, allowing more computing power to be accommodated in a limited space. However, this comes at a cost of higher heat production.