Fear of regulation drives the greening of the data center

Large US enterprise enterprises are citing extreme concern about government regulation affecting data center operations and say this is spurring energy efficient green activities, a survey found.

The web based study, commissioned by Digital Realty Trust, found 69 percent said they were extremely or very concerned about government regulation; 81 percent said carbon credits are now part of their green IT strategy - compared to only 18 percent in 2008; 53 percent said that the industry now has a clear definition of what makes a datacenter green, compared to 82 percent in the 2008 survey who said that there was no clear definition.

"What dominated last year's study was the need for clearer standards and best practices for green data centers. There has been significant progress in that area over the past year," said Jim Smith, CTO of Digital Realty Trust. "By contrast, what dominates this year's study is companies' concerns about potential government regulation and how that would impact data center operations." 

But Smith questioned whether respondents’ concerns were valid: "However, it is important to note that some of the concerns about government regulation may not be warranted, given the good faith efforts that government agencies such as the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are making to work with the industry and advocacy groups like The Green Grid to spur self-management of this issue. We believe that collaboration between the government and datacenter professionals is the most effective approach to addressing data center energy efficiency," he said. 

The survey questioned 100 senior IT decision makers at large North American corporations involved in the process of managing corporate data centers, executing contracts for new data centers and implementing new or expanding existing facilities.