Young, successful and rich - Piers Daniell, the 26 year-old managing director of telecommunications provider Fluidata, is the kind of person that should make you feel sick.

But rather than feeling the penetrating force of the green eye of envy, Daniell makes you feel at ease - which is nice. The amiable entrepreneur has some interesting stories about his current business, the computer firm he set up at 15 years of age, and other opportunities for fame and fortune.

One such opportunity was when Daniell made the short-list of the final 40-or-so candidates for the first series of BBC TV programme 'The Apprentice'.

Making it to the last 40 meant Daniell was involved in the final elimination day, where potential candidates completed a series of tasks. He says the decision to select candidates was based purely on the opinion of TV executives - and perhaps unsurprisingly, Daniell says the "noisy and obnoxious candidates" were selected.

But what of Alan Sugar? Daniell says the business tycoon was not involved in the initial selection process. And would have been keen on working for Sugar?

"I didn't even know who he was," says Daniell - but the Fluidata chief says his mother did once own an Amstrad PC.

Further reading

• 'The Apprentice' + Aston Business School = hype
• Men like women in short skirts, says research
• "Glamorous" PR tarred with IT nerd brush
• Be proud of being a technology nerd
• IT skills crisis not solved via death by Powerpoint
• Modernise to beat IT and skills obsolesence

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Once again, everything is about to change ­ and this time, the analysts might be on to something.

After years of worrying about on-the-ground implementations, chief information officers are heading for the skies. Cloud computing, says Gartner, represents a business evolution “no less influential than e-business”.

The analyst suggests cloud computing is difficult to define ­ a difficulty which apparently signifies the potential of the concept.

Gartner then manages to contradict itself by neatly supplying that previously unattainable definition for cloud computing: “Where massively scalable IT-related capabilities are provided as a service using internet technologies.”

Behind all this hyperbole and contradiction, the analyst does make some good points.

First, the coming together of virtualisation, service-oriented architecture and the internet is creating a new opportunity to reshape the relationship between IT and the business.

Second, such convergence means users can focus on the value of the service, rather than how systems are implemented or hosted.

Which really does mean everything is about to change -­ for everybody. Take IT managers, who will be able to act with more flexibility, introducing technologies and processes to meet the demands of line-of-business executives.

Such executives will be able to make requests for new technologies without fearing in-house implementation costs are likely to make the project prohibitive.

Even more pertinently, the availability of online services will provide more opportunities for user development. Beyond creating simple macros in Excel, users will be able to create code through a range of internet-provided systems.

Where does such user control leave IT programmers? Probably in India, creating cloud computing applications for the ever-increasing UK service economy.

Finally, traditional vendors will be left to fight against a new breed of online specialists that provide tailored business services.

Gartner suggests cloud computing remains an evolving concept. Despite the hype, the impending sense of change is overpowering.

Further reading

• Simon Pitt to lead IT at the Environment Agency
• CIO concerns: Rob Fraser switches Boots for CSC
• CIOs will need to transform to survive
• Career moves: Robin Terrell is John Lewis web MD
• Modernise to beat IT and skills obsolesence

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Computing is currently running a four-part special report on green computing – the aim is to concentrate on tangible business benefits, rather than the green wash.

The results have been good; lots of companies undertaking environmentally-sensitive projects using IT. But research suggests such approaches could, unfortunately, be rare.

Almost 40 per cent of European IT directors rate their organisation’s green credentials as “not at all good” or even “poor”. UK firms fare particularly badly, with nearly 60 per cent of respondents rating their company negatively.

The research is based on a survey of more than 8,000 European IT directors by data centre networking specialist Brocade. Other findings include:

• Only 38 per cent of IT directors are actually concerned about their company’s energy usage and carbon footprint, with less than a fifth actively seeking to purchase environmentally-friendly IT products. In the UK, the comparable numbers are 37 and 16 per cent.
• Overall, 44 per cent of respondents say they believe their companies devote up to a quarter of total operating expenses to energy. In the UK, the figure jumps to nearly half of respondents. Regardless of the actual sum, more than 60 per cent of respondents believe energy spend is "too much”. 
• Almost two thirds of respondents state that they are beginning to look at ways of reducing energy output, but that still leaves over a third of European businesses who are not.
• More than 75 per cent of respondents say they are as likely to look at reducing energy usage in the office as they are at home.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Depending on your point of view, breaking the one billion actively-used PCs barrier is either representative of the power of technology, or the waste of man. More than a billion PCs have now been installed worldwide, according to Gartner.

The analyst defines the installed base as the estimated number of PCs in use, as opposed to the number shipped over time. That is an important distinction. After all, how many of us have old desktops stored away in the loft?

Gartner says the answer runs into many thousands, with a little more than 180 million of the one billion installed PCs to be replaced this year.

Most stored PCs are stuffed with legacy files ­ or more importantly, personal data. The proliferation of unprinted holiday snaps and credit card details is likely to mean people are loath to dispose of their legacy equipment.

Additional pressure comes from legal and environmental concerns. The WEEE directive, for example, has increased pressure on providers and users to dispose of technology in an environmentally-sensitive manner. And organisations such as Computer Aid International have helped make best use of unwanted resources.

But regulation and charity can only soak up so much toxic waste. While some retired PCs are re-used and recycled, many millions are simply dumped into landfill. Estimates suggest as many as three million PCs are landfilled in the UK every year.

And the continual churn of computers means the problem is likely to exacerbate. Gartner reports the worldwide installed base of PCs is growing at a little less than 12 per cent annually. At that pace, it will surpass two billion units by early 2014.

Suitable solutions are not easy to find. Some users choose to dump old equipment on unsuspecting family, such as the 486 I lumbered my parents with ­- before my mum realised it was too slow to process a game of patience, never mind access the internet.

And while the billion PCs installed around the globe have helped spread information access, whether such access remains centralised in the hands of the West remains a moot point.

Pushing a green information revolution to the rest of the world is likely to rely on users finding environmentally-sensitive homes for the next billion PCs.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

It's the new trend that's sweeping the conference halls and roundtables; calling everything related to technology in your organisation a 'piece'.

Use of the word 'piece' follows on from the all-encompassing 'solution' - a term which is widely dropped, despite the fact it means nothing. As was stated previously on this blog, the term 'solution' is problematic at two levels:

1. A solution is usually a mixture of two or more substances, usually a liquid.
2. Or it is the perfect answer to a known problem. And if an application was available that really provided a perfect answer to a known business problem, wouldn't we all be using it?

Not that marketeers are going to stop calling products 'solutions' any time soon. But as mentioned above, it does seem IT managers have moved on - and now everything is a 'piece'.

"We are looking at how to make the most from our unified communications piece," says one IT manager, referring to technical resources. "So, let us re-consider how to make the most from the service management piece," says another IT manager, referring to policy and process issues.

Look out for it and be warned. 'Piece' is everywhere. And it means everything and nothing.

Further reading

• Finding solutions with Avanquest's Chris Thompson
• McAfee spam project smells like marketing guff
• What does 'strategic business agility' really mean?

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

The world is close to destruction and it is the IT manager’s fault. Carbon emissions are rising and icebergs are melting all because of the technology organisation’s use of power-hungry resources.

Analyst Gartner estimates the IT industry produces two per cent of global carbon emissions, with ageing data centres heavily responsible.

Commonly suggested solutions to the problem include consolidation and virtualisation ­ – doing more with less. Other solutions include implementing energy-efficient server, cooling and power systems.

Such initiatives are all well and good. But new technology projects cost money, and in a downturn the finance director is unlikely to sanction big initiatives. So, here’s an idea: encourage your users to stop sending and saving information.

Information is meant to be the lifeblood of the organisation, the knowledge through which businesses  can gain a competitive advantage. The problem is, of course, that most of us are drowning in information, as users store increasing amounts of content.

Once again, the answer is meant to be provided by IT, often in the shape of integrated software tools. Sounds tempting ­ – but new technology requires new investment, and that annoying barrier otherwise known as the credit crunch looms large once again.

If money is too tight to mention at your gaff, round on your users. Instead of just encouraging employees to stop printing emails, stop them sending and receiving pointless correspondence in the first place.

I was recently away for a week and received close to a thousand emails. Not being able to respond ­ – or more crucially, to delete ­ – the ever-growing mail mountain created a new set of automated responses telling me my email quota had been reached.

All the unstructured email content had to be stored in resource-hungry servers. And you can multiply my experiences by the millions of workers receiving pointless emails everyday. The sum of all this maths is total information inefficiency.

Rolling out environmentally-sensitive hardware is crucial. But reducing users’ demands for information should be the first step towards green computing.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Big Blue has announced details of another big green strategy - this time, based around a supercomputer that is cooled by water rather than air. The IBM Power 575 supercomputer uses water-chilled copper plates located above each microprocessor to remove heat.

Traditional, power-hungry data centres that demand high levels of cooling are one of the IT department's biggest source of carbon emissions. For technology leaders looking for a green alternative, IBM scientists estimate water can be up to 4,000 times more effective than air-cooled computer systems.

The press release states the water-cooled Power 575 requires 80 per cent fewer air conditioning units and can reduce typical energy consumption in the data centre by 40 per cent. Nice work - but the most interesting part of the release concerns continuing developments by IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory and its aim to create a 'zero-emissions data centre':

The IBM Research team is working on the next steps: getting the water even closer to the chip - not with a copper plate, but actually inside the chip. Then, once captured there, the water can be routed out of the computer and pumped into the heating system for re-use.

Chips with water? For IT managers looking to act green, they might even be tastier than chips with curry sauce. And that is saying something.

• Read more about the research project: http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/08/zed.html
• Read more about IBM's Project Big Green strategy: http://www.computing.co.uk/2196219

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

"Me? Worried about the downturn? No," said a bunch of chief information officers to Gartner recently, with the analyst expecting IT budget growth to remain unchanged at 3.3 per cent during 2008.

Gartner's survey was based on a worldwide survey of more than 1,000 CIOs. Actually, are there 1,000 CIOs in the world? I thought there were only about 200/300 in the UK, but I wait to be corrected.

And if there are only 200-or-so CIOs in the UK - which is home to some pretty big companies, we might be struggling to find another 800-plus around the rest of the globe. Especially as everyone and their mother thinks the CIO role is either deminishing or already dead, given the increasing power of finance directors and the need for technology to be integrated with line-of-business demands.

Anyway, Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research at Gartner, says the desire to stabilise rather than cut IT budgets indicates technology is not the ‘target rich’ environment for cost cutting, something it was in the past.

Geographically, IT budgets continue to exhibit growth in Europe (3.86 per cent) and Asia/Pacific (5.98 per cent). Gartner suggests the positivity of European and Asian CIOs is reflected anecdotally in study responses. On several occasions, CIOs in these geographies said the current belt tightening is a US-only phenomenon.

Nothing like a positive-thinking CIO, even if they are about to die (strategically speaking, rather than physically speaking).

Further reading

• CIO concerns: Rob Fraser switches Boots for CSC
• CIOs will need to transform to survive
• Career moves: Robin Terrell is John Lewis web MD
• Career moves: Steve Markwell is new NCC CEO
• Career moves: Carl Powell becomes Unipart CEO
• Modernise to beat IT and skills obsolesence

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

The information age is about evolution and transformation. Applications, hardware and other devices are quickly out of date because of the rapid nature of change. This makes the mouse something of an anomaly, as it has been the dominant control mechanism for three decades.

The device's strength is its usability. Learning to use a mouse is simple and the device provides point-and-click access to applications and resources.

On the downside, however, the mouse lacks portability and requires a hard surface to work.

A more intuitive alternative must exist. Step forward motion sensing, which allows users to control resources with a hand movement.

The most well-known motion sensing device comes with Nintendo’s Wii gaming machine. Called a Wiimote, it allows users to control in-game characters with the move of a hand.

A Wiimote takes some getting used to, especially when playing boxing with a friend.

But the revolution in controlling inspired by the Wiimote has helped Nintendo regain the gaming crown from Sony.

Sales are up and those usually excluded from the gaming experience ­ - such as my auntie ­ - suddenly see the benefits of playing.

But how will motion sensing transfer to business users? It will be through the up-and-coming generation of youngsters who have moved beyond text messaging into social networks and playing games online.

Analyst Gartner says advances in computing power are already enabling the development of practical alternatives to the mouse, based on gestures, movement and facial recognition.

And motion sensing is moving beyond the Wiimote. Freeware application Nokmote, for example, allows users to control their Nokia N95 through motion sensing. Like the Wiimote, subtle movements allow the user to control characters on the phone.

Although Gartner expects “gestural computing” to develop as a long-term business trend, the analyst says IT directors should buy a Wii and play computer games to observe how users interface with technology devices.

Being a technology leader has never been such fun. Anyone fancy a game of boxing?

Further reading

• The future of technology, according to Gartner
• Second Life: Benefits for students and employers
• China is the home of R&D, not outsourcing
• Forget the downturn and fight for innovation
• Don’t be afraid to be an IT innovator

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Business technology is going to the dogs, in a metaphorical sense rather than a racing greyhounds kind of way.

In just a couple of years, analyst Gartner says more than a third of all projects will be driven by a need to deal with technology or skills obsolescence.

Dale Vecchio, research vice president at Gartner, says chief information officers are struggling because most resources will need to be retired or replaced by 2015.

It sounds like a case of “good luck technology leaders” as IT bosses are forced to approach the chief executive with an extended wish list in the middle of a downturn. So, is there an alternative? Is there an answer to the woes that mean most systems and technology skills are about to be rendered worse than useless?

Gartner says the solution lies in IT modernisation, a strategy that technology management teams must place at the core of their 2008 objectives.

The analyst defines technology modernisation as a movement that includes approaches to managing the evolution of business processes. The objective of such strategies is to achieve best value, cost and risk.

For technology leaders, four key areas of change will be crucial: more agility, increased integration of systems, modern solutions to business needs and fast reactions to the skills crisis.

Well-versed readers might see the above and experience déjà vu: how many times can IT leaders be told that business needs and skills obsolescence are crucial issues?

Not nearly enough, would appear to be Gartner’s message ­ – with the analyst suggesting that up to 30 per cent of workers who understand mission-critical, legacy systems could retire during the next five years.

With sector skills council e-Skills UK recently revealing that 140,000 new technology staff will be needed annually for the next five years, maybe businesses will start looking for thousands of legacy specialists?

Not if Computing’s letters page is anything to go by, with an anonymous writer in last week’s paper suggesting three years of Cobol development work has cut off many career choices.

While the answer to obsolescence might be modernisation, the legacies of decision making are likely to create significant challenges for UK IT professionals.

Further reading

• Career moves: Carl Powell becomes Unipart CIO
• IT needs to show the boss it means business
• Depressed technology professionals need a boost
• CIO best practice: Six tips for beating the recession
• New business dreamers should turn to technology

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Britons are a wasteful bunch and local government organisations are fed up with residents that fail to recycle their household junk. From free newspapers to consumer packaging, UK bins are overflowing - and local tips, the refuge of the wasteful, are heaving with demand.

One of the key problems is IT waste and Britons have failed to reuse or recycle 12.5 million unwanted PCs or laptops in the last five years, according to IT supplier Fujitsu Siemens Computers. The research suggests up to 25 per cent of of people dump computing waste at their local tip.

Last year's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive says computer suppliers must provide facilities for recycling equipment, but public awareness of the regulations remains poor. The research from IT supplier Fujitsu Siemens Computers also highlights how IT equipment makes up 39 per cent of the 1.8 million tonnes of waste generated every year in the UK.

There are alternatives to the local tip, including not-for-profit organisation Computer Aid which is the world’s largest supplier of professionally refurbished computers to developing countries. Louise Richards, chief executive of Computer Aid, says the time is right for joined-up thinking and that public sector bodies and recycling specialists, like Computer Aid, need to work together:

“Given that electrical and electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, we are urging producers and local authorities to work with us to find a practical solution to increase the reuse of PCs taken to the local tip and are already talking to a number of local authorities about how we can support their reuse efforts.”

Still, it's not just consumers and local government organisations that need to have a long, hard look at their recycling processes - and many businesses could create a more proactive strategy for IT reuse. How are your green credentials? Does your business reuse and recycle old IT equipment?

Recycling strategies will become increasingly crucial, too, with NCC suggesting today that the number of business laptops will increase by 57 per cent in the next two years.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Analyst Garther has issued a bunch of predictions for business technology, basically a series of areas where executives and IT professionals will need to take action in 2008. Apparently, the full impact of the trends may not appear this year, but executives need to act now so that they can fully exploit the opportunities.

“Selected from across our research areas as the most compelling and critical predictions, the trends and topics they address this year indicate a strong focus on individuals, the environment, and alternative ways of buying and selling IT services and technologies,” says Gartner managing vice president Daryl Plummer. “These areas of focus imply a significant groundswell of change that may in turn change the entire industry.”

Lots of change, then - meaning big alterations for everyone. But wait a minute... Gartner only announced the ten technologies that will have "significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years" back in early October (see Further reading, below: The future of technology, according to Gartner). So, such critical predictions are a bit ten-a-penny. But that doesn't stop:

1. Me writing about them
2. The predictions being interesting

The new predictions are apparently selected from more than 100 predictions (keep up) that Gartner presents and reviews every year. These predictions (the new predictions, OK?) focus on general technology areas, rather than on specific industries or roles. This year’s predictions (the new ones, right?) include:

• By 2011 - Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in computers. Gartner says Apple’s gains in computer market share reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple’s success
• By 2012 - Fifty per cent of travelling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices. Even though notebooks continue to shrink in size and weight, travelling workers lament the weight and inconvenience of carrying them on their trips
• By 2012 - Eighty per cent of all commercial software will include elements of open-source technology. Many open-source technologies are mature, stable and well supported
• By 2012- At least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license. With software as service (SaaS), the user organisation pays for software services in proportion to use
• By 2011 - Early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 per cent of their IT infrastructure as a service. Increased high-speed bandwidth makes it practical to locate infrastructure at other sites and still receive the same response times
• By 2009 - More than one third of IT organisations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods. In the future, IT organisations will shift their focus from the power efficiency of products to asking service providers about their measures to improve energy efficiency
• By 2010 - Seventy-five per cent of organisations will use full life cycle energy and carbon dioxide footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria. Most technology providers have little or no knowledge of the full life cycle energy and carbon dioxide footprint of their products
• By 2011 - Suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status. Organisations with strong brands are already helping to forge the first wave of green sourcing policies and initiatives
• By 2010 - End-user preferences will decide as much as half of all software, hardware and services acquisitions made by IT. The rise of the internet and the ubiquity of the browser interface have made computing approachable and individuals are now making decisions about technology for personal and business use
• Through 2011 - The number of 3-D printers in homes and businesses will grow 100-fold compared to 2006 levels. The technology lets users send a file of a 3-D design to a printer-like device that will carve the design out of a block of resin

In short - increasing consumerisation, personalisation, software as a service provision, energy efficiency and open standards.

Further reading

• The future of technology, according to Gartner
• Gartner reveals top 30 offshoring destinations
• Twelve confusing content predictions for 2008
• Eight technology trends to help change business
• 2008 - The year of multisourcing and offshoring

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Tony Lock, programme director at analyst Freeform Dynamics, writes a piece for next week's Computing that adds further context to some of the sentiments expressed in yesterday's post - which is short, were:

1. Every IT manager knows green computing is an issue and understands the basics
2. Every IT manager is suffering from green computing overkill - and could probably do with a break
3. Every IT manager needs to know about the business benefits of technologies, not just about cutting carbon emissions in isolation

I think point two is crucial - but to further understand the reasons why green computing overkill is becoming manifest, further context is required.

But clearly I'm now going to write even more about green computing - which seems a bit self-defeating, but I hope it isn't. Because I'm trying to understand wider misunderstandings of environmentalism and the use of technology within a business context.

And unless you've been locked in a datacentre for the last 24 months, you'll be aware that Western business needs to make changes to its operational activities in order to rectify problems created through increasing carbon emissions.

In his piece, Lock says attempts to make best use of existing resources illustrate how energy optimisation and green initiatives are on the radar of many technology managers. However, he says evidence shows many organisations are far more focussed on energy reduction than genuine green projects:

It is probably fair to say that for many managers, both inside IT and in the wider business, energy consumption, optimisation or minimisation is now a synonym for green, which is a misunderstanding of the fact that environmental initiatives should really be looking at wider, impact minimisation projects.

So, while IT managers are probably suffering from green computing overkill, many of the media-attention grabbing protects that business are implementing are focussed on just reducing energy, rather than looking for real, green alternatives.

Further reading

• Green computing hype needs smarter approach
• Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
• The green IT rules from Gartner and Forrester
• JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
• SMEs lead the way on green computing
• Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

Smart client - I'll define the technology later - manufacturer Cranberry says using a secure and efficient computer offsets carbon emissions that are equivalent to a two and a half hour business flight every year.

Which everyone knows is important, because the world is (literally) melting: “Business struggles to make energy savings and there is growing awareness of the environmental implications of IT," says Simon Ponsford, chief executive of the aforementioned Cranberry.

Thankfully, to quote the press release, a "solution is available today". And here's the previously promised definition - the new Cranberry Smart Client SC20 (pictured left), which just happens to be the industry’s most energy-efficient alternative to a desktop computer. And the facts are impressive:

No bigger than a paperback book, the SC20 consumes on average only 9 watts of power compared to a mid-range PC that has an average power consumption of 175 watts. As well as being 19 times more efficient, the SC20 comes with management software to further reduce power consumption by automatically turning off unused powered-on devices overnight.

To put the energy-efficiency of the SC20 into context, Cranberry’s research calculates that an average office PC in use 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year is responsible for 176kg of carbon dioxide each year. A Smart Client would produce just 9kg, a 95 per cent reduction. If applied to the 12.6 million office PCs in the UK today, this is a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 6.3 million people taking an annual return flight from London to Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon or Rome.

And here's the rub, the smart client technology clearly promises a bunch of environmentally powerful impacts - such as consuming less than 10 per cent of the power of a standard PC.

So why dress the technology up in a context that says: "Hello, IT manager - you won't understand the potential of our technology unless we tell you the world is about to die and, thankfully, suggest our SC20 is the answer." By now, it must be pretty basic knowledge that:

1. Every IT manager knows green computing is an issue and understands the basics
2. Every IT manager is suffering from green computing overkill - and could probably do with a break
3. Every IT manager needs to know about the business benefits of technologies, not cutting carbon emissions in isolation

As if to exemplify the above points, Cranberry chief executive Simon Ponsford also says on the press release: "Our new computer can instantly save power use and emissions while improving the bottom line. This is a fantastic win-win situation. The Smart Client will make businesses operate more effectively while providing a greener, more efficient office environment.”

There is hope, then - but saying that, I did get sent the press release six times this morning and I wonder how much carbon emissions five unrequired PR emails creates...??

Further reading

• Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
• The green IT rules from Gartner and Forrester
• JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
• SMEs lead the way on green computing
• Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers

Want to subscribe to this blog? Click here for the options

How much influence does the chief information officer (CIO) wield when it comes to green computing? In a column commissioned for this week's Computing (out Thursday), CIO Connect managing director Nick Kirkland says green inititiatives are invariably driven by the wider organisation - typically the board, finance, human resources and compliance functions set overall policy.

Kirkland says an important consequence of the top down approach, however, is few IT departments have their own specific green computing policy. Results from a recent CIO Connect poll suggest just a quarter (28 per cent) of technology leaders currently have a formal policy to ensure that IT systems become more environmentally friendly.

There is some good news, though. The CIO Connect research also found that a third of chief information officers (CIOs) are sufficiently concerned about green IT that they are starting to explore the use of energy and heat efficient servers in the data centre.

And Kirkland is hopeful that 2008 will be the year that every CIO makes green computing best practice a matter of course: "Although organisations recognise the reputational value of being seen to be environmentally friendly, it is cost savings that could and should be adopted as a true driver for green IT activity."

Green computing is likely to dominate CIO agendas in 2008 - but where as 2007 was the year of theory and postulation, next year will see leading-edge technology leaders creating far-reaching strategies that help the business cut carbon emissions.

Mark Raskino, research vice president and Gartner fellow, presents the analyst's estimates and suggests IT directors looking to cut carbon emissions should use technology to target three areas - lifecycle management, monitoring policies and societal behaviour:

"Gartner calculates that business IT and telecommunications contribute about two per cent of carbon emissions worldwide. That might not sound like much, but it is about the same as global aviation and if left unchecked it will grow faster.

"It is also a conservative number for IT which excludes consumer electronics devices, like set-top boxes. Broadly speaking there are three areas where IT leaders can help. First, reduce the direct impact of IT operations by setting specific targets for electrical efficiency improvement and equipment lifecycle management.

Second, propose ways IT and communications systems could help to better monitor, measure, manage, curtail and control polluting business processes.

Finally, for those who are truly visionaries in long-term industry and public policy, consider IT as a possible way to re-shape societal behaviour to meet environmental goals. For example, do we really need planners to permit more large out-of-town shopping complexes now that e-commerce is so well established?"

With Raskino suggesting emissions have the potential to grow faster, such visionary targets should be seen less as far-sighted ideals and more as the basic principles of good IT management.

Euan Davis, principal analyst at Forrester Research, says latest estimates calculate that energy consumption globally from IT accounts for between two and four per cent of carbon emissions - and in the UK between 10 per cent and 12 per cent. He says that IT definitely has a role to play if the UK government has any chance of hitting its ambitious climate change goals:

"CIOs must work to reduce the environmental impact of computing right through the business from back-office data centres to the corporate desktop. Carbon audits, reconfiguring data centres, deploying equipment with power consumption sensors, upgrading power supplies all help but only scratch the surface of what needs to be done.

Long-term goals around server and infrastructure virtualisation, data centre outsourcing, thin client computing, tough supplier benchmarking and even building incentive schemes that reward IT for low energy consumption, should appear on the CIO agenda.

The UK government has a role to play and should give closer consideration to actions currently in play by a number of US states and public utilities that offer fiscal incentives such as tax credits and energy-efficient product rebates."

IT directors, then, will need to attack the big resource-sapping areas: data centres, desktop computing and power supplies. As this blog has already identified, certain technology leaders are already taking steps to address such areas (JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT).

Are you in line with JP's targets - which includes reducing BT's emissions by 60 per cent between 1996 and 2006 - or do you have a longer road to travel? If the journey seems more circuitous, 2008 will be the year to give your green computing strategy more direction.

This month's Computing Business polls IT directors about how technology leaders and the government can help cut spiralling carbon emissions. Suggestions are mixed, as I will discuss at a later date.

But some businesses are already taking a strong stance, as outlined by Computing Business advisory board member JP Rangaswami, chief information officer at BT Global Services. Here's what JP had to say about his organisation's progress towards slashing carbon emissions:

BT is engaged in an ongoing drive to reduce its carbon footprint, using innovative technology to improve environmental sustainability. BT has already reduced emissions by 60 per cent between 1996 and 2006, and now aims to extend that reduction to 80 per cent by 2016 ­ the equivalent annual carbon emissions produced by 143,000 cars.

We began the project with an assessment of 90 legacy data centres. Combined, these data centres had 11,000 server racks powered by an average of 3,000 watts per rack and 25,000 physical servers. By using leading-edge technologies such as fresh air cooling, improved efficiency in energy transfer from the street to the data centre and virtualisation technologies, BT has saved £3.8m in electricity costs in nine months.

BT has also reduced overall power consumption by one per cent. Although this may sound small, BT consumes approximately 0.8 per cent of the total power in the UK and is one of the largest buyers of green electricity on the planet. BT’s data centre initiative reduces power consumption, reduces the amount of capital deployed in building data centres and improves resiliency by simplifying the power distribution systems.

Such initiatives illustrate how progress towards sustainability can be quickly achieved. But at a more general level, there is still much work to be done - with analyst Gartner recently reporting the world's data centres are responsible for the same volume of carbon emissions as the average European country.

UK IT's attempt at banging its own drum is taking shape nicely, with the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park still on course to open early next year.

Displays are already beginning to take shape with large systems including an ICL mainframe and an Elliott 803, and a host of home PCs from Sinclair, Acorn and Dragon. It'll be like a fantastic step back in time that showcases the achievements of UK developers.

Core to the launch will a major fundraising event, aimed at raising £7m that will take place in London on November 28th 2007 (see end of post for details).

Ron Holland, fund-raising lead adviser for the project, says he is quietly confident of reaching the £7m minimum target and that the group has already had a brilliant response from the general public.

My press release accidentally included an amendment, showing the board Museum will be welcoming [significant] potential donors. Important change of heart, I guess -  when you're looking for donations, beggars can't be choosers...

[Significant] or otherwise donors will be welcomed by the Museum board at: 4 More London Riverside, London SE1 2AU on November 28th 2007 from 6:30 pm

Siloed data, an ever-increasing compliance burden and poor integration - the information management problems are mounting up for technology leaders, says analyst Gartner. However, many companies still do not have formal information governance programmes, or coordinated management strategies. Gartner reports that:

• Organisations that do not approach information management in a coordinated, enterprise manner, will fail in the first or second year at a rate of more than 90 per cent
• A lack of information governance affects the bottom line - companies in North America have lost more than $600bn in revenue due to poor quality data
• But one UK telecoms provider instilled data-quality awareness by reducing revenue loss - due to inaccurate billing - from more than 15 per cent to less than 1 per cent
• Growing demand for consistent information management across the organisation will lead enterprise information management (EIM) to mature as a discipline in 60 per cent of blue-chip firms by 2009

Gartner defines EIM as an integrated discipline for structuring, describing and governing structured - and unstructured - information assets.

There is much to do be done, then - and many strategic transformations need to be undertaken. Computing recently exposed the challenges at-hand through a four-part special report, the Definitive Guide to Information Management.

During the report, Eden Project head of IT Jon Curry illustrated how his organisation is preparing for the challenge ahead, implementing crucial systems and employing key people.

“The technology is about making it easy and effective to capture people’s details and keep them in a secure environment, while on the content side we must focus on providing information that makes people engage with us,” he said.

“Our information management needs will grow over the next couple of years and we need a combination of new technology and a willingness from the business to adopt the technology.”

Organisations now have a range of business and IT processes to call upon as they attempt to create seamless supply chain integration.

Rather than holding stock in expensive warehouse space, firms are looking to make the most of innovative technology to speed up logistics processes, source products direct from suppliers and push final goods quickly to customers.

Successful supply chain management is all about overseeing multiples: multiple shopping channels; multiple technologies, including radio frequency identification (RFID); and multiple sourcing locations, such as the Far East.

Maintaining consistency across multiple channels, technologies and locations is a considerable task.

Take retailer Argos, who has seen its product line increase from 7,700 to more than 18,000 during the past seven years.

As highlighted in this month’s Computing Business cover story, Argos’ supply chain director Steve Melton says providing the goods for a broad range of lines requires a firm hand.

“We have been working with key suppliers, particularly those in the Far East, to reduce order quantities and reduce lead times,” he says.

RFID technology can help IT leaders track and trace deliveries when errors occur, but it remains a pipe dream for most.

Too expensive to tag all but the big-ticket objects, RFID remains associated with the bulk movement of goods, rather than individual items.

With more external sourcing now taking place, anything that can improve item tracing might be sensible.

The EU-wide number of dangerous products reported on a week-by-week basis this year is up 43 per cent, with 48 per cent of them involving Chinese products.

However, strong supply chain management is not just about controlling external suppliers. You will also need to take charge of internal systems and ensure that staff are not scared by innovative IT.

Supply chain processes traditionally over-rely on acquired knowledge, a process that can leave a firm exposed when key individuals leave an organisation.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is allowing organisations to re-use resources on-demand in a modularised fashion.

Some firms are already taking a lead here, illustrating how enterprise resource planning and electronic point of sales systems can form part of a holistic logistics system.

The innovative use of IT should mean the days when the supply chain was the most intractable leg of the product delivery journey are increasingly distant memories.

Good news - possibly. Analyst Gartner has unveiled what it believes will be the top 10 strategic technologies for 2008. It's good news, I guess, in that chief information officers should have a heads-up about the technologies that - to quote the analyst - will have a "significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years".

Which is always helpful, especially if you're planning on spending a big wedge of the finance chief's cash. Gartner suggests proactively planning in the following areas:

1. Green IT: Which is common sense, really - both from a strategic and public relations perspective.
2. Unified communications: Gartner suggests 80 per cent of companies are already involved in trials and refers to unified communications as the first major change in voice communications since the digital PBX.
3. Business process modelling: Service-oriented architecture is tough - BPM helps executives make the most of software resources.
4. Metadata management: Firms keep creating and pumping out increasing amounts of content. Metadata management helps chief information officers make the most of their information, creating consistency and integrity.
5. Virtualisation 2.0: Just when you getting used to the concept of storage emulation, along comes virtualisation 2.0 - stronger, fitter and altogether sleeker. Includes a whole lot more resiliency and real-time automation.
6. Mash up and composite apps: Gartner says mash up technologies will evolve significantly during the next five years - get wise and formulating an enterprise strategy.
7. Web platform and web-oriented architecture: Basically, the web is going to become the standard service delivery model. Prepare for that development, too.
8. Computing fabric: The future of servers - a move beyond blades to create a larger, single system that is the sum of its components.
9. Real world web: Informal term, referring to places where information from the web is applied to the particular location, activity or context in the real world. It is intended to augment the reality that a user faces, not to replace it as in virtual worlds. Gartner says businesses now need to seek out new applications and revenue streams from the web in a real-world situation.
10. Social software: Web 2.0 will experience considerable flux, with continued product innovation and new start-ups. Expect significant consolidation.

Yesterday, I questioned the amount of progress being made by senior IT manager with regards to green computing. An answer of sorts of comes in a survey from archiving specialist Plasmon and independent researcher Vanson Bourne, which shows that as much as 86 per cent of technology leaders expect to be responsible for reducing power consumption in IT infrastructure within 3 years.

Which is all well and good, I suppose. But dig a little deeper and you find that just a third of IT managers (34 per cent) have already reduced consumption - and just another 26 per cent expect to be given the task during the next twelve months.

Which means that despite a concerted amount of media and customer pressure, a large proportion of technology leaders remain slow off the blocks when it comes to responding to environmental concerns. As an aside, financial services IT managers apparently lead the way, with 47% of respondents already working to reduce IT power.

This column tends to champion the case of the technology leader, suggesting where the UK's big spending chief information officers are both forging ahead and struggling.

But for today, the concerns of the chief information officer (CIO) can wait. For twenty-four hours - or until I post again, at least - the issues of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will dominate.

There are more than 4 million SMEs in the UK, accounting for more than half of the country’s employment and turnover - hardly small fry, then. More importantly, small firms are actually taking a lead on environmentalism.

More than 85 per cent of UK SMEs claim going green will be a part of their business strategy during the next five years, according to research from ISP Eclipse Internet.

Which is more than can be said for some high-spending CIOs. As mentioned recently in this blog (see end of post for link), analyst Gartner estimates the IT industry has a carbon footprint as big as the airline industry and accounts for two per cent of all global carbon emissions.

As was stated in this blog, it is time for CIOs to drop the suspicion and make time for environmentalism. A couple of years of media and consumer pressure have left the CIO with a stark choice: be seen to care about the environment or risk losing business, or even your job.

The Eclipse research shows SMEs are already concentrating their green efforts in a number of areas: recycling (76 per cent); reducing waste (67 per cent); and encouraging staff to turn off equipment when not in use (30 per cent).

Such forward-thinking - with regards to IT usage - by small firms is paying off, with suppliers beginning to target specialist deals at the SME community.

A new report from researcher Datamonitor concludes that although small firms have previously been under-targeted by vendors, large suppliers have noticeably increased their SME coverage in order to gain market share during the last twelve months.

With vendors looking at SMEs to increase market share and small firms taking affirmative action on environmental concerns, CIOs could be well-advised to take a very close look at the actions of their smaller cousins.

Time for CIOs to become more environmentally aware - Act green or lose your job

Being green is all well and good, but where do you find the time? Chief information officers (CIOs) are busy ­- there’s complex service-oriented architectures to set up and intricate people management issues to unravel.

Against the backdrop of such strategic developments, it might seem slightly trivial for a CIO to start concentrating on the wasteful people in accounts who print too much paper and users who fail to turn off computing equipment at night.

So, you’re a time-pressured CIO, exasperated by the need to over-manage the small details.

Maybe you even think that green computing is a cynical strategy that is being used to sway public relations?

It is time to drop the suspicion and make time for environmentalism. A couple of years of media and consumer pressure have left the CIO with a stark choice: be seen to care about the environment or risk losing business, or even your job.

Partners and clients will increasingly make purchasing choices on a firm’s green credentials. And with the IT department being one of the business’s most wasteful departments, the CIO is likely to be a crucial strategy setter.

The finance-obsessed chief executive, driven by a desire for increased value and a limited knowledge of IT, is likely to be appalled by waste in the technology sector.

Analyst Gartner estimates the IT industry has a carbon footprint as big as the airline industry, and accounts for two per cent of all global carbon emissions.

With the boss watching you, the best advice is to think quickly and to think