In a blog post last week, I wrote about power consumption and how the new ARM processors consume much less power than the more common processors, like the Intel Xeon. Well with that in mind, it turns out that the Carbon Disclosure Project completed a study of large IT companies in France and the UK, concluding that if they shift to cloud computing solutions, they’ll see large cost savings and they’ll reduce their carbon emissions by 50% within nine years.
The study suggested that large UK companies could save around £1.2 billion in annual energy savings alone, and I don’t think they’re even considering the new low-energy processors since they’re not on the market yet. According to the study, the shift to the cloud would also save the equivalent of 200 million barrels of oil per year. Similar results were found in France, so I think it’s a pretty safe bet to assume that we would see the same results here in North America.
Whether you think our current environmental state is near catastrophic or the reports are blown out of proportion, there is no doubt that reducing our carbon emissions is important. Smog filled cities are unpleasant, and no one would suggest the smog is harmless.
Just as important as a company’s impact on the environment is the massive cost saving cloud computing can provide, which doesn’t stop at energy use. Shifting to a shared data center requires less hardware, which requires less management, both of which save money. It’s a snowball effect that can make or break any company, large or small.
While this particular study looked at IT companies, it doesn’t really matter what industry you’re in. Choosing cloud based options, like the Telax hosted call center solution, has proven to be the most responsible decision for both the bottom line and the environment. Simply put, it’s a win-win situation.
To read more about the Carbon Disclosure Project study, here’s an article from The Guardian.
Tags: carbon, cloud computing, data center, energy consumption, guardian, hosted call center, telax, telax hosted call ceter