Zen of IT

A lot of my day to day job is selling and installing storage systems, so I shouldn't be complaining about the amount of data that needs to be stored - but I am! Why do we need all this data? I'm sure we could all survive without it.

Email in particular is a massive problem. We are all being swamped by information, so much that we can't handle it. This is an industry problem and the big guns have got together to try and reduce the number of emails (currently estimated to be 200 Billion a day). To read more about this initiative check out the following link, you'll also find some helpful advice on how to handle your own messages

 

Well the long wait is over. At the British Computer Society gala dinner in London last night (which I didn't attend as it was a bit expensive!) the consultant of the year was announced. If you are a regular reader you will know I was up for the award. In fairness I really didn't expect to win it and I was right! I did however get the runner up spot, so I am delighted. I hope over the next year to build up the following on this website and to help you achieve your goals too.

Thanks to everyone for their support

http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.23495

Got some spare time on your hands? Then contact the Samaritans, your local office may be in need of your I.T skills. You wont get paid but you can earn some serious zen points! samaritans.org

Ok, so the picture is a bit "markety", but honestly real savings can be made by virtualizing, even on a small scale. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that if you can replace 4 servers with 1 server, you are going to be saving on hardware and on power.

If we look at the example below, In reality you would probably be replacing 4 single CPU systems, so lets half the physical costs and the power costs to $13,000 and $1,500. Over a 3 year period (remember you will be looking to replace your hardware every 3 years) you'll be saving $8,000 on hardware and $3,000 on power. You also got the benefits of an easier to manage and more flexible system!

So, even a small company can easily save $11,000 over 3 years - which means you can plant lots of trees, or have a bloody good party :-)

ThinkProfessional, please meet ThinkGeek. Great T shirts for the anorak in you! ThinkGeek.com

Being "Green" isn't just the new in word. It's not just for tree huggers, there are real bottom line financial benefits. In these days where power prices are so high, reducing your power and any other unrequired expenditure could be a massive financial benefit for you and your company. I encourage you as an IT professional to go to your company and say, "this is the green policy we are going to implement in the IT department and we estimate it will save the business £x's". Watch the rest of the business folow suit and watch your brownie points go up!

Seric Systems offers a free Green IT Audit to get you started. It will look at a whole host of things like server power consumption, effectiveness of UPS, reuse of print cartridges, they can even help you write your policy and present it to the business. http://www.seric.co.uk/Networking/green.htm

Making money and good ethical goals can go hand in hand. Just check out these businesses

http://www.entrepreneur.com/inspiring/index.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/teenstartups/article197520.html

Please allow me to blow my own trumpet for a min, I've been shortlisted as a finalist for the British Computer Society and Computer Weekly consultant of the year. Dead excited! I've had my final interview so its cross fingers and hope time! http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.21076