Computacenter PLC
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Contents |
MI Summary
Environmental Policy
Computacenter is a leading European provider of IT infrastructure services and is committed to continuously improving the environmental impact of its business activities. Computacenter’s environmental policy will be enacted by an Environmental Management System covering major sites and operational areas that will:
- 1. Comply fully with all relevant environmental legislation, regulations and other relevant requirements.
- 2. Identify the significant environmental impacts of its business.
- 3. Provide the framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and targets, including the reuse, recycling and reduction of all waste.
- 4. Actively prevent pollution and ensure an emergency response capability to cope with accidental pollution incidents.
- 5. Be documented, communicated to employees and used to improve awareness of environmental matters.
- 6. Be regularly reviewed and amended as appropriate.
- 7. Be certified to the International Management standard, BS EN ISO 14001:2004
(1)
Articles
Computacenter Helps Companies Go ‘Green’ and Cut Costs
(24/01/07) Businesses and government organisations will be able to develop more effective environmental policies for the acquisition, operation, re-use and disposal of IT equipment by using a new “Green IT Advisory Service” launched today by IT Services firm, Computacenter.
Responding to increasing electricity costs and social and political pressures to improve the corporate environmental footprint, the service will introduce significant cost savings whilst reducing carbon emissions and landfill usage. It will be based on a series of practical steps, starting with an energy efficiency audit of a company’s current IT environment.
The service will also make organisations instantly aware of the environmental lifecycle implications of a typical desktop. Computacenter will offer services from its IT re-marketing and disposal subsidiary company RDC, to encourage companies to refurbish IT equipment to better reap the financial and environmental advantages of an IT refresh.
The service includes “greener IT” reporting, benefits from re-marketing and recycling, energy consumption data for new products, configuration services to achieve minimum energy consumption and recommendations on a variety of other relevant actions.
The carbon footprint for the lifecycle of a typical PC has been calculated and both Computacenter and RDC have committed to off-set the carbon emissions generated by their operations for any PC purchased through the Green IT Advisory Service.
Computacenter has also partnered with courier Business Direct to provide the first ever “carbon neutral” delivery service to customer sites, via delivery vehicles using biodiesel.
Computacenter recognises the importance of educating employees to ‘think Green’ and has developed poster campaigns, “switch off” stickers and recommendations for feedback relating to electricity use reduction, all aimed at encouraging employee participation.
Research released by Fujitsu Siemens Corporation and Computacenter reveals that switching a PC off overnight and at weekends can save up to £53 in electricity cost annually per PC. In addition, a typical desktop PC left on for 24 hours a day, 220 days per year is responsible for up to a tonne of CO2 over a typical 3-year lifecycle.
BAA is one organisation already considering Green issues when selecting IT. Kevin Mercer, Services and Support Manager from BAA Ltd. comments: "BAA Ltd. believes that environmental sustainability criteria need to be considered when selecting products, including the lifecycle environmental impact of PCs. BAA Ltd. welcomes Computacenter’s initiative in leading the way towards Greener IT Estates and looks forward to partnering with Computacenter to continue implementing these initiatives within BAA Ltd."
IDC analyst, Leigh Worthing said: "In the wake of recent European Legislation, including the WEEE directive, and a shift in mainstream corporate attitudes towards environmental sustainability and the reduction of carbon emissions in particular, it is IDC's belief that organisations need to consider the lifecycle environmental impacts of their IT investments. To this end, IDC welcomes initiatives such as Computacenter's Green IT Advisory Service."
Heidi-Lynn Mitchell, Product Services Director for Computacenter’s hardware division, stated: “We are breaking new ground with this service. Nobody else is helping corporate IT users tackle this crucial issue in the same way. Organisations are increasingly focused on their environmental profile and are beginning to recognise the reputation and cost advantages of a ‘green’ approach to their business operations. With the introduction of the Green IT Roadmap, Computacenter intends to keep its customers ahead of competitors and aware of developments in the global challenge posed by climate change.” (2)
IT Directors Ignoring Green Issues, Research Reveals
(29/05/07) Almost one in four IT directors and CIOs questioned in a recent survey claim that managing environmental constraints such as energy consumption or inefficiencies around the cooling of datacentres is of little or no importance to them.
The survey was commissioned by IT services company Computacenter Services and carried out by PMP Research. It questioned 100 IT directors and CIOs.
Other key findings include:
- Environmental issues – when asked which environmental issues they experienced with their datacentre, lack of available space for new infrastructure was the greatest concern (43%). This was followed by lack of available power capacity (33%) and then high cost of real estate (20%)
- Public Sector beats the banks – nearly half (48%) of public sector IT directors have reduced processing power on the desktop or are evaluating a move towards centralised application delivery. Yet more than 6 out of 10 IT directors in the banking sector have no intention of taking this route
- Not a factor for manufacturers – almost a third (32%) of manufacturing professionals state that managing environmental constraints is of little or no importance to them. This is compared with 16% in retail, 29% in banking and finance and 16% from the public sector
- Ignorance is not bliss – one in seven (14%) admit to there being little awareness within their organisation of the need to adopt more environmentally friendly IT practices
Terry Walby, datacentre solutions director, Computacenter Services comments:
“Given the environmental inefficiency of the average datacentre, organisations need to take heed of the green agenda. Typically, we see two areas for cost savings and efficiency gains. Firstly, improved environmental controls through simple and cost effective steps such as removing excess cables, dust and packaging that hinder airflow and contribute to excessive heat, and re-architecting rack, cable and infrastructure layouts that will help reduce the demand on cooling systems. Secondly, technology innovation, such as consolidation and virtualisation of existing infrastructure, deploying energy efficient hardware, or using management tools to shutdown servers during idle periods can reduce power demand by up to 80%.”
According to industry experts, electricity now accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the overall operating expenses in many datacentres. Yet, on average only half of the power consumed by a datacentre is actually required to operate IT systems. The remaining half is burnt up by lighting, cooling, losses in power distribution and even air movement.
Walby concludes: “Benchmarking and improving the efficiency of a datacentre environment will not only enable organisations to fully optimise their datacentres but also make best use of their energy resources, save thousands of pounds on monthly power bills and reduce their carbon footprint.” (3)
