New Microsoft Server Technology Set To Save Northern Irish Business Millions In Annual Energy Costs
14 April 2008
• 36,000 Servers in Northern Ireland today • Only 5% of business virtualized today• One Windows Server 2008 equivalent to Power of 16 Current Servers
The latest Microsoft Server product – Windows Server 2008 was launched today at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast. The event, was attended by over 300 IT professionals and software developers from businesses across Northern Ireland and marks Microsoft’s largest product launch in Northern Ireland.
Windows Server 2008 marks an incredible step forward in ‘Green Technology’ through increased efficiency and a new technology called virtualisation. Virtualisation enables companies to reduce the number of computer servers they use by having multiple servers in one physical server box. The launch, which incorporates three products; Windows Server 2008; SQL Server 2008; and Visual Studio 2008, is themed ‘Heroes Happen Here,’ to honour the thousands of IT professionals and developers around Northern Ireland who work tirelessly to bring the remarkable benefits of computer technology to their companies.
And as Bill O’Brien, Business Manager, Server and Tools for Microsoft Ireland explains the new server product can have a huge impact on the environment, “The issue of reducing our environmental impact is something that we are all aware of. New technologies such as Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 enable us to get more benefit from technology while at the same time reducing the power consumption of our computers resulting in less energy usage and a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions. If we upgrade every server in Northern Ireland to Windows Server 2008 we would reduce CO2 omissions by approximately 1 million tonnes every year - to put in terms we may better understand, that is more than the emissions from 120,000 midsized cars on the road.”
Energy Savings
There are currently 36,000 servers in the Irish market with approximately 10,500 more servers per year scheduled to enter the market according to the IDC. The cost of running those servers 24/7 in terms of energy both in running cost and cooling systems annually is significant.
“The amount of CO2 emissions generated from that kind of usage is staggering,” added O’Brien. “It’s estimated that only 5% of business are virtualised today, that represents a tremendous growth potential and an incredible saving in terms of businesses expenditure on energy year on year.
Early Adopters
Prior to the official launch of Windows Server 2008 a number of leading organisations throughout Ireland took part in an early adoption trail. UTV took the opportunity to be the first adopter in Northern Ireland and it has witnessed real benefits to its business operation since installing the new product.
“Windows Server 2008 has significantly enhanced our hosting customer propositions in UTV New Media” explains Jeremy Biggerstaff, Managing Director UTV New Media. “The hosting features available in the product have enabled us to continue to provide the most innovative range of products in the marketplace. All clients will find it easier to deal with us, whether they are business partners, first time customers, complex solutions or traditional SME’s. The new platform has strengthened our knowledge and our hosting business for the future”
He continued, “I am delighted with the way in which the early adopters programme was managed. The onsite installation was carried out by local IT specialist and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Northgate. Their expertise was invaluable and having dedicated access to them and Microsoft engineering specialists made the implementation process a lot smoother.”
Addressing delegates at the launch event, Peter Russell, NI Regional Manager with Microsoft stated, “This is an incredibly exciting time for Microsoft – these new enterprise products help customers more efficiently and securely manage their entire infrastructure and move to a virtualised environment while also delivering business intelligence and next-generation web experiences to boost business results.”
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