Last week’s Uptime Institute Symposium 2011 event not only brought together data center experts, it also delivered the goods for stat monkeys in the form of the group’s first-ever industry survey results. After a bout of “excitement” from the techies in attendance (riiiiight), the group let loose with the findings, which include…

• 74% of respondents had deployed or were considering some form of cloud computing, primarily private cloud.
• 36% of data center facilities would run out of space, power or cooling in 2011-2012.
• Over 70% of the respondents measure PUE, and report an average PUE between 1.6-1.99

But here’s the most startling data point: “Less than 20% of respondents’ IT departments pay the data center power bill, a financial structure that makes it far more difficult to drive data center energy efficiency.” No wonder there’s no incentive for IT departments to green up their act. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Bean counters for Sustainable IT

When faced with this data, it’s easy to chalk it up to bureaucracy, corporate myopia or a hundred other reasons why many companies react S L O W L Y to market conditions. Realistically, it could simply be a matter of not knowing where/how to start. Here’s a thought…

Why not let the numbers guys and gals take the lead?

GreenResearch’s David Schatsky unearthed a great insight from Richard Ellis, Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Alliance Boots, which appeared in a recent International Federation of Accountants report. Ellis advises:

Given its expertise in managing and reporting on quantitative data and credibility that finance departments generally have when it comes to presenting financial data, having finance be responsible for environmental data raises the profile and credibility of the measures of a company’s environmental performance. Richard and the finance director jointly present this non-financial information to their board of directors.

It makes sense that finance departments — they keep the keenest eye on a company’s bottom line, after all — would wield some major influence. Enlisting its help will provide some much-needed visibility into the costs and environmental impact of IT. This is a good first step into pinpointing and separating out IT’s real financial footprint. And it’s a good motivator to start shifting the financial burden on IT execs, which in turn should lead to smarter, eco-friendlier decisions.

[via @dschatsky]