How Green is the Money You Save?

By Rob Lough, General Manager
Micro Visions, Inc.

In prior newsletters we discussed the significant cost savings associated with virtualization, cloud computing and managed services. Typically, an organization requires on-site processing power, storage capacity and supervision to manage critical business information. You’re spending a lot of money on technology. But what if you could make much of that cost go away?

Imagine not having to purchase expensive hardware or software, not having to supply electricity to machines and countermanding climate control, not having to invest in additional personnel to manage an expanding network, without having to change the way you do business - all while enhancing the end-user experience. Much of the cost associated with locating and managing an on-site technology infrastructure as most currently do, can be reduced via the consolidation and outsourcing that virtualization, cloud computing and managed services brings. And with these savings come favorable environmental implications.

Simply put, with multiple servers on-site and conventional computers at every desk, energy is being consumed unnecessarily and capacity is going unused. You’re wasting money and natural resources. The alternative is good news, because the simple act of saving money will automatically conserve natural resources - a win/win for your pocketbook and Mother Nature.

Consider the energy required to manufacture, package and ship computer hardware to your door. Or the resources used each time a Micro Visions systems engineer is dispatched to solve a problem. Ponder the energy needed to power those computers once installed, and the additional power needed to counteract the heat they produce in your localized server room and office space environment. Furthermore, most computers are purchased with more processing capacity than immediately required, or with more than is needed during the normal course of operations. While this has been strategically prudent from the perspective of potential growth and peak-use planning, by the time a business is populated with a full complement of servers and workstation computers, there may be enough unused processing capacity to run multiple companies.

Consider too, the toxic waste produced by discarded computer equipment. Toxic substances in electronic waste generally include lead, mercury, cadmium, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Capacitors, transformers and PVC insulated wires are all hazardous if improperly discarded, and proper recycling is an expensive distraction to undertake.

All of this can (and does) burn right through your bottom line. But under the oversight of managed services, much of this can be prevented. With virtualization and cloud computing, capacity can be either consolidated into fewer computers or outsourced away from your site. Business runs just as it does now (or better), while energy consumption and expense is reduced dramatically. No need to spend more on “going green”; no need to hug a polar bear.

Want to go green? Call us at 616-776-0400 to learn how you can begin helping to save the planet while boosting your bottom line.

Micro Visions is a managed services provider, and as such, strategically plans, facilitates and implements virtualization and cloud computing technologies as a service to our clients. Because no third party managed services provider exists that can offer everything we want for our clients, Micro Visions developed its own managed services program called Securelink Essentials.

Links to prior newsletters:

Virtually Computer Free

Heading Into The Cloud

How Will We Manage?

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