Go Green with Cloud Computing

Running a business today comes with the responsibility of minimizing your company's impact on the environment. This means taking a second look at traditional business models and finding better ways that minimize waste. One big step that your business can take towards going green is to migrate your traditional IT services over to the cloud.

Whether you are using cloud computing to host your entire network, or just using the cloud for a few applications, you can give yourself a pat on the back for helping the environment. Cloud computing is the green choice because it specializes in efficiency. All the data stored over the cloud is kept in warehouses full of servers that have been specially designed to maximize the use of energy. For example: YouTube stores all of its video data in energy efficient data centers. Google has calculated that the energy it takes to view 3 solid days of YouTube videos is equivalent to the energy it takes to manufacture, package and deliver 1 DVD.

More companies taking advantage of cloud computing would mean less underutilized servers operating throughout the business world, which would mean less electricity being wasted. The clouds ability to remove the bulkiest computer components from a company's IT infrastructure can have a big impact on the environment. This is because cloud computing makes operations more efficient and efficiency goes hand-in-hand with environmentalism.

The retail industry is a good example of this; putting aside all the issues of small business vs. the corporate machine, the efficiency of big corporate stores is actually better for the environment. Big box stores have everything under one roof, small businesses have everything under dozens of roofs. It takes less electricity to heat and cool one big building than it does to keep the lights on for dozens of smaller stores. The efficiency of cloud computing means that your business, and all the other SMBs that store information in the same data center, are all reducing their energy use by having less servers powered on.

On top of being environmentally friendly, cloud computing is also economical. Let's say a company needs to expand by adding an additional server in order to host a new website. The new website is important, so it will get its own dedicated server. Upon shopping for a new server, the office manager discovers that even the smallest server on the market has way more room than what is needed to host the website. Because this new server is the cheapest, the office manager purchases it, believing they have made the most economical choice. Now the company is paying regular electricity and maintenance costs to house a server that is bigger than what they need.

With cloud computing, you only pay for the space that you are using. It makes environmental and economic sense to pay for the 25GB of memory that you are using, instead of purchasing and maintaining a 1TB server--which would leave you with 925GB of underutilized space. Plus, the regular charge that comes from having the cloud host your network can be categorized as an operating expense. This means that you can include IT in your monthly budget and free up capital expenditures to purchase other needed items, like investing in more environmentally-friendly solutions that will make the office even greener.

To learn about how to host your IT infrastructure to the cloud, and other technology solutions that are good for the environment, call SMART Services at 586 258-0650 . Be sure to ask us about our virtualization process that consolidates older server units into one underutilized server. Virtualization is a great way to free up space and cut back on energy use. For all of your technology needs, call SMART Services and we will work hard to find the IT solution that works best for your business and the environment.