Cisco Cisco Energy Management for Data Centers Information Guide

Business Challenge

Retail stores use a lot of power-hungry equipment, including refrigerators, lighting, and

heating appliances. Energy-intensive systems are essential but also very costly. This

has a direct effect on profitability, with elevated costs due in part to energy expenses.

The results of a 2012 EHI Energy Management study indicate that retail companies

in the German-speaking countries of Europe have recognized the importance of

energy and are establishing energy departments to handle this issue. Many of the

surveyed companies anticipate increases of 11.4 percent in their energy costs,

according to the EHI Retail Institute report “Energy Management in Retail 2012 - Data,

Facts, Background from Empirical Research.” The industry is increasingly focused on

finding ways to reduce energy costs, find opportunities for savings, and support their

sustainability efforts.

One company that actively pursues energy management is the Austrian food

store chain MPREIS. With 220 supermarkets, 160 café bistros, a bakery, and a

meat-processing operation, this family-run company is the second-largest private

employer in the Tyrol region of Austria. MPREIS offers approximately 8,000 food

items on average, including more than 600 organic products. These items are

stored in refrigerated compartments and kept well illuminated in the store. The store

floors are not the only parts of the company that contain energy-intensive devices.

The IT infrastructure that manages operational processes behind the scenes also

consumes a great deal of power.

MPREIS has been committed for several years to sustainability in its product range

and energy-efficient operational processes. Its IT department began working on a

sustainable concept for saving money and conserving energy. Many systems in the

IT department run day and night without interruption. But this situation had been

called into question, because it contains clear opportunities for savings. The goal

was to collect detailed data on energy consumption to gain an initial impression of

how individual devices were using energy.

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Case Study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Customer Name:

MPREIS

Industry:

Retail supermarket chain in

Austria with 219 markets and

5,364 employees

Location:

Headquartered in Völs near

Innsbruck, Austria

Number of Employees:

1,620

Business Challenge

• Reduce energy costs by gaining better

understanding of energy consumption

of PC, servers, switches, IP phones,

and printers

Network Solution

• Deployed Cisco Energy Management

for Distributed Office

Business Results

• Company has new tool to help

implement unique environmental

strategy as part of sustainable

business model

• Energy usage information gathered

from Cisco Energy Management

has helped determine company’s IT

carbon footprint and has been used for

corporate social responsibility reporting

• MPREIS will expand Cisco Energy

Management to all divisions, including

markets and café bistros