Cisco Cisco Energy Management for Data Centers Libro blanco

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Cisco Energy Management Suite policies can be implemented by device type, location, priority, and other

parameters. In addition, Cisco Energy Management Suite enables load-adaptive computing to allocate the right

amount of power only to those devices doing productive work, minimizing the amount of energy supplied when idle

or operating at less than maximum performance.

Using Cisco Energy Management to Achieve Energy Savings

Enterprises can use Cisco Energy Management Suite to create policies that automatically and remotely manage

power for enterprise devices, powering systems down when idle/not needed. This gives organizations the ability to

align energy use with demand across the enterprise through automated policies to achieve significant savings. This

shifts thinking and practice from “powered on by default” to “available when needed.”

Organizations that have already adopted an enterprise energy management solution are making some interesting

discoveries about employee work habits and the power draws of office equipment. For example, one company
learned that its video teleconferencing system was drawing as much power overnight as an entire floor’s worth of

equipment. By automating a time-based policy to power down the system during idle hours, the company achieved

immediate and substantial savings.

Another organization learned that many of its supposedly mobile devices never left the building. Most of the time,

these devices were also left on overnight when not in use. Automated policies that power down idle, unproductive

office equipment can save 35 percent in energy costs. An ideal solution will provide opt-in/opt-out policies for end

users to preserve productivity.

Event-based policies designed to support energy following the productive user can power up/down campus

devices when employees enter and exit a facility. Time-based policies power down desktops and laptops, monitors,

access points, printers, copiers, and lights after hours and on weekends.

Teaming with IT to Reduce Energy Consumption

When it comes to implementing enterprise energy management, the facilities and IT groups within an organization

must collaborate. Both departments strive to deliver a reliable and stable service to the rest of the enterprise, but

the energy concerns of each department vary slightly. Facilities strives for efficiency, keeping costs down while
meeting the company’s power needs. The IT department supports and extends computing capabilities for the

company while also maintaining SLAs. In general, facilities values efficiency and IT values availability. But with

Cisco Energy Management, these goals are not mutually exclusive.

Cisco Energy Management is implemented and managed by the IT department. Its policies are designed to

promote availability and SLAs while maximizing energy efficiency. As a network-connected energy management

platform, Cisco Energy Management is an IT product. But the budget relief it provides goes directly to the facilities

bottom line, with energy savings and reduced carbon emissions.

The most successful enterprise energy management implementations receive support from the facilities and IT
departments, regardless of which one initiates the project. If the initiative begins with facilities, it’s important to

make a business case for visibility into the energy consumption and utilization of IT devices with a stated goal for

cost reduction. IT should be assured that availability, productivity, and SLAs will be preserved.

In addition to energy and cost savings, Cisco Energy Management can provide tangible benefits for the IT

department, including sustainable procurement or the ability to factor energy consumption and carbon emission

into the purchasing decisions for IT devices and the identification of virtualization candidates.