Datacenters probably won't come to mind first when one thinks of saving planet earth. Here we highlight the silent work of 10 leaders who know how IT can affect global warming and are determined to make a difference.

“Airtel intends to launch services that will be based on virtual computing - taking advantage of the new virtualization platforms that are available in the market place. These will not only bring in a new revenue stream but would also be used by the internal IT operations to optimize their computing.”—Jai Menon, Bharti airtel

"Some significant plans towards a greener environment are designing efficient datacenters; Solar panels for common area lights; Efficient HVAC system; Improving awareness among the building occupants. This will result in better participation and support to the green cause. Success can only be achieved with such collective participation."—SatiSh DaS, Cognizant

At the leadership summit in Mumbai, last month, APC by Schneider Electric in association with CIO Magazine, recognized the winners of the 'Top 10 Green IT Enterprise study'. The award was given for demonstrating the

foresight, the initiative and the determination to follow through on a plan to reduce their IT enterprises' carbon footprint by

improving energy efficiency. In the study, of power savings and efficiency practices, over 200 respected Indian corporate businesses were asked to share information on their datacenter energy utilization.

While most of the respondents were very aware of the need for more efficient energy utilization with respect to their technology

"We intend to replace our 3,500-odd desktops and laptops with new ones that have 85 percent or above power-efficient SMPS with star rating and are ROHS compliant. Server consolidation is an ongoing process at IFFCO and in the first phase of our power conservation project, we also plan to outsource our disaster recovery site."—a. K. Gupta, iFFCo

"Reducing long-term costs and improving environmental performance are not mutually exclusive in most cases. As 2010 progresses we are looking at sustaining Green IT activities; recycling and disposal policies; paperless office (or one with less paper); regular energy audits; and extensive usage of e-learning tools"—ViJay Sethi, hero honda Motors

Green briGadeGreen briGade

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"Fidelity's IT organization will continue to focus on Virtualization; eliminate the practice of 3-year depreciation schedules for servers; utilize Combined Heat and Power technology, energy-efficient lighting, coordinate air conditioner settings; and align datacenter staff by integrating the expertise of personnel who understand both IT systems and physical infrastructure systems."—aMit Gupta, Fidelity Business Services

"We're exploring opportunities for further consolidation and virtualization. We are shifting from dedicated computing infrastructure for projects to a shared, secure, virtualized environment leveraging cloud computing. We are also looking at expanding desktop coverage for rolling out power management configuration and migration to Windows 7 OS for better power management."—Murali KriShna, infosys

"We plan to consolidate and standardize our equipment at the Technology Center level and for users. We intend to initiate application virtualization in order to use maximum computing power. We are trying to deploy cloud computing to optimize operational costs and conserve energy. We are also working aggressively to make Aircel a paperless office."—raVinDer Jain, aircel

"The 'green' factor is considered critical in all our new IT infrastructure creations. We have progressively built additional green features in the new datacenters created at various sites. We would also be rolling out the best practices to the Mahindra group of companies during 2010."

—arVinD tawDe, Mahindra and Mahindra

“We are in process of commissioning the largest integrated stainless steel complex globally, in Kalinga Nagar, Dist. Jajpur, Orissa, which will take us to the league of the 'Top 5 Stainless Steel Producers' globally. There is tremendous scope in 'Going Green' in this facility in every aspect.”—aJay Dhir, Jindal Stainless

"Wipro plans to invest in renewable energy generation and procurement, green datacenters and bio gassifier, and the use of LED lighting and geothermal cooling. Thus, we intend to achieve the next level of benefits in terms of our continued endeavors towards carbon footprint reduction and energy savings."—laxMan BaDiGa, wipro

infrastructure, the winners were those that had a plan to do something about it and a plan for follow through as well.

The respondents cut across sectors - from retail trade to manufacturing, financial services and government. The best enterprises among them consistently affirmed they had solutions or best practices in place across a wide array of issues. Queries sought responses in areas ranging from top-executive-level backing for power saving efforts to enterprise-level audits that measured power efficiencies within the organizations.

The best also needed to have effective steps in place for regularly encouraging their workers, including IT managers and facilities managers, to adopt prudent power saving practices. The study also asked if the respondents financially rewarded their employees to encourage them to save energy costs.

These CIOs, used to routinely facing complex operational problems with technology projects of various sizes and scopes,

wouldn't balk at vexing practical difficulties in achieving the energy efficiency goals. They also, however, had to deal with achieving effective communication across rank and file of their enterprises and "infuse in every stakeholder the `I believe I can do; this is MY project,'” spirit, as Ajay Dhir of Jindal Stainless put it.

What they did and continue to do includes everything from getting people to simply switch off light bulbs and computer monitors when they aren't in a room to complex studies of the energy consumption of supply chains in manufacturing plants, as Vijay Sethi of Hero Honda said, for instance, to virtualizing and consolidating servers in datacenters.

Finally, as with most top-level players, the differentiation is often subtle and in small degree. So the motivation for each of these CIOs stemmed not from the chance for short-term recognition but from the foresight that energy conservation and green best practices went beyond the catch-all phrase of `corporate social responsibility.' They also, never lost sight of hard business facts, as Jai Menon of Bharti Airtel pointed out:

“The 'green' drive will be a source of competitive advantage for us as our systems and processes are aligned to more innovative and energy-efficient processes.” More power to you gentlemen.

Brought to you by:

Green winnerSairCeL• bHarTi airTeL

COGniZanT TeCHnOLOGy • FideLiTy bUSineSS

SerViCeS • HerO HOnda MOTOrS

iFFCO • inFOSyS • JindaL STainLeSS

MaHindra & MaHindra• WiPrO

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