Coping with increasing energy costs

Organizations should prioritize energy efficiency when purchasing new IT systems and deploy consolidation and virtualization technologies enabling space optimized, smaller and energy saving IT footprint, hence contributing to their CSR objectives. Recycling, disposal techniques should also be improved and focused on to dispose of IT equipment in a secure and sustainable manner.
Energy efficiency and Green-IT design should be the focus area for companies, who can initiate programs and activities for the development and provision of technology, products and services that will reduce the power consumption of customer IT platforms. These could include energy-saving platforms, such as power-efficient server, storage, desktops by using more efficient batteries, optimum cooling & high-density packing, use of low power CPUs, chipsets, memory, disks etc.; Utilization of software that reduces power consumption by controlling the efficiency functions in IT devices, such as MAID technology, Virtualization, Consolidation and Management functions; Facilities Management & Services that effectively rationalize power consumption, HVAC and Power units in datacenters.
The general public is becoming more aware of energy efficiency, technologies and products contributing to energy savings. However, increasing such awareness through programs involving schools, communities, Government, Industry will help propagating energy saving through thought and action.
Today energy saving technology can be found everywhere – in electric lights, motors, AC’s, water heaters, windows, doors, refrigerators, washing machines, and computers. In addition better design, advances in material sciences, insulation technology, alternate fuel can also greatly reduced energy consumption.

Go Green – Contribute to the environment!

Go Green – Contribute to the Environment!

Desktop Virtualization

Desktop virtualization is in its infancy in India but there has been lot of interest in Virtual Desktop Computing and despite this technology being in its early stages, there exists a tremendous potential ahead.

Business parameters that enable enterprises to drive competitive advantage, business efficiency, security and compliance through deployment of virtual desktop computing are robust security, better resources utilization, reduced TCO, greater compatibility and in certain cases benefits as smooth image processing, High-Quality VoIP, Tele-commuting, Low Power Consumption and Environmentally friendly operation.

Business as IT & ITES, BFSI, Hospitality, Government, Education & Training segments have shown interest in adopting desktop virtualization.

Today, complete client desktop virtualization solution designed for full-scale migration of existing business PC environment is available, enabling users to access their own desktop environment via any thin client delivering the same user experience as a traditional PC, with the security and IT management benefits of a centralized computing environment as IT administration can focus on the data center and not distributed workstations.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is already making inroads into organizations who need to regain management control of their users' desktop without adversely affecting the ability of their workforce. This ability to standardize the configuration of PC environment, applications, reduce system management overheads, and simplify the physical desktop environment to a virtual PC without sacrificing the ability to run key applications natively is a compelling reason to move to this technology.

In a VDI environment it is possible to quickly and remotely provide individuals, tens or even hundreds of employees, with the services and resources they require through the IP network to make them immediately productive. The organization can very quickly and easily scale, expand or move, without the restrictions associated with the physical boundaries of a location or site.

Points to ponder...Story of the Pie continues....

Points to ponder...

Subway Sense

On the way to work, early morning, for the past several days ‘ve watched the underutilization of Subways by esteemed citizens. Though, by all means they ought to have been using the subways for the obvious purpose of crossing over. But what happens every day is a different story. People crowding at the traffic signal and just walking across at will, much to the inconvenience of the plying traffic and most endangering themselves and other commuters in the process.
Another interesting point noted was that at this time ~70% of the commuters using the subway were school going students, which was encouraging, at least the gen-next is much more sensible). Also, about the same percentage ~70% of the commuters not using the subway were college & office goers!!!
On another note something needs to be done ‘bout the daredevils crossing the expressway with no regard whatsoever to their lives and endangering others.

Creating Exceptional Utility

The focus of innovators should be on product’s utility, its efficacy vis-à-vis customers – that is to explore and identify how and where the new creation [a product or service or delivery platform] will impact or change the lives, operations, and processes of its customers. The entity being developed becomes more a function of its utility and benefit to customers than its technical possibilities.
It is important to have the best-fit match between the proposed value of the product or service to the customers at different customer experience situations and identification of the full range of value propositions that the product or service can offer.
Many a times success comes by proposing a new value through offerings and creating new customer expectations for an existing and familiar customer experience. Starbucks revolutionized the US office-worker’s coffee break by carving a niche for its offerings and providing a chic atmosphere, offering more exotic variety of brews and injecting elements of prestige and status appeal into the coffee-purchasing customer experience. Barista has extended the same value to its consumers in India and in a way led to the Indian middle class becoming more coffee literate and springing up of various coffee bars across the country.
Innovating and extending the same value and efficacy to distinctive parts of the customer experience can also be successful. Dell extended the same utility by offering to increase customer productivity by not only in technology terms by providing faster PC computers but also reducing the time to customer by eliminating distributors and dealers and offering customizable PC configurations tailored to each customers needs, resulting in a more effective and faster delivery experience.
Another example is that of Salesforce.com, the leader in On-Demand Customer Relationship Management [CRM] software. Salesforce.com changed the way enterprise applications as CRM are delivered to customers by adopting software-as-a-service [SaaS] business model, in which customers subscribe to Web-based software packages, frequently being updated, over the traditional model of one-time, commercial-off-the-shelf sales [COTS] used by all other major players, who now also offer software through the SaaS model. The company started focusing on the SME with affordability offerings has now moved up as customers are migrating up to higher-value editions looking for more functionality. Also, what benefits Salesforce.com is its AppExchange platform. The SaaS model makes it easier to create reusable code, which its partners then package up by adding value added industry specific, tailored modules and market to Salesforce.com’s user base via its AppExchange directory.
Sometimes, a completely new perspective offering a completely new value while providing a different customer experience may lead to success. The disposable fluorescent bulb from Philips is this kind of innovation offering customers not only usage productivity but also providing a unique value of environmental friendly disposal that was not offered by anyone else and catapulting it to a profitable market leader position in FL segment.