IBM has been selected by the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) to implement a system to track schools' power usage and reduce energy and maintenance costs. IBM is helping the district transform their schools into "smart" buildings that use new green technologies to save money and manage facilities and assets more efficiently.

The growing school district, which serves over 45,000 students in more than 100 schools, is responsible for tracking and maintaining 2,800 assets from small items like tools or keys all the way up to 600 portable classrooms that shift locations based on need.

"For the past 15 years, we have worked to make our schools more energy-efficient, whether it's replacing lighting or properly maintaining equipment to ensure it operates at peak efficiency," says Al Berting, the CCSD's operations manager. "IBM software will help us take these efforts to the next level with better and timelier information about actual energy usage."

Using IBM work and asset management software, the school will streamline the service request process for all the district's schools through a centralized system, integrate information from diverse systems to eliminate duplication, automatically assign work to staff and contractors, and improve cost transparency be integrating with financial systems.

To date the system, being implemented in phases, has resulted in labour savings, faster responses to maintenance requests, and better-maintained and longer-lasting equipment. For example, staff previously responded to more than 30 daily service calls, many for lack of heat in portables. That has been reduced to two or three calls per week.

Using IBM software, the CCSD can review and triage maintenance requests, identify recurring breakdowns, create and track - in real time -- work orders and assign the job. In the future, the district plans to feed sensor and meter data from equipment so preventive maintenance can be triggered based on hours of use. IBM worked with Johnson Controls on the solution.

"By adding a layer of intelligence, elements of a building including temperature, electricity, ventilation, water, waste management, telecommunications, and physical security can now be integrated for better management and control," says Florence Hudson, energy and environment executive for IBM. "Our information shows smarter, more sustainable buildings using a combination of active and designed-in technologies can reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 50 per cent to 70 per cent and save 30 per cent to 50 per cent in water usage."

www.ibm.com/think

Panasonic Corporation announced its new midterm management plan that covers the next three years from April 2010 to March 2013. Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo unveiled the plan, called GT12 (Green Transformation 2012), that is designed to bolster the Panasonic Group's growth potential — essentially, becoming the number one green innovation company by 2018.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the company's founding. As the first step towards the goal, Panasonic will devote the next three years to making group-wide efforts in shifting its paradigm for growth and laying a foundation to be a Green Innovation Company, while integrating its contribution to the environment and business growth.

The plan focuses on two themes: shifting its paradigm for growth and building a foundation to be a Green Innovation Company. To achieve the paradigm shift for growth, the company will shift its business from existing to new fields such as energy, from Japan-centric to globally-oriented and from individual products to solutions and systems incorporating a variety of products.

The company aims to claim top status among all companies in the following areas: contribution in CO2 emission reductions and recycling resources, the size of its energy systems business and leadership in environmentally conscious products.

Also of interest is that the company is aiming to maximize recycling-oriented manufacturing and reaching zero waste from its production activities in fiscal 2019. For fiscal 2013, Panasonic will expand the use of recycled resources and bring up its ratio against the total resources used to over 12 percent. In factories, the company will pursue achieving zero CO2 emissions and lift the ratio of resources recycled at plants to over 99 percent. Panasonic will adopt 3Rs (reuse, reduce and recycle) in its product development and strengthen the development of its recycling technologies.

Panasonic's plan could be considered the "lean manufacturing" approach of the 21st century — a more efficient production environment that also focuses on life cycle considerations for product development and building, and energy use and CO2 emissions.

panasonic.net

Toronto, ON — As economies emerge from the global recession, the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors continue to evolve at a rapid pace and will have strategic implications for TMT companies, Canadian businesses and consumers. Today, Deloitte unveiled its 2010 global TMT Predictions reports and launched its cross-country road show presentation series to reveal the top TMT trends Canadians can expect to see in the coming year.

“While last year’s Predictions revolved around the economic downturn, this year’s Predictions are all about the mobile Internet,” says John Ruffolo, National Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group, Deloitte. “Yesterday’s technologies can’t keep up with tomorrow’s consumers. Clearing the network traffic jams created by new mobile devices will not be easy and will have serious ramifications for customers and carriers alike.”

Now in its ninth year, Deloitte’s TMT Predictions are an annual series of global insights that showcase emerging global TMT trends that will significantly impact businesses and consumers in the coming year and beyond. The 2010 TMT Predictions are based on research, in-depth interviews and input from Deloitte clients and alumni, industry analysts, leading global TMT executives, 100 TMT C-suite executives from around the world, and more than 6,000 Deloitte TMT member firm practitioners.

This year’s Canadian TMT Predictions demonstrate that consumers and enterprises want to access data anywhere, anytime, and on any screen — but want to do so economically. As the world emerges from the recession, both individuals and corporations want unlimited data and mobility but are restricted by limited budgets.

“This tension is driving the TMT world to opt for solutions that may not be perfect, but are good enough,” says Duncan Stewart, Director of Deloitte Canada Research.

“Canadians and Canadian companies are at the front lines of the battle between demand for data and the realities of pricing,” explains Stewart.  “We may not have been the first country in the world to get the iPhone or the Amazon Kindle Reader, but our companies, our people and our regulators are facilitating the mobile Internet revolution and changing the ways that technology, media and telecommunications are bought, sold and used.”

“This theme of innovative disruption is changing both the telecom and the media worlds. At the same time as cloud computing is set to take off in 2010 — disrupting the hardware and software industries — growth in online advertising is reaccelerating, further disrupting the world of traditional media advertising,” concludes Stewart.

Full details of both the top 10 Canadian and global TMT Predictions are available online at www.tmtpredictions.ca.

According to Deloitte Canada’s TMT leadership across the country, the top 10 most significant TMT trends that will impact Canada in 2010 are:

1.    eReaders fill a niche, but eBooks fly off the (virtual) shelf — Although eReaders are securing headlines, they are an interim technology and sales growth will not meet expectations, as competition from alternative devices will likely slow their growth rate in 2011.  eBooks are expected to do well, but not be limited to standalone eReaders and will mainly be read on smartphones, PCs and tablets. This changing industry landscape will likely pose challenges for Canadian publishers, writers and distributers, which could mirror those of the music industry, where sales of recorded music have been in decline for years.

2.    Smaller than a netbook, and bigger than a smartphone: net tablets arrive — Experts predict that there is room for a connected media device that fills the gap between the smartphone and the netbook, which could generate well over $1 billion in global sales in 2010. Canadian companies could potentially build the software applications and content for these devices, which are creating a compelling new electronic way to consume media and have the potential to help revitalize the Canadian magazine, newspaper and television industries.

3.    Publishing fights back: pay walls and micropayments — There has been a great deal of talk about newspapers and magazines charging for online content, whether through subscriptions or micropayments. In reality, while a majority of Canadian publishers may be wondering if they can charge readers for online editions, most will not implement pay walls or micropayments, knowing they could negatively impact traffic, and therefore, advertising revenue.

4.    CleanTech makes a comeback. But solar stays in the shadows — Although the long-term future of solar energy is still promising, a massive global supply glut will make 2010 a very tough year.  British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are the hub of Canada’s solar industry. As Ontario introduces new programs to encourage the use of CleanTech, the province may run the risk of trying to create a globally competitive solar manufacturing industry, while the rest of the world may not require these services in the long run because of their own market overcapacity.

5.    IT procurement stands on its head — More and more companies are buying smartphones and computers based on employee demand rather than corporate policies. “Win the consumer, and you win the enterprise” is a reversal of decades of enterprise IT buying habits. If consumer demand begins to drive corporate IT purchasing decisions, smartphone companies are likely to benefit.

6.    Nixing the nines: reliability redefined and reassessed — The default enterprise IT contract specifies 99.999% (five nines) reliability. 2010 will see some companies settle for fewer nines to save money, which could allow Canadian IT and telecom companies to reduce costs as they may no longer need to implement expensive measures to ensure 99.999% network reliability. As a result, savings will likely be passed onto consumers in exchange for their acceptance of minor network downtime.

7.    Cloud computing: more than hype, but less than hyper — Cloud computing will grow faster than almost all other tech sectors, but it is not taking over the world quite yet.  Concerns over reliability and security continue to make large enterprises and governments cautious about adopting cloud.  In contrast, consumers and small enterprises are the logical early adopters, as the global cloud computing industry is predicted to grow almost 50% to $80 billion in 2010.

8.    Paying for what we eat: carriers change data pricing and make regulators happy — “All you can eat” data plans have succeeded in attracting customers, but are killing the networks.  Yet, while it is tough for carriers to move back to the meter for data without angering customers, recent network neutrality rulings from the FCC and CRTC will make it easier. Meanwhile, new players are entering the Canadian wireless market, and some have started offering “all you can eat” data plans in an effort to capture market share — setting a potentially dangerous precedent for carriers. Finding an appropriate competitive response that does not erode profitability may be a challenge for wireless carriers.

9.    Widening the bottleneck: telecom technology helps decongest the mobile network — As smartphones and PCs create a mobile data traffic jam, carriers will not be able to build entirely new networks in 2010. Instead they will use short-term tech quick fixes to make the mobile Internet work faster and handle more customers, with some players profiting greatly. Although network congestion issues are not yet common in Canada, they are a global challenge, and many of the companies that provide these technologies are Canadian.

10.    The shift to online advertising: more selective, but the trend continues — Online only makes up about 10% of global ad sales at $80 billion. That said, online sales will continue to steal share from traditional media in 2010 and disrupt the ad market, causing prices to fall.  Although this shift will likely impact traditional media across the country, the good news is that it will become less expensive for Canadian companies to place ads in both traditional and online media.

Full details of both the top 10 Canadian and global TMT Predictions are available online at www.tmtpredictions.ca.

London — Green Touch, a global consortium organized by Bell Labs, was launched today to vastly improve the efficiency of communications networks.  The consortium's goal is to create the technologies needed to make communications networks 1,000 times more energy efficient than they are today.

A thousand-fold reduction is roughly equivalent to being able to power the world’s communications networks, including the Internet, for three years using the same amount of energy that it currently takes to run them for a single day.

Green Touch brings together leaders in industry, academia and government labs to invent and deliver radical new approaches to energy efficiency that will be at the heart of sustainable networks in the decades to come. With its launch, the consortium also has issued an open invitation to all members of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) community to join forces in reaching this ambitious target.

“Truly global challenges have always been best addressed by bringing together the brightest minds in an unconstrained, creative environment. This was what we used when putting a man on the moon and is the same approach we need to implement to address the global climate crisis. The Green Touch initiative is an example of such a response - bringing together scientists and technologists from around the world and from many different disciplines in an environment of open innovation to attack the problem from many different directions,” said Dr. Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy.

“The ICT sector is perfectly placed to bring its innovative and technological forces to bear in the low carbon transition as well as in curbing its own carbon footprint. The Green Touch Initiative shows how business can play its part in delivering the low carbon society we are working to achieve. With Government creating an environment in which innovation can flourish, we welcome industry coming together with academia to create the research, technology and solutions necessary to reduce carbon emissions,” said Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, UK.

“Industry has to play a major role in the drive to increasing global energy efficiency. This is both a matter of environmental responsibility and competitiveness. We regularly endorse such projects in our “pole de compétitivité” (competiveness cluster) policy and the Eureka clusters. This is a particularly crucial area of focus because of increasing usage of ICT and the Internet. The world-wide Green Touch consortium will open the way to generating major technological breakthroughs. France supports this project, which is open to all and in which two major French labs are founding members,” said Christian Estrosi, Minister for Industry, France.

“Climate change is an enormous and immediate challenge that needs to be address globally and with bold actions. It is only through harnessing the best minds around the world, regardless of their mother companies, industry, or nationality, that we will make the difference we need to. The Green Touch consortium, with its open innovation model that harnesses the leading minds across the globe and includes experts from every part of ICT, is the model for the sort of radical initiatives that we need to address the huge challenge of global warming,” said Jong-Soo Yoon, Director General, Ministry of Environment, South Korea.

“The Portuguese Government has been taking measures to promote the production of energy by clean technologies. The Green Touch initiative calls our attention to the importance of the network and collaboration between different institutions when we face global challenges as sustainable development. I encourage the participants of this initiative to bring good solutions to promote the energy efficiency of communication networks,” said Paulo Campos, Secretary of State for Public Works and Communications, Portugal.

“Over the next decade billions more people will upload and share video, images and information over public and private networks as we communicate with each other in new, rich ways. We also expect ICT usage to dramatically increase as other industries use networks to reduce their own carbon footprints. This naturally leads to an exponential growth in ICT energy consumption which we, as an industry, have to jointly address. This consortium is unique in looking way beyond making incremental efficiency improvements and tapping into innovation and expertise from around the globe to achieve fundamental breakthroughs in ICT carbon emissions reduction,” Gee Rittenhouse, vice president of research at Bell Labs and consortium lead.

Green Touch Initiative founding members include:

• Service Providers: AT&T, China Mobile, Portugal Telecom, Swisscom, Telefonica
• Academic Research Labs: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Research Laboratory for Electronics (RLE), Stanford University’s Wireless Systems Lab (WSL), the University of Melbourne’s Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES)
• Government and Nonprofit Research Institutions: The CEA-LETI Applied Research Institute for Microelectronics (Grenoble, France), imec (Headquarters: Leuven, Belgium), The French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA)
• Industrial Labs: Bell Labs, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), Freescale Semiconductor

This 1000-fold efficiency target is based on research from Bell Labs that determined that today’s information and communication technology (ICT) networks have the potential to be 10,000 times more efficient then they are today. This conclusion comes from a Bell Labs’ analysis of the fundamental properties of ICT networks and technologies (optical, wireless, electronics, processing, routing, and architecture) and studying their physical limits by applying established formulas such as Shannon’s Law.1 

“With the boom in broadband usage, ICT energy consumption is rapidly increasing and immediate steps need to be taken to address this trend and mitigate its impact,” said Vernon Turner, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Enterprise Computing, Network, Consumer, Telecom and Sustainability at IDC, a leading industry analyst firm. “What distinguishes the Green Touch Initiative is its commitment to a hugely ambitious yet quantifiable goal that is rooted in hard science. Its global profile and multi-disciplinary approach will accelerate the necessary fundamental rethinking and development of new technologies.”

To support its objectives the Green Touch Initiative will deliver — within five years — a reference network architecture and demonstrations of the key components required to realize this improvement. This initiative also offers the potential to generate new technologies and new areas of industry.

The first meeting of the consortium will take place in February and will be dedicated to establishing the organization’s five-year plan, first-year deliverables, and member roles and responsibilities.

For those companies interested in joining the consortium, please visit the web site: www.greentouch.org

1 Shannon’s Law is a formula used to predict the useful capacity of any communications channel.

Green Touch Member Profiles:

• AT&T - With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services in the United States and around the world
• CEA-LETI -a leading global research centre committed to creating and providing innovative solutions for industry in micro-and nanotechnology for telecommunications, healthcare, security, transportation and energy/environment applications
• China Mobile – leading mobile operator with the largest network and subscriber base in the world; China Mobile was recognized in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in the past two years
• Freescale Semiconductor – a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets
• imec - performs world-leading research in nano-electronics. Imec leverages its scientific knowledge with the innovative power of its global partnerships in sustainable ICT, healthcare and energy. imec delivers industry-relevant technology solutions
• The French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) - dedicated to fundamental and applied research in information and communication science and technology (ICST)
• The Research Laboratory for Electronics (RLE) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - first of the Institute’s great modern interdepartmental academic research centers and one of MIT's largest and most diverse research laboratories
• Portugal Telecom ("PT") - a leading telecommunications provider with more than 68 million customers in 13 countries
• Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) – SAIT, Samsung Group’s central R&D organization was established in 1987 as the incubator for cutting-edge technologies. SAIT’s research fields consist of future IT, new materials and device, bio, and energy
• Swisscom – Switzerland's leading telecoms provider, with 5.5 million mobile customers and around 1.8 million broadband connections
• The Wireless Systems Lab (WSL), Stanford University - investigates broad areas of wireless system design to meet these technical challenges associated with the development of next generation wireless communications infrastructure
• Telefonica - one of the world's largest telecommunications companies by market cap operating in 25 countries with a customer base exceeding 268.6 million globally
• The Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES), University of Melbourne - a cross-disciplinary research institute dedicated to products, services, and innovations that maximize the benefit of new broadband technologies
• Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs - leading global research organization and innovation engine of Alcatel-Lucent, trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide

About the Green Touch Initiative
Green Touch Initiative, a consortium of leading industry players, research institutions and non-governmental organizations to define the challenge, identify solutions and develop solutions with the goal to deliver the architecture, specifications, roadmap, and demonstrations of key components needed to reduce ICT energy consumption per bit by a factor of 1,000 from current levels within five years. www.greentouch.org

Ottawa — CANARIE, Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network, has announced $2.4 million in funding for four ground-breaking Green IT projects aimed at reducing Information and Communication Technology's (ICT’s) carbon footprint and measuring the impact of ICT and cyberinfrastructure on university electric consumption. 
 
CANARIE’s biggest Green IT funding recipient is the GreenStar Network, an alliance of Canada’s leading IT companies, universities and international partners, led by Quebec’s École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montreal. CANARIE has given the GreenStar Network $2 million to develop the world’s first internet network, where the network nodes will be powered entirely by wind and solar energy and yet will provide the same reliability to users as the current Internet network does. 
 
“We are incredibly proud to launch the GreenStar Network under the leadership of CANARIE’s Green IT Pilot program,” said Dr. Mohamed Cheriet, Director of Synchromedia at ÉTS and spokesperson for the GreenStar Network. “The GreenStar Network has come together to develop low-carbon technologies, including renewable energy like wind and solar-powered networks, virtualization, carbon quantification procedures, and tools to ensure ICT’s carbon footprint remains under control and doesn’t increase as the world becomes more and more reliant on information and communications technologies.”
 
"CANARIE has always been a global leader in high-speed networks that enable research and innovation. Now, these Green IT initiatives demonstrate how CANARIE is once again trailblazing the next evolution of networks that are committed to both high performance AND the environment", said CANARIE President Guy Bujold.
 
CANARIE’s three other GREEN IT funding recipients are:

• A joint project between McGill University (CLUMEQ) and University of California, San Diego (SDSC Centre) to design an ultra-efficient data centre for high-performance computing applications. Funding: $163,000
• International Institute for Sustainable Development, based in Winnipeg, will conduct a study to assess the business case, and carbon-offset potential, for Canadian universities to use CANARIE’s ultra high-speed network to run IT operations from remote, zero-carbon data centre facilities. Funding: $100,000
•  University of British Columbia’s Centre for Sustainability and Social Innovation at Sauder School of Business will develop a business case for how carbon offsets can be used to finance data centre relocations and how universities could implement this opportunity. Funding: $119,000

 
“CANARIE is taking the global lead by funding Green IT innovation and that’s something Canada can be very proud of going into December’s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen,” said CANARIE Chief Research Officer and Green IT expert, Bill St. Arnaud.
 
CANARIE is a non-profit corporation supported by membership fees, with major funding of its programs and activities provided by the Government of Canada. For additional information, visit: www.canarie.ca.

Washington, DC — GE, Whirlpool Corporation and a number of other companies recently announced the creation of a new collaborative effort aimed at demonstrating the role of smart grid technologies and practices in the achievement of climate change goals. Called the Smart Green Grid Initiative (SGGI), the effort will include educational events at the upcoming climate change meetings in Copenhagen. SGGI has been approved by the United Nations to be an official smart grid delegation to the Copenhagen meetings. SGGI will also be sponsoring educational events in the U.S. in the weeks preceding the meetings in Copenhagen.

One of the groups that SGGI will work with in Copenhagen is the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. “It is important that we look at all of the options that can help address and mitigate climate change,” said Eileen Claussen, President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change “and smart grid's role in enabling energy efficiency and other climate-friendly technologies deserves greater attention. We look forward to participating in an SGGI side event in Copenhagen that will help carry this message to the broader climate change community.”

“We need to help the world understand the real potential for Smart Grid technologies to help slow climate change,” said Bob Gilligan, vice president of GE Energy’s Transmission and Distribution business. “Smart Grid solutions are often viewed primarily for their efficiency and cost savings, but every kilowatt saved is also a carbon savings. Add the potential carbon benefits we get through easier integration of more renewable energy, like wind and solar, and the Smart Grid can have a major effect on the carbon impact of our energy infrastructure.”

“We launch this effort today to try to illustrate the relationship between a smart grid with smart products and technologies, and the global effort to mitigate climate change,” said Jeff Noel, corporate vice president, Communications and Public Affairs, Whirlpool Corporation. “Complementary policies in these areas will benefit consumers, create jobs, and reduce environmental impact. Today, these two areas are for the most part in different silos, and there is not enough awareness or understanding of how important development of the smart grid can be to meeting climate change goals.”

SGGI will seek to help government, industry and policy makers see smart grid technologies and practices within a larger perspective. For example, with a key component of climate change policies being increased use of renewable energy, SGGI will try to help parties understand and manage its variable and intermittent nature. It will try to demonstrate that demand response and energy storage solutions can dynamically complement renewable resources – and avoid the building of new fossil-fuel power plants to fill the availability gaps and peak needs.

“Another important area is energy efficiency,” said Dan Delurey, Chairman of the Smart Green Grid Initiative. “Today, it is important to view energy efficiency in a more holistic and dynamic way than in the past. New technologies and applications mean that energy efficiency can mean more than just replacing one device with a newer, more efficient one. It can include providing new information to the consumer that they have simply never had before. Research has shown that electricity customers with energy usage information become more energy efficient overall – by upwards of 15%. The Smart Grid may help make energy efficiency sustainable and institutionalized in business and society.”

“This is also true with appliances,” said Noel, of Whirlpool, and “we need to not only make our appliances more efficient, but smarter.” Jim Campbell, President & CEO of GE Consumer & Industrial, the GE division innovating demand response appliances, added “Smart appliances connected to the grid can schedule energy intensive activities to take place during lower energy usage periods like evenings and nights, when some renewable resources like wind are more likely to be available.”

Supporters of the Smart Green Grid Initiative include both Utilities and Technology companies. Included in the group are National Grid, Southern Company, AEP, Google, LG Electronics, Landis + Gyr, Echelon, Tendril, Ice Energy, Enspiria, eMeter and Itron. In addition, the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition and the Demand Response Coordinating Committee, the leading groups in the U.S. focused on promoting the development of the Smart Grid and smart grid practices like Demand Response, will be supporting SGGI.

As part of today’s announcement, the Smart Green Grid Initiative said that several Webinars and a Capitol Hill Briefing will be held to begin the effort to build awareness of the important intersection between the smart grid and climate change. SGGI also said that a web site has been created at www.smartgreengrid.org where information can be found about SGGI events as well as how the Smart Grid can play a role in addressing climate change.

“We hope that other companies will join with us now and in Copenhagen in this effort to demonstrate the importance of the Smart Grid in reducing emissions and achieving climate change goals,” said Delurey. “We look forward to working with all parties and to being a source of information and expertise on the role that Smart Grid can play”.

TORONTO — The number of global companies planning for, and testing, the cloud has increased dramatically, according to a recent survey commissioned by Avanade, a business technology services provider. Cloud computing is no longer just a buzzword that companies are trying to figure out. The respondents who say they are beginning to embrace cloud computing jumped more than 320 per cent since January 2009. This is the first data that indicates a growing global acceptance of cloud computing in the enterprise.

The study also found that while companies are moving toward cloud computing, there is little support for cloud-only models (just 5 per cent use only cloud computing). Rather, the majority of companies are using a combination of cloud and internally-owned systems, or a hybrid approach.

“For very large organizations, the hybrid approach is logical and prudent,” said Tyson Hartman, global chief technology officer at Avanade. “No one is going to rip and replace decades of legacy systems and move them to the cloud, nor should they. Additionally, at this stage of cloud computing maturity, not every computing system is appropriate for the cloud.”

This study is the second large-scale survey of cloud computing adoption, surveying more than 500 global C-level executives and IT decision makers in 17 countries comparing attitudes from an earlier study this year. In Canada, the survey shows that many see no immediate need to adopt cloud computing while the rest of the world is rushing to embrace the cloud. Forty-five per cent of Canadian respondents are currently not using cloud-based systems. And, of those, none reported that they are beginning to plan for or test cloud computing, while only 20 per cent say they will begin to use cloud-based systems within the next 6 to 12 months. Other key Canadian findings show:

• Less than half of Canadian companies (49 per cent) think the global recession has “hit bottom” (59 per cent globally).
• The majority of Canadian respondents reported that they are under pressure to save money and innovate.
• However, nearly two-thirds of Canadian companies reported rates of new technology adoption has remained the same or decreased even though cost savings are important in Canada.
• And, 61 per cent of respondents say they view cloud-based IT systems as a strategic investment.
• Security issues and a lack of an immediate need are the leading reasons for not using cloud computing (50 per cent each). Costs ranked third as a barrier to adoption.
• Of those companies using cloud computing, 55 per cent of respondents say they have experienced a steep learning curve for IT staff (40 per cent globally).

Globally, while companies are making strategic investments and recognize cloud computing is one of these areas (57 percent say cloud is a strategic investment; 43 per cent see it as a cost-saving measure), there are still barriers to the use of only cloud computing in large organizations.

“Companies recognize the value of online services like cloud computing to offer increased operational elasticity, IT cost reductions, and increased connection with various stakeholders. However, there is still an adoption curve taking place, especially in Canada,” said Jeff Kempiners, account group executive, Avanade Canada.

Additionally, more than 35 percent have experience an outage at the service provider company. On a broader level, 30 percent of respondents using Software as a Service (SaaS) have experienced an outage of 10 or more hours – losing more than a full day of business.

Other key global findings in the September 2009 survey show:

• Companies reporting no plans to adopt cloud computing has declined from 54 percent to 37 percent.
• More than 70 percent of global companies reporting that the economy has either helped (13 percent) or had no effect (58 percent) on efforts to implement cloud computing.
• More than half of respondents are turning to a mix of cloud-based and internal IT (on-premises) systems. There is a clear move using these hybrid deployments of cloud-based systems as companies get more comfortable with new technology.

“It is clear that cloud computing is not an all-or-nothing proposition. There is an evolution that is taking place. Companies are moving to take advantage of the cost savings and scalability that cloud computing brings to the enterprise,” said Hartman.

Online Services Gaining Momentum
Another important finding of the survey is that online services, such as Software-as-a-Service, are quickly gaining acceptance. This online services model is beginning to fundamentally change how IT services are consumed and provisioned in large organizations. More than half of respondents report that they are currently using SaaS applications.

While SaaS is making major inroads, nearly one third (30 per cent) reported more than a day of business had been lost due to a service outage. Despite that issue, SaaS is seen as a resounding success globally – 93 per cent of companies view their experience as successful. Other key SaaS findings show:

• The majority of respondents say they have been using SaaS for a year or less (60 per cent).
• Globally, there is a 2:1 ratio of respondents who prefer SaaS delivered internally (or as private services) versus from third party service providers.
• And, although the technology may be new to most users, one-third report using three or more SaaS providers.
• Finally, more than 62 per cent of respondents are looking to increase their use of SaaS over the next year.

“From our viewpoint – based on the work we’ve done with customers and what the research reinforces – the future of cloud-based solutions lies in this hybrid approach of using cloud and internally owned systems. In the same way that email and the Internet have permeated businesses with early resistance, SaaS and cloud will continue to take hold,” Hartman said.

About the Survey
The Cloud Computing survey was conducted by Kelton Research, an independent research firm, between August 26, 2009, and September 11, 2009, on behalf of Avanade. The 502 respondents include C-level executives, business leaders and IT decision-makers from 16 countries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. For more information on the study, visit http://www.avanade.com/people/thought_detail.aspx?id=79.

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro), through its Data Centre Incentive Program (DCIP), is offering customers a financial incentive to green their data centres. The utility is well into the process of virtualizing its own servers housed in the company’s data centres. Since it began in 2008, 45 per cent of the utility’s servers have been consolidated decreasing the space required and reducing electricity use.

“Virtualization” is a software technology that allows you to run multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine, sharing resources of that single computer across multiple environments. By reducing and consolidating data centre servers, users can minimize redundancies and become more efficient.

Growth and demand for technology are currently stretching — and projected to exceed — building and air conditioning capability in Toronto Hydro’s data centres. For this project, Toronto Hydro deployed virtualization technology, along with technology from other partners, to reduce its number of physical servers. Since it began in 2008, the company has virtualized 45 per cent of the servers housed in its data centres. In addition, many of Toronto Hydro’s major tier one applications and systems have been virtualized. At the completion of its virtualization project in 2010, Toronto Hydro expects to see significant energy and cost savings from virtualizing approximately 70 per cent of its servers.

In North America, the growth of electric energy consumption in data centres is increasing. Toronto Hydro’s DCIP offsets the cost for more energy efficient equipment and design, helping customers cut electricity use in commercial and institutional data centres. Businesses that participate in the Toronto Hydro program could see immediate and on-going financial savings through reduced power consumption, and there could be associated environmental benefits such as reduced carbon emissions, via lower electricity usage.

DCIP, supported by the Ontario Power Authority, will provide $300 per measurable peak kilowatt reduction. Energy savings resulting from improvements in new or existing data centres will qualify for the incentives and will be based on measurable electricity reductions.

“Toronto Hydro ‘walks the talk’,” says Stephen Walker, Director of IT Infrastructure at Toronto Hydro. Walker says the company is seeing good results so far and should encourage other businesses to take advantage of its DCIP. "The program is not only attractive from an electricity savings perspective, but the financial incentives to participate should also make it easier for our customers to get started.”

“DCIP encourages data centres to improve their equipment layout designs to increase efficiency; use energy efficient products including new server and software technology, and upgrade air cooling systems to more efficient equipment," adds Walker.

Learn more about data centre improvements from Stephen Walker online at www.torontohydro.com/dcip (video).


FACTS

• DCIP is for commercial and institutional customers such as schools and hospitals.
• The average data centre consumes 10 to 100 times more energy/sq/ft than a typical office building.
• Ninety per cent of companies running large data centres need to build more power and cooling in the next 30 months.

 
DCIP will offer customers several potential benefits, such as:

• Ongoing savings of approximately $876/measurable peak kW reduction on electricity bills each year+
• Operating cost savings and cost avoidance with more efficient equipment & design
• Smaller equipment footprint, maximized electrical & IT capacity, improved reliability & manageability
• One-time incentive payment in year one reduces total investment costs
• Simple measurement & verification process provides vital project information at no cost

In 2008, Toronto Hydro removed approximately 28 MW from the grid with its portfolio of conservation and demand management programs. In total, that's enough homes to power a town the size of Grimsby. Since launching its programs in 2005, Toronto Hydro has removed more than 387 MW from the grid.

For more information visit www.torontohydro.com/DCIP.

ARMONK, N.Y. — A new IBM consulting service has been launched to help clients develop methods to collect, manage and analyze supplier information for energy use, environmental impact, quality, safety, cost, efficiency, and labour practices.

The offering draws on IBM's own experience running one of the largest, most complex supply chains in the world, including development of an expansive database covering 30,000 supplier locations in 60 countries to help collect and analyze data on a wide range of sustainability issues. This will allow clients to improve supply chain efficiency, lower costs, and reduce waste and environmental impact, and reporting sustainability information to business partners, regulators and other key stakeholders.

"A global supply chain with thousands of partners exposes a company to increased risk, waste, inefficiency, environmental impact and cost," said Eric Riddleberger, IBM's business strategy consulting global leader, who heads up the company's corporate social responsibility consulting efforts. "Being able to set sustainability standards and truly measure performance against them across such a large network is an enormous task, particularly in industries such as consumer products, retail and healthcare."

Companies are under tremendous pressure to continuously improve business performance and sustainability, and that extends to their entire supply chains. Inefficiencies and inconsistent practices can cause excessive use of energy, water and materials, increased environmental impact, variances in quality, product safety concerns and poor labor practices throughout the supply chain. These can lead to increased cost, compliance issues, and disenfranchising key stakeholders, such as customers, shareholders, partners, and current and prospective employees, who care about these issues.

To improve efficiency and consistency and reduce environmental impact, companies must use new "smart" technologies and processes that allow them collect and analyze large amounts of information from across their supplier networks. This allows them to apply uniform standards, measure compliance and performance, and take corrective action where necessary. IBM estimates that doing this effectively could improve supply chain efficiency by a minimum of 8 to 12 per cent or more, with corresponding reductions in cost, environmental impact and risk.

But most companies are not equipped to do that kind of data collection and analysis, either within their own operations or across their supply chains. In IBM's 2009 global survey of c-level executives on green and sustainability, 29 per cent of the respondents said they aren't collecting any of this data at all from their supply chains. Eight in 10 aren't collecting supplier data for CO2 emissions and water usage, and six in 10 aren't checking supplier data for labor standards.

Half the respondents said supply chain partners are requiring that they adopt new standards for carbon management, but only 19 per cent are collecting CO2 emissions data often enough to effectively manage it. And three-quarters said supply chain partners also require they adopt new standards for energy management, waste and ethical labor standards.

IBM's Sustainable Supplier Information Management offering is designed to help them develop processes and systems for:

• Part number management, to ease part and product traceability;
• Process change management, to improve response and reduce costs associated with changing requirements;
• Supplier audit management, to ensure compliance on issues ranging from cost and quality to business ethics and environmental practices;
• Qualification management, to vet new suppliers for performance and sustainability standards;
• Supplier problem management, to ensure quick response when problems arise;
• Real-time quality management, to reduce cost, improve quality and ensure continuity of supply;
• Predictive quality management, using automated systems and virtual supplier auditing to head off problems before they occur.

The Sustainable Supplier Information Management offering can be used with IBM's Sustainable Procurement offering, which helps companies define cost, efficiency and sustainability measurements and goals for their procurement activities. This covers all supplies, materials, ingredients, components, finished goods and services they purchase to run their operations and to develop, manufacture and deliver their own products or services.

To learn more about IBM's green and sustainability consulting offerings visit: www.ibm.com/gbs/sustainability

For more information on IBM's full portfolio of energy and environment offerings and products, go to: www.ibm.com/green

SAN JOSE, CA — Yello Strom, among Germany's top 10 electricity companies, and Cisco today announced the launch of a 'smart grid' pilot. Its aim is to create an intelligent energy system that allows customers to measure and control the power consumption of their electrical appliances, enabling them to reduce their monthly bills as well as carbon emissions, while significantly cutting down on peak-period demand.

The smart grid pilot will also make more efficient use of renewable energy resources — including solar cells, and a combined heat and power plant — and reduce each local area's reliance on reserve capacity.

In the current pilot, Cisco and Yello Strom have collaborated to enable 70 selected homes and businesses to communicate intelligently with the local power grid and power sources over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Customers will use Yello Sparzähler online (a smart electricity meter) to receive information about their electricity consumption in real time. Meanwhile, a home energy management system will allow customers to set appliances such as washing machines to operate during off-peak periods, via the use of 'smart plugs.'

Cisco's vision is for networking technology to provide a highly secure and intelligent end-to-end electrical infrastructure that helps enable the entire electrical system to be managed as a single integrated entity from generation to use in business and the home. Thanks to its inherent intelligence, such a network would be able to actively sense and respond to changes in power supply and demand, improving the security and reliability of energy delivery while optimizing operational costs.

"Innovative communication technology is the core of the smart grid. Without it, the vision of an intelligent electricity supply would remain utopian," notes Michael Ganser, Cisco's senior vice president for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the chairman of the board at Cisco Germany.

"The control of electric current is very similar to the management of information flow, so smart grids operate on principles similar to those behind the Internet," explains Christian Feisst, industry lead for utilities within the Cisco Internet Solutions Business Group. "The exception is that electricity systems have a much greater number of nodes. This is where we are able to apply our expertise, integrating and processing crucial information that helps enable electricity consumption to be optimized."

Yello Strom specializes in optimizing electricity systems, enabling customers to use their electricity as efficiently as possible and, ultimately, to profit financially from new tariff deals.

Says Martin Vesper, managing director of Yello Strom GmbH: "We are convinced that smart grid technology, based on IP, is the best solution for customers, effectively allowing them to become part of the intelligent network. This means they can control and optimize their own electricity usage and power generation via smart meters, with direct personal benefits."

Surveys have shown that such technology can reduce energy consumption by around 10 per cent, while reductions of more than 15 per cent can be achieved if electrical items (such as dishwashers or washing machines) are time-delayed.

Over time, the resulting reduction in power consumption peaks is expected to help tackle the capacity shortfall predicted for the German electricity market. Reserve capacity could then be rolled back. Traditionally, this has been provided by gas- or oil-fired power stations. With a smart grid system in place, however, this reserve supply could be provided, at least in part, by consumers. The cost of the electricity system as a whole would then fall, with benefits for both energy providers and consumers.

For more about Cisco visit www.cisco.com.