For Discovery Communications, energy efficiency in IT isn't just about saving money -- it's about keeping up with a brand that's focused on saving the planet. The entertainment company, known for its cable TV networks Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet, among others, recently received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for its headquarters.
IT is following that lead. "We're trying to figure out how you build out a tech center to be green-compliant and take advantage of that," says CIO Dave Kline.
Despite the hoopla around all things green these days, Discovery's top-down approach is ahead of the curve. A recent Forrester Research survey found that just 15 per cent of US companies have green-IT plans, although another 40 per cent say they're working toward that. "It's a small slice of the corporate world so far," says analyst Christopher Mines.
Kline's IT organization is off to a good start. The company conducts regular audits of its server, storage and network equipment to make sure everything is fully utilized. It has consolidated storage into a single shared pool using Network Appliance's FlexVol technology, and it used VMware's virtualization software to reduce its server count from 850 to 535 physical machines. Disk-to-disk backups have replaced backup tapes, eliminating the need to transport those tapes off-site.
Discovery did the right thing by focusing on an audit first, since abandoned servers are a common problem. "Many companies have servers that are running but not doing anything," Mines says. He says companies should focus on this and other "quick wins" -- such as unblocking air vents and adding blanking panels in data center equipment racks to optimize airflow -- before moving to bigger projects, such as server consolidation and virtualization.
Kline followed that same strategy on the cooling side. The company sealed up server racks, moved to a hot aisle/cold aisle design to optimize airflow and then installed high-efficiency chillers. But it also saved energy by simply raising temperature set points. Many data centers are overcooled, so settings can often be turned up without causing problems, says Mines. "It doesn't have to be meat-locker temperatures in there," he says.
Discovery says that energy savings have approached 20 per cent since the data center was re-engineered, high-efficiency chillers were installed, and server, storage and networking equipment was consolidated.
Outside of the data center, Discovery has encouraged workers to telecommute and teleconference. IT issues a laptop to every one of its 3,619 employees who require a computer and provides secure remote access and voice-over-IP capabilities. All laptops have power management capabilities enabled, and users are encouraged to turn off the computers at the end of the day. "Thirty percent of the staff telecommutes at least one day a week," says Kline.
In 2004, Discovery installed teleconferencing systems to cut down on business travel. "Teleconferencing has a huge ROI for us because it's a cheaper use of people's time," says Kline.
Discovery declined to disclose exact figures, but Larry Laque, executive vice president of the company's global shared-services unit, estimates that savings are "at least in the six figures."
Kline is also pushing for savings in front-office printing. The business uses networked printers, all of which are on the lightest print setting by default. Many printers are also set to print double-sided pages, and Kline is pushing to expand that.
Energy efficiency plays a role in all IT equipment purchase decisions, says Laque. And for the electricity Discovery consumes companywide, it purchases offsets in the form of wind-power credits from Pepco Holdings, a local utility. "What we can't reduce or recycle, we offset," Laque says.
Overall, Discovery cut its energy bill by 27 per cent in its headquarters, but Laque says the next step will be to apply the principles behind LEED to its data center facility. That's not going to be an easy fit. But, says Laque, "you have to have the courage to jump in and learn as you go along."
Written by Robert L. Mitchell