Power management not used enough

Most IT professionals aren't managing PC power use within their organisations despite the pressure to make cost savings.

That's according to a survey from Forrester Research which found that only 13 percent of companies had implemented wide-scale power management programmes, even though that meant passing up on big savings. The company found that another 18 percent of companies had set up programmes but not for all of their PCs.

The top reason cited for the low deployment rate was IT managers not being responsible for technology energy costs, said Doug Washburn, the Forrester analyst who conducted the survey.

The survey results aren't surprising: The U. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that no more than 10 percent of all PCs in use within organisations have their power management capabilities turned on.

One reason for that may be scepticism about how much money can be saved per PC. Another may be the continued use of Windows XP. Windows Vista gives administrators the ability to natively manage power settings on PCs over a network, but XP does not, although there are third-party tools available for that.

Washburn said there are other reasons why PC power management tools aren't being deployed more widely. That includes concerns about possible end-user backlash, uncertainties about the best approach and policies to put in place, and an inability to predict financial savings and make a business case for a program if companies haven't measured their existing power consumption levels.

But only 9 percent of the IT managers surveyed by Forrester said they had no interest at all in PC power management, while 48 percent said they were considering the idea of setting up a programme. Washburn thinks that change is afoot. Even if IT managers don't own the energy budget at their companies, "there is much more pressure to understand energy consumption," he said.