European Data Centers 'Greener'

European businesses are overtaking taking the U.S. in the drive for green data centers, though both regions have a long way to go, according to research by network attached storage specialist ONStor.

The findings indicate that 72 percent of European businesses have either already implemented a green initiative, or would adopt one in 6 months to two years, while only 60 percent of U.S. businesses have implemented a green initiative, with 40 percent admitting the it was not even a discussion point.

But the importance of updating technology in the data center is beginning to strike companies both in Europe and the U.S., as the threats of power failure and excessive costs mount.

Over 40 percent of both European and U.S. business have predicted that their current data center will run out of space in less than a year. Worse still, 63 percent of U.S. respondents, and 58 percent of their European peers, have already run out of space, power and cooling capacity in their data center.

Many businesses are also reluctant to encourage greener practices in their organization with the notional hiring of a chief energy officer to take responsibility for energy efficiency. Only 18 percent of respondents in Europe and even fewer in the U.S. showed any interest in this idea.

The survey showed that one of the best incentives to go green was the prospect of saving money. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. respondents reported that a 20 percent to 50 percent saving in cost would encourage them to go green. However, European companies are less likely than their U.S. counterparts to make green policies contingent on cost savings, with over a third agreeing that a saving of up to 20 percent would be enough of an incentive.