UK businesses wasting £300m powering idle PCs

A new report published today claims that British businesses are wasting £300m a year powering idle computers.

However, the survey of more than 6,000 UK, German and US adults, most of whom use PCs to do their jobs, found that the UK actually emerged ahead in terms of environmentally friendly PC power management.

Some 78 per cent of UK workers use a PC to carry out their jobs, and the country has the largest proportion of workers (27 per cent) who cited environmental concerns in switching off PCs and/or monitors when away from their desks for long periods.

By contrast, 18 per cent of German respondents said that they turn off their PCs to cut electricity bills, and 21 per cent of US workers did so to comply with company policy and make sure their PCs worked properly.

Despite these good intentions, 63 per cent and 67 per cent respectively of UK and US employees believe that their employers should be doing more to reduce power consumption.

The report calculated that, if the 17 million workers in the UK who regularly use a computer turned it off at night, carbon emissions would be reduced by 1.3 million metric tonnes, or the equivalent of removing 243,440 cars from the road.

The annual PC Energy Report was sponsored by PC power management vendor 1E in partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy.

Sumir Karayi, 1E chief executive, said that awareness of the impact of idle PCs on the environment and IT budgets is growing, but that much more could be done.

"Around 50 per cent of the respondents questioned in 2007 powered down their PCs at work overnight, during the weekend and when away from their desks for long periods of time during the day, even it was just switching off their monitor," he said.

But this figure had only risen to 60 per cent in the latest report, which belied the fact that many solutions had been developed to manage PC power more efficiently and intelligently from a central point.

Source: http://www.vnunet.com

www.ukba.co.uk

Survive the Downturn - Review Your Structure & Cost Base

Extract from ICAEW report: 8 Ways To Survive The Downturn

Find out how reviewing the structure of your business can help you survive the downturn and take advantage of the upturn when it comes.

Now is a good time to review the structure of your business critically. Do you have the right business model to see you through the recession and put you in the best possible position to take advantage of the upturn when it comes?

Current economic circumstances may present opportunities and allow you to make changes that were previously difficult or unpalatable. If you need to make savings, examine carefully how you can get the best value out of your business and enable your business to emerge leaner and fitter at the end of the recession.


Think long-term

Avoid making across-the-board or short-term cuts which may damage your business over the long term.

Focus on key areas and activities which are business critical for the future to ensure your business emerges in good shape from the recession. Are there activities you could stop? Is outsourcing, offshoring or relocation a possibility?


Consider spending cuts carefully

Consider carefully before cutting your spend in apparently ‘soft’ areas such as marketing, IT or corporate responsibility. Think about the value of expenditure not just its cost. For example, research shows that in a downturn the winners continue to invest in their brand and build their reputation and profile with their key stakeholders.

It has been well documented that ‘brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times’*.

Consider carefully which products and markets are most valuable to you. How can you reach these markets most effectively? Focus your activities and marketing investment to protect your most valuable markets and customers for the long term.

*John Quelch, Harvard Business School

Source ICAEW - full report can be downloaded by clicking here.