Datacentre audit service promises to move beyond energy

Datacentre consultancy Migration Solutions has today unveiled a new Environmental Report and Audit (ERA) service that it claims will help firms better assess the full environmental impact of their server farms.

The company said that the new ERA service will be based on more than 120 different data points from across a company's datacentre operations, including energy use, cooling requirements, building design, waste levels, procurement policies and carbon emissions.

Firms that undertake the audit will then receive a prioritised action plan offering advice on how they can they can limit their operation's environmental impact and energy bills, and the likely financial costs of such moves.

The new service enters an increasingly crowded market place that has seen a number of high profile IT companies such as IBM and HP launch similar green datacentre auditing and consultancy services in recent months.

Additionally, industry-wide groups such as the US-based Green Grid are working on their own standardised metrics to help datacentre managers better assess the energy efficiency of their facilities.

However, Migration Solutions' managing director Alex Rabbetts insisted that the company's focus on a wider range of environmental metrics than those found in many other datacentre auditing services would provide the new service with a differentiator.

"There are a lot of metrics out there, but they tend to only be focused on energy and only give a snap shot of a datacentre's performance on a given day," he said. "By looking at more than 120 different data points and considering factors such as green procurement policies and recycling strategies alongside energy and cooling metrics, we are getting a much wider picture of environmental performance."

He added that firms subscribing to the new service would receive advice on how to bring down their environmental impact through a reduction in eWaste levels, improved recycling and greener procurement practices, as well as guidance on how to cut their energy bills.