Arthur Cole spoke with Dan Shapero, senior VP of marketing for Kaseya.

Cole: Kaseya recently released some research on the power impact of PCs in the enterprise. What was the most surprising thing you learned?
Shapero: The biggest surprise in the data is that less than half of desktops and laptops are configured to take advantage of Power Management capabilities. EMA found that 34 percent responded that their standby variable was set to Never, indicating their systems would never enter sleep mode regardless of how long they were inactive. Especially in today’s energy-conscious world, it was shocking to realize how many companies don’t take advantage of a very simple, cost-effective technology solution. Incorporating automated power management initiatives is an easy step companies can take to significantly reduce the amount of power used on a daily basis, and automating this task reduces it even further.

Cole: Since most desktops these days have automated sleep and shut-off capabilities, is there still a compelling case to be made for centralized management then?
Shapero: Desktops, laptops and workstations comprise almost 90 percent of the computing environment in most business. Despite having the automated features, not all IT managers take advantage of setting policy for these features and power off the devices when idle. According to the study, unmanaged desktops can be left operational but unused an average of 55 hours each week. By having a central, remote and automated power management solution in place, companies can reduce annual electricity costs by about $73 per desktop. This has a direct effect on the bottom line for companies, lowering overall business operating costs while helping the environment.

Cole: What about virtual desktop architectures? How can this contribute to a company's green IT initiative?
Shapero: A virtualized environment is just a different type of architecture for IT automation solutions to operate with, and it doesn’t have an impact on the ability to manage desktops. In fact, incorporating power management solutions with virtual desktops increases the overall efficiency of IT companies. The study showed that 69 percent of respondents had implemented virtualization as a Green IT discipline. This is further proof this technology is a hot trend, only looking to increase in the next few years.