June 21, 2012
Webinar - Why the Cloud is the Answer to Going Green
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
The single biggest driver to the cloud has been the amount of money that a company can save by completing migration. Once challenges are overcome concerning any misgivings about security, they soon see how effortless the model is compared with on-premise solutions that can take up valuable IT staff time, and the expenses related to hardware upkeep and software licensing agreements.
Another benefit to going to the cloud is emerging and it has everything to do with “going green.” Companies are seeing a reduction in the amount of carbon emissions inherent with cloud-based technology. Google (News 
- Alert) says an average company can reduce its energy usage by as much as 85 percent, in some cases, and 65 percent in most others, just by using online tools like Google Apps.
The reason there is a reduced amount of emissions is that most companies have more servers than they need, which use a considerable amount of energy. By going to a cloud-based system, those servers are no longer in use and the cloud-based centers are far more efficient at managing their resources, which saves energy and reduces emissions.
According to Google, the U.S. General Services Administration reduced its energy consumption by 90 percent when 17,000 users started utilizing Google Apps for Government. That 90 percent reduction turned into $285,000 in savings as well as around 85 reductions in the amount of carbon emissions.
It is estimated that by 2020, U.S. companies will save more than $12 billion in annual energy savings just by going to cloud computing solutions. The reduction in emissions is believed to be around the equivalent produced in 200 million barrels of oil. A study carried out by the Carbon Disclosure Project claims that companies are adopting cloud-computing practices by up to 69 percent by 2020. Currently, the average is around 10 percent.
Cloud computing is also seen as a way to avoid up-front investments on infrastructure. It also allows for more flexibility and better efficiencies inherent in the cloud’s automated abilities. And while companies are becoming more environmentally conscious, the effect of the carbon emissions is not the primary driver of the move to the cloud.
Time to market is another big issue and perk that companies see in cloud computing. What used to take more than a month to get up and running (like new servers for more storage) will now only take a few minutes in the cloud.
To delve further into this topic, SugarCRM (News - Alert) is offering a free webinar that explores the benefits of the cloud, including the impact on the environment. Check out this page to register.
Want to learn more about cloud communications? Then be sure to attend the Cloud Communications Expo, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct 2-5, in Austin, TX. The Cloud Communications Expo will address the growing need of businesses to integrate and leverage cloud based communications applications, process enhancement techniques, and network based communications interfaces and architectures. For more information on registering for the Cloud Communications Expo click here.
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Edited by Brooke Neuman
