Embracing Green Cloud Computing for your Organisation

For many organisations, green software and green cloud is simply a checkbox exercise, lip service paid for improved PR. However, there is so much more to it than that - it should, and demonstrably can, deliver genuine impact for organisations, not just delivering social benefits but economic benefits too.

So many organisations, particularly SMEs view signing up to green computing as a cost, an impact on their bottom line, something that only enterprises can afford to do.

Things to consider:

·?????? Demand for compute power is growing fast.

·?????? Prediction by 2025 20% of global electricity will be used by Data Centres.

·?????? Typical server in private data centre operates at 20-25% capacity.

·?????? Containers have increased density to approx. 60%.

·?????? 75-80% of server capacity worldwide is idle.

Switching to a sustainable software approach, doesn't have to be simply a marketing exercise ("green washing"), or even taking a political stance, but in fact a means of saving money. Modernising your application, making your software more efficient will enable your organisation to do more with what it has.

Green software is carbon-efficient software, meaning it emits the least carbon possible, and is an emerging discipline at the intersection of climate science, software design, electricity markets, hardware, and data centre design.

It's worth considering the principles of green software, as espoused by the Green Software Foundation:

• Carbon Efficiency Principle - Emit the least amount of Carbon Possible.
• Energy Efficiency Principle - Use the least amount of energy Possible.
• Carbon Awareness Principle - Do more when the electricity is cleaner and do less when the electricity is dirtier.
• Hardware Efficacy Principle - Use the least amount of embodied carbon possible.
• Measurement Principle - What you can't measure you can’t improve.
• Climate Commitments Principle - Understand the exact mechanism of carbon reduction.

The work of the Green Software Foundation is important in this field, and I think its manifesto sums things up: “Change the culture of building software across the tech industry, so sustainability becomes a core priority to software teams, just as important as performance, security, cost and accessibility.”

Deep down, I think that so much of what is needed for green software is just well-documented good development practice...

...minimal code, removing waste, cost management, performance optimisation and monitoring.

Join the Black Marble team at 微软 at the University Academy 92 (UA92) in Manchester, for an afternoon covering:

• Session 1 - Delivering a Successful Cloud Strategy with Confidence
• Session 2 - Azure Accidents and How to Avoid Them
• Session 3 - Embracing Green Cloud Computing for your Organisation

Also, take advantage of our excellent white papers to help understand best practice for our industry. Contact [email protected] for any of our Essential Guide to the Cloud white papers, including “Delivering an Enterprise Cloud Operating Model”, “Successful Software Delivery with DevOps”, and “Business Process Automation and Integration in the Cloud” or to be kept informed as each new paper is published.