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Jimmy Wai
0

At a recent event our CIO, Diane Bryant, talked about our continued plan to replace old servers in our Data Centers (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/44213/135/). Here is a summary of her key points:

  • Not replaceing servers could have costed Intel $19 million due to high maintenance and cooling cost
  • Our plan of refreshing old servers with Nehalem servers will save Intel $250 million over 8 years

 

If you are an IT manager looking at where you can find extra dollar in your IT budget to invest in new technology, new innovation and new competitive capability for your organization, this must be good news for you! Moreover, if you do nothing, you are opening a hole in your IT budget.

 

Here is a recent white paper and a video we published to discuss our server refresh strategy and how we are getting the cost benefit Diane Bryant shared:

Realizing Data Center Savings with an Accelerated Server Refresh Strategy

 

We have also developed a Server Refresh ROI estimator so you can calculater the amount of savings you can get from these cash machines:

http://www.intel.com/go/xeonestimator

 

If you ain't satisfied, here is a video showing you how to use the estimator!

 

Go and install those cash machines into your data centers now! 8-)

0 Comments Permalink Tags: intel_it, it, it@intel, jimmy_wai, roi, server, server_refresh, nehalem, data_center, data_center_cooling, data_center_power, virtualization, energy_efficiency, intel, case_study, value, cost_savings
Chris P_Intel
0

I hate fixing the roof.  In fact, I have been postponing a roof repair over my garage for about 2 years now.  I recently read an article by Peter Kretzmen titled “IT, The CIO, and the Business Need for Roof Projects” and realized that while I can put off my roof repair, IT may not be able to postpone routine upgrades. 

 

For businesses, technology refresh is a standard business process (ie a roof fix).  The question for IT often boils down to WHEN I should upgrade, not IF. Why? … because hardware technology ages, maintenance costs rise, and software solutions can become unresponsive or obsolete as business needs change, user needs evolve and new technology and software become available. In this economy, cost is king and reducing IT costs has clearly become a critical imperative.

 

My colleagues in Intel IT recently conducted two separate and independent studies on how frequent we should refresh our PC fleet and data center servers.

 

PC Fleet Management:  John Mahvi and Avi Zarfaty from Intel IT recently wrote a paper titled “Using TCO to Determine PC Upgrade Cycles”.  The conclusion of this analysis showed that a 3.5 year refresh rate was optimal for total cost management in our IT environment.  Despite the fact that delaying PC refresh this year was initially seen as a cash conservation approach, the analysis showed that not refreshing older PCs increased the business’s overall costs.  As a beneficiary of PC refresh (I got a new laptop a month ago ), I can also personally attest that my productivity has gone up.

 

Data Center Efficiency:  Matt Beckert and Diane Boyington of Intel IT recently published a paper titled “Realizing Data Center Savings with an Accelerated Server Refresh Strategy”.  This paper discusses Intel IT’s movement to a proactive 4-year server refresh cadence in 2007 and illustrates both the long term savings (up to $250M over eight years) and immediate benefit to the corporate bottom line ($45M saved in 2008). After plans to refresh our servers was slowed earlier this year to preserve capital funds, a re-assessment was done that showed that Intel IT could save $19M by refreshing now vrs waiting until 2010.

 

Just like you shouldn’t sleep in a house with a leaking roof … it is prudent to not let old hardware create a hole in your IT budget. In today’s economic environment, Intel IT can’t afford a leaky roof and so we are moving forward with proactive business client PC and Server refresh, proven approaches to reduce TCO and boost business value.

 

Chris Peters, Intel IT

twitter @chris_p_intel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: chris_peters, client, cost_savings, intel_it, it, it@intel, value, strategy, datacenter, data_center, roi, tco, roof, business_value, pc_fleet, economy, it_strategy, server_refresh, pc_refresh, refresh
Diane Bryant
1

The economic environment is obviously consuming all of our attention.  No one is sheltered from the unprecedented and unpredictable times.  However, facing this environment, we know one thing; companies are relying on their IT groups to increase corporate competitiveness.  These times create an opportunity for the IT organization to shine and deliver business value and a financial return.  In this podcast, I talk about what Intel IT is doing in the face of the current economic environment.  We are extremely focused on programs that increase employee productivity.  These programs range from refreshing our mobile clients for added compute performance, to driving collaboration solutions through social computing and video conferencing capabilities.  Additionally, we cannot slow the momentum of our IT efficiency programs.  We must continue to drive down the cost of running IT.

 

I hope you find this video pertinent and I encourage you to respond and share your ideas on how IT can drive increased company-wide competitiveness during these tough times.

 

Thank you,

Diane Bryant, Intel CIO

 

 

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1 Comments Permalink Tags: diane_bryant, client_refresh, employee_productivity, economy, efficiency, server_refresh, vpro, productivity, reducing_it_operational_costs

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