Is your IT manager focused on the wrong things to reduce costs?

A new study by technology consultants CDW reveals companies are wasting millions of dollars by keeping the rooms that house their computer servers too cool.

Reason: IT managers have put too much of their cost-cutting emphasis on the price of equipment, and hardly any on reducing energy consumption.

Solution: Make IT accountable for the amount of electricity used to run computer equipment, including the cost of cooling server rooms.

According to the American Society of Health, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, computer equipment can run safely at a toasty 80.6°F. In a recent survey of 98 companies, most kept their server rooms at 70°.

Before anyone rushes off to their IT manager demanding that the thermostat be turned up, there’s one thing to consider. Some equipment warranties require (unnecessarily) that their equipment be run in overly cool rooms.

Solution: When IT execs negotiate with vendors, they need to convince them to modify those parts of warranties.