Boston saves money, energy with PC power management software

Computerworld - The city of Boston has reduced energy consumption on its computers by an average of 44% since it started using PC power management software from Verdiem Corp., according to Bill Oates, the city's CIO.

Using Verdiem's Surveyor, the city is saving an average of 180 kilowatts of electricity, or about $25, per PC per year, Oates said. The city installed the software on 1,500 PCs in Boston City Hall in February, Oates said.

"The mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, is really big on the environment and having us reduce emissions and reduce energy," Oates said. "A project had been submitted where we would implement Surveyor and try to reduce the energy consumption environment of the PCs at City Hall," Oates said.

Oates said he looked at the software and it looked as though the city could realize a good return on its investment.

"So we rolled it out across City Hall and we found that it delivered," he said.

Oates said the software cost the city $25 for each PC license, and based on projections, it will save the city $25 per PC annually.

"So we believe that after the first year we will have covered the cost of the license," Oates said. After that, "we'll save about $30,000 annually."

Oates said the city is looking into deploying the software across other city buildings.

Kevin Klustner, CEO of Seattle-based Verdiem, said the client server software centrally monitors the behaviors of the users and places the PCs into lower power settings when they're not in use, such as when a user is in a meeting, at lunch, or has gone home for the evening.

"We've also integrated some IT management tools into Surveyor," Klustner said. "Surveyor also has the ability to bring all the PCs back up in the middle of the night to deploy a security patch or software update. By using Verdiem's Surveyor, organizations like the city of Boston can centrally manage the sleep, shut down and wake cycles to eliminate PC power waste and reduce spending on energy."