Released on = June 12, 2007, 7:24 am

Press Release Author = ITS Feda

Industry = Computers

Press Release Summary = It seems that whilst the green lobby is focusing on
educating us on green issues, educational IT departments are now firmly focusing on
implementing them.

Press Release Body = IT Managers in the education sector are showing an upsurge of
interest in green technology, reports leading education IT services organisation ITS
Feda.

Strong positive responses to the cost saving benefits of new green IT technologies
were seen at ITS Feda's recent annual conferences. Replacing desktop PC's with
lower energy consumption thin client devices was an area of particular interest,
with two thirds of the attending Educational IT Managers marking it for special
attention.

ITS Feda was originally part of the Further Education Development Agency and deals
with a wide range of academic establishments in the UK, so it is ideally placed to
feel the pulse of educational IT. Penny Price, Managing Director of ITS Feda, said
"With the debate ongoing about cutting our carbon footprints, new technologies give
real opportunities for our customers to make a substantial change to their energy
utilisation"

New technological advancements are now offering lower energy usage without
sacrificing any processing power or speed. The new thin client devices ITS Feda's
college clients are trialling utilise between just 3 and 5 watts of power. In
comparison current thin client models use 20-30 watts and normal PC's average
120-160 watts. The financial savings that can be made by large organisations
replacing PC's with such high-tech/low-energy devices are as substantial as the
environmental ones.

Recent examples highlighting this trend include Queen Margaret University in
Edinburgh.
ITS Feda provided Citrix training to staff involved in their new thin client
implementation which has just been rolled out across 95% of their current campuses
in preparation for their move to a soon-to-be completed eco friendly building.
Whilst the ecological motivations behind moves like this are sincere and valued,
they travel hand in hand with sound business benefits. With UK academic institutions
serving anything between 1,000 and 30,000 users, the cost of IT energy consumption
in this sector is not calculated in pennies. For example, Enfield College, one of 5
colleges currently trialling ITS Feda\'s new low-energy thin client, is predicting a
saving of £13,000 per year on their electricity bill if they adopt their planned
1000 units.

Rakesh Kumar, research vice president at Gartner noted \"Today, energy costs
typically form less than 10 percent of an overall IT budget.but this could rise to
more than 50 percent in the next few years." Meanwhile a recent Gartner study
concluded the current use of IT in industry produced the same amount of CO2 as the
airline industry. It also stated that the growth in power requirements and levels of
waste produced renders the current state of affairs unsustainable, recommending that
IT organisations develop a strategy to address the current negative effects of
using ICT.

ITS Feda intelligence suggests that thin client technology may become a front runner
in these nascent strategies.

So it seems that whilst the green lobby is focusing on educating us on green issues,
educational IT departments are now firmly focusing on implementing them.


Web Site = http://www.itsgroup.org.uk

Contact Details = Gillian Brown, Marketing Co-ordinator,
ITS Feda Ltd, Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Bristol, BS40 7RG
info@itsgroup.org.uk, T: 0870 145 1600