Government Technology - January 2009 - (Page hp1)

SALUTING TECHNOLOGY INNOVATORS IN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT Arizona Department of Environmental Quality uses green IT to save energy and set an example. EFFICIENCY EXPERT IT’S FITTING that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality—charged with safeguarding the state’s natural resources —is a leader in using green technologies. Using energy-efficient blade servers and virtualization software, the department recently cut data center energy consumption and lowered IT costs, providing an example for Arizona agencies and businesses to follow. Created in 1986, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is a Cabinet-level agency responsible for administering all of the state’s environmental protection programs. About 700 ADEQ employees support a wide range of programs that ensure the quality of Arizona’s air, water and land. Ron Hardin, CIO of ADEQ, said the agency’s environmental efforts aren’t only focused externally. ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT Customer snapshot Objective: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is a Cabinet-level agency responsible for administering all of the state’s environmental protection programs. Approach: The department is setting an example for the public and other state agencies by deploying green technologies that help it meet its goals of reducing its carbon footprint. IT improvements: • The department upgraded its cooling/heating system to better manage temperature in its data center. • Deployed HP Blade servers with Intel processors and virtualization technology to run, on average, almost 10 virtual servers on each blade. • Adopted printing best practices such as duplex printing. • Positioned itself to review best practices such as power management software to reduce energy consumption even further. Business benefits: • The department expects that the virtualized blade servers will reduce energy consumption by approximately 25 to 30 percent. • Additional savings of around 40 percent in hardware and maintenance costs using the virtualized blade servers. • Reduced waste through use of duplex printing and recycled paper. “We really do attempt to practice what we preach,” he said. “We are looking to do the very things that we ask our public and our regulated community to do, in buying greener technologies and deploying efficient solutions.” Besides data center improvements, ADEQ is investigating power-management solutions to reduce the energy consumed by end-user PCs. And the agency reworked procurement practices to promote the purchase of efficient computing hardware. Low-hanging fruit An ADEQ data center evaluation performed about a year ago led to a series of improvements, including upgrades to the facility’s cooling system. “We were able to understand the air flow so we could do the appropriate

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - January 2009

Government Technology - January 2009 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Stemming the Retirement Tide Getting the Picture Fact of Matter Money Trail Rays the Roof Trick or Tweet? The Modern Way to Vote Products signal:noise

Government Technology - January 2009

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