3 minute read

Energy efficiency is not being prioritised by data centres in the UK

Name: 2024 DataIQ Awards
Start: 2024-09-26
End: 2024-09-26
Location: The Roundhouse, London

With energy prices rising and environmental aspirations becoming more prominent, UK organisations with multiple servers are still unlikely to prioritise data centre energy efficiency.

It is estimated that data centres use 1% of the world’s electricity production and the dramatic rise in data use in business in the last decade means there is little chance of this decreasing. In the last year, energy prices have risen dramatically and there have been ongoing calls for widespread environmental targets, but UK-based data centres are still not prioritising energy efficiency to their detriment.

In a recent survey of 500 participants from a representative sample of UK organisations across major verticals, the results show respondents from organisations with fewer servers prioritise energy efficiency far more highly.

Is energy efficiency currently a priority?

According to the research, just 34% of respondents from UK organisations with 11 or more servers say energy efficiency is currently a factor in their server purchasing decisions, compared to 71% of respondents with two to five servers.

When asked on whether energy efficiency should be a factor in their server purchasing decisions, only 35% of respondents from UK organisations with 11 or more servers agreed, compared to 62% of respondents with two to five servers.

Of the responses, 24% say energy efficiency is of less importance when purchasing servers than it was 12 months ago.

Differing levels of optimism and expectations around energy prices have been suggested as one reason for the vast variation between organisations. Those with more than ten servers are twice as optimistic as those with two to five servers that energy prices will revert to long-term norms within two years. This may be wishful thinking as recent years have shown just how unpredictable and volatile energy markets can be due to geopolitical turmoil – but energy-intensive use of data is only rising.

Who pays?

One of the other considerations is working out which departments need to budget for the cost of data centres. If the energy cost is not in your budget, it can be easy to overlook or underestimate its impact. According to the results of the survey, it appears that the IT department is more likely to be given the budgeting responsibility for server energy usage: 56% stated that server-related energy costs are a line item in the IT budget, compared to 32% saying they are not.

Interestingly, it was evenly split between respondents over whether server-related energy costs should be a line-item in their IT budgets: 33% agreed and 36% disagreed.

Only 47% said their IT department has an energy-efficiency and sustainability policy.

Changing mindsets

Highlighting the change in workforce mindsets was the difference in attitudes between age groups:

57% of respondents aged 25-34 agreed that server-related energy costs should be a line item in their IT budgets, with 21% disagreeing. Among respondents aged 55 or over, just 19% agreed and 46% disagreed.
55% of respondents aged 25-34 say that energy efficiency should be a factor in server purchasing decisions. This fell to 51% for those aged 35-44, 51% for 45-54-year-olds, and 42% for respondents 55 or over.

Furthermore, younger respondents were almost twice as likely to act on their prioritisation of energy efficiency when asked if energy efficiency was a priority in the server purchase process:

60% of respondents aged 25-34 and 61% of respondents aged 35-44 said Yes; just 15% of 25-34-year-olds said No.
31% of respondents aged 55 or over said Yes, while 46% said No.

Interestingly, two vertical sectors that are regarded as being among the least affluent – education and arts/culture – emerged as the least engaged with the impact of energy efficiency on total cost of ownership.

50% of education organisations are unlikely to have server-related energy costs as a line item in their IT budgets; just 14% of education sector respondents placed energy efficiency in their top three factors affecting server purchasing decisions.
Nearly 25% of arts/culture organisations – a higher proportion than any other sector – said that energy efficiency is a less important factor in their server purchasing decisions than it was 12 months ago.

There are immediate benefits to embracing an energy efficient process when expanding data centre capabilities, most notably cost savings. As the cost of energy has risen (and seems to show no sign of slowing), having a less energy-intensive setup is an immediate win. It may cost more initially to purchase the latest servers with the most up-to-date energy capabilities, but the long-term cost savings vastly outweigh the initial investments based on the current environment.

In the future, having an energy efficient data centre will improve staff satisfaction as it has been shown multiple times that staff are likely to remain in their workplace if the business ethos matches their own – and it looks as if environmentally conscious business decisions will be at the forefront soon.