30% of Servers Are Sitting "Comatose" According to Research Findings From Anthesis Group and Stanford University Researcher Jonathan Koomey

Findings Underscore Problem of Data Center Provisioning and Management Resulting in More Than $30 Billion in Data Center Capital Sitting Idle


EMERYVILLE, CA--(Marketwired - June 03, 2015) - Anthesis Group (www.anthesisgroup.com), a global sustainability consultancy, announced today their findings about server utilization. The research was conducted with Jonathan Koomey (www.koomey.com), Research Fellow at Stanford University, using data from TSO Logic (www.tsologic.com).

The core findings are based on a sample of anonymized data and revealed that 30 percent of the physical servers were "comatose." In this instance, comatose servers are those that have not delivered information or computing services in six months or more.

These findings imply that there are about 10 million comatose servers worldwide -- including standalone servers and host servers in virtual environments. The findings support previous research performed by the Uptime Institute, which also found that around 30 percent of servers are unused. The 10 million estimated comatose servers translates into at least $30 billion in data center capital sitting idle globally (assuming an average server cost of $3,000, while ignoring infrastructure capital costs as well as operating costs).

"Far too many businesses have massive Information Technology (IT) infrastructure inefficiencies of which they are not even aware," said Jon Taylor, Partner at Anthesis Group. "These preliminary findings support the idea that ongoing measurement and management of a business's IT infrastructure is needed to optimize performance, energy use, and return-on-investment."

Dr. Koomey, a researcher, consultant, and lecturer on the energy and environmental impacts of technology, says, "In the twenty first century, every company is an IT company, yet far too little attention is given to IT inefficiencies, and to the need for widespread changes in how IT resources are built, provisioned, and managed."

Koomey adds, "Removing idle servers would result in gigawatt-scale reductions in global IT load, the displaced power use from which could then support new IT loads that actually deliver business value. That's a result that everyone should cheer."

To read the full findings, visit: http://anthesisgroup.com/news-insights/

About Anthesis Group
Anthesis is a global specialist sustainability consultancy and trusted delivery partner implementing integrated environmental, social and financial solutions. Their focus is on practical and commercially relevant outcomes for clients. www.anthesisgroup.com

About Jonathan Koomey, Ph.D.
Jonathan Koomey is one of the leading international experts on the economics of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the effects of information technology on resource use, and the energy use and economics of data centers. He's the author of Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving (which has been translated into Chinese and Italian) and Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs (both from Analytics Press). His online class, Management essentials for transforming enterprise IT, will be held for the second time from September 14 to October 23, 2015, www.koomey.com

Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/6/2/11G043551/AnthesisGroup_Case_Study_30PercentComatose_0603201-1184668158898.pdf

Contact Information:

Media contacts

Jon Taylor
Partner, Anthesis Group
Jon.taylor@anthesisgroup.com

Jonathan Koomey
Research Fellow
Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, Stanford University
jgkoomey@stanford.edu

New data supports finding that 30 percent of servers are 'Comatose', indicating that nearly a third of capital in enterprise data centers is wasted.