Got back (late!) Tuesday night from Milwaukee from the second Wisconsin Focus On Energy Data Center Forum this year.
The WFOE folks did their usual outstanding job lining up a great location, solid turnout (over fifty), and a set of customer case studies to support our program that described the energy efficiency opportunities in data centers.
I was struck by the fact that the attendees were all operators of server rooms or quite small data centers, yet there was intense interest in the energy efficiency story, and how to implement measures and technologies that would stave off capacity shortfalls.
The four testimonials were also uplifting. One described the challenges of implementing PC power management across almost two thousand desktop users. Another showed how they implemented airflow containment in a small center to dramatically recapture cooling capacity, allowing for significant increases in IT equipment deployment.
As I said in my closing remarks at the event, Wisconsin Focus on Energy is showing true leadership in offering education and training, technical support, and financial incentives in the data center and IT space. Large-scale data centers may be few and far between in the state, but customers are responding to the outreach and accomplishing great things in their facilities.
I understand a third event in Green Bay in early 2011 may be on offer...
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