When The Juice Jumps In Price
$70/barrel for oil, given that a very substantial portion of our energy is generated by burning fossil fuels, implies seriously expensive electricity. It also implies a financial drag on companies with energy inefficient datacenter facilities - a drag that gets more noticeable by the day. I was with a search company a few weeks ago that told me electricity is their single biggest operating expense. Power matters... Because at $70/barrel and $10,000 per square meter/yr, believe me, innovation matters - and not just in theatrics around price of acquisition, but practical operation - all in, all up. Hardware, software, power, real estate, management talent - all in.
He then gets in this dig:
Is it a coincidence Dell's located nearby to so many energy companies? Hey, I'm just asking.
Michael Dell is big enough to stand up for himself, but a rejoinder might be to point to all the "rolling blackouts" in California a few years ago.
Power consumption has become the hot issue all over IT, and it's been evidenced nowhere stronger than on Intel's product roadmap. After Intel rolled out its low-power consumption plans at its Intel Developer Forum two weeks ago, Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds saw the benefits, writing:
The reduction in overall power consumption will bring welcome relief to server users constrained by data center power, space and cooling requirements. Plan for significantly improved server densities by year-end 2006.
But if energy prices continue to shoot through the roof, will all the efficiency boosts in IT provide tangible savings, or just keep datacenter energy costs where they are today? That's the $70-a-barrel question.