News
Effecting Change Now: Stimulating Your Organization with Green Technology
January 2009 by Lisa Voldeng
“There is no obstacle that can stand in the way of millions of
voices calling for change.” In the week of President Obama’s
inauguration, his words are a noble call to us all to rise to meet
the best in ourselves, many of us are wondering, “but how do I
tangibly effect change in my own life? Or in my own organization?”
President Obama built his campaign on the promise of economic
stimulus and aggressive support for green technologies. Recently, he
selected alternative energy supporter and Nobel-prize winning
physicist Steven Chu to head the Department of Energy. He’s loading
his guns and locking his economic stimulus package. He’s poised to
begin executing his gleaming mission. Are we ready to execute ours?
The realities of the current economy are daunting. We have
organizational goals to meet, and smaller budgets with which to meet
them. Businesses are closing. People are losing jobs and homes. And
amidst all this, our planet is increasingly evidencing the specter of
radical climate change. The need for change is breathing hot in our
faces, yet the challenges we face seem insurmountable.
As Confucius said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step.” If so, then what tangible solutions are available,
that can help us directly impact change in our organizations now?
Help us effectively meet our goals while lowering our costs, and
reducing our environmental impact?
The functional area where organizations can most effectively – and
immediately – cut costs and positively impact environmental change,
is IT. For example, using powerful, low-cost desktop virtualization
tools, you can reduce your IT maintenance and support costs by up to
80% - while also reducing electricity usage and electronic waste by
up to 90%.
Desktop virtualization technologies leverage the unused computing
power of a single computer, creating an efficient alternative to
traditional desktop-per-user computing. I’ve evaluated many companies
hawking products in this space of late, and the one I’ve been most
impressed with, is Userful (www.userful.com). Putting it plainly,
Userful doesn’t talk. They just walk. In an age where rampant
over-rhetoric still rules the virtualization marketplace, those who
let their demonstrated commitment to serving their customers and
impacting organizational change speak for itself - speak the loudest
of all.
Userful’s PC sharing and virtualization technology turns one computer
into 10; allowing up to 10 users to work on a single computer by
simply attaching extra monitors, mice and keyboards. It delivers full
PC performance including full-screen streaming video for a fraction of
the cost of using a PC-per-user solution. Userful also enables users
to manage and monitor their desktops through a central administrative
web site, allowing them to control their desktops from a simple
web-browser, and generating significant savings in administrative
tools.
Because of the radical reduction in electricity and electronic waste
(up to 90%), Userful’s solutions are immediately eco-friendly. For
example, a recent deployment in South Africa - which delivered 2,205
virtualized desktops to 105 South African schools using only 315
computers - saves the equivalent of over 4000 tonnes of CO2
emissions; the equivalent of taking 700 cars off the road. And with
over 30,000 desktops successfully deployed in governments, schools,
libraries, businesses and military in over 100 countries, Userful’s
virtualization tools are a proven market leader.
Perhaps change begins with a simple intention. And renewal begins
when a simple intention becomes a single step, multiplied. With
Obama’s call to us all to be the change we wish to see - and his
strong commitment to stimulating the economy and supporting green
technologies - companies like Userful are well-prepared to help
organizations who also embrace the call to change, to lead the way.
Voted one of the the "Top 25 Women in Technology" by ZDnet and one of
the "Top 10 Media Thinkers of the 21st Century" by Nikkei Electronics,
Lisa Voldeng is an industry analyst and CEO of Sugarlab Corp.
