What Is Green IT and How Can Enterprise Storage Support It?

Green IT is an approach to using technology in ways that reduce environmental impact while improving operational efficiency. For enterprises, this means adopting practices and technologies that minimise energy consumption, lower carbon emissions and encourage the responsible use and disposal of IT equipment.

Interest in Green IT has grown as organisations face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental footprint, manage operational costs and meet sustainability requirements. Data centres are a particular concern because of their substantial energy requirements, which continue to increase as businesses adopt cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and other resource-intensive technologies.

According to Goldman Sachs Research, data centres account for approximately 1 - 2 per cent of global electricity consumption, with demand expected to increase as AI adoption accelerates. This makes energy efficiency an increasingly important consideration for technology-intensive industries, including banking, financial services and telecommunications.

Research published by IDC in 2024 also highlighted the growing electricity demands of data centres, particularly those supporting AI workloads and edge computing. Its forecasts pointed to substantial increases in electricity consumption over the following years, with AI infrastructure accounting for a growing proportion of demand.

For enterprises, adopting Green IT practices is therefore about more than environmental responsibility. Reducing energy consumption can also lower operating expenditure (OpEx), improve infrastructure efficiency and support longer-term sustainability objectives.

Enterprise storage is one area where businesses can make practical improvements. By investing in storage infrastructure designed to use energy more efficiently, organisations can reduce their data centre footprint while maintaining the performance and capacity their workloads require.

So, what should environmentally conscious buyers look for when investing in enterprise storage?

How Storage Consolidation Supports Green IT

One way enterprises can reduce energy consumption across their storage infrastructure is by consolidating the number of storage arrays they operate.

Over time, organisations often accumulate multiple arrays as they introduce new infrastructure to support individual workloads or business requirements. This can lead to storage array sprawl: an increasingly complex environment containing multiple systems that require separate power, cooling and management resources.

Storage consolidation allows businesses to replace fragmented infrastructure with fewer, more efficient platforms. This can deliver several benefits:

Access to more energy-efficient technology: Newer storage hardware and software can help reduce electricity consumption while supporting enterprise workloads.

Continuous energy optimisation: Telemetry-based monitoring provides visibility into power and cooling consumption, allowing organisations to identify opportunities for further efficiency improvements.

A smaller data centre footprint: Consolidating multiple arrays can reduce the physical space required for storage infrastructure, potentially lowering associated cooling requirements.

For example, a financial services company could replace more than 288 floor tiles of legacy storage arrays with 61 floor tiles of advanced arrays designed for energy efficiency. According to the cited example, this would reduce its data centre footprint by more than four times and lower total power consumption by 62 per cent.

What Should Businesses Look for in a Sustainable IT Vendor?

Choosing energy-efficient storage hardware is only one part of a sustainable IT strategy. Enterprises should also consider whether their technology suppliers have measurable sustainability commitments and are making progress towards reducing their own environmental impact.

There are three areas buyers should examine when evaluating a storage vendor.

1. Transparent ESG reporting

Vendors should provide documented Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting that explains their sustainability priorities, progress and environmental impact.

This should include information about their supply chains, manufacturing processes, product development and operational practices. Transparent reporting allows procurement teams to assess whether a vendor's sustainability claims are supported by measurable action.

2. Commitment to reducing scope 3 emissions

Scope 3 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout an organisation's value chain, including activities involving suppliers, business travel, product distribution and the use and disposal of products.

These emissions can account for a substantial proportion of an organisation's overall carbon footprint. Buyers should therefore look for vendors with measurable Scope 3 reduction targets and transparent reporting on their progress.

For example, Infinidat reports having achieved a 41 per cent reduction in its total carbon footprint across its value chain, including Scope 3 emissions.

3. Investment in energy-efficient products

Sustainability commitments should also translate into practical improvements in product design.

Vendors should demonstrate how their storage platforms are being developed to deliver greater performance and capacity while reducing energy consumption. This includes improvements to hardware efficiency, power management and infrastructure utilisation.

Continuous investment in energy-efficient products can help enterprises improve the sustainability of their infrastructure without compromising the performance required to support business operations.

How to Compare Enterprise Storage Energy Efficiency

Enterprise storage solutions can vary considerably in their energy efficiency. Comparing power consumption against usable storage capacity can help buyers understand how much electricity different platforms require to support their workloads.

One useful metric is watts per terabyte (W/TB), which measures the power required for each terabyte of storage capacity. A lower figure generally indicates better power efficiency, although comparisons should account for differences in usable capacity, performance, data reduction and workload requirements.

Independent analysis cited by Infinidat suggests that some enterprise storage arrays can deliver between 2.5 and 4.5 times better power efficiency than competing enterprise-class solutions.

Buyers should examine publicly available power consumption and capacity specifications when comparing vendors. They should also consider their own infrastructure requirements and use energy efficiency calculators where available to estimate potential savings.

Comparisons should be based on consistent testing conditions and clearly defined measurements. Looking at power consumption in isolation may not provide an accurate picture of overall efficiency if competing systems deliver different levels of performance or usable capacity.

The Business Benefits of Energy-Efficient Enterprise Storage

Investing in energy-efficient storage infrastructure can support Green IT objectives while delivering several practical business benefits.

Lower operational expenditure: Reduced electricity consumption can lower the cost of powering and cooling enterprise storage infrastructure.

Reduced greenhouse gas emissions: Using less electricity can help organisations reduce their operational carbon footprint, depending on the energy sources used.

Improved return on investment and total cost of ownership: Combining lower operating costs with more efficient infrastructure can improve the long-term financial value of storage investments.

Green IT should therefore form an important part of enterprise technology strategy. As AI adoption and data centre demand continue to grow, organisations must find ways to support increasingly demanding workloads without allowing energy consumption and operating costs to rise unchecked.

Choosing the right technology partner is an important part of this process. Vendors that combine energy-efficient products with measurable sustainability commitments can help enterprises improve infrastructure efficiency, reduce their environmental impact and build more sustainable IT operations.