Cloud computing will provide a boost to energy management, expert says

Recent reports that cloud computing could significantly reduce a company’s energy expenses are significant for the industry, says Rob Bernard, Microsoft’s chief environmental strategist. Bernard says the reports counter recent speculation that cloud computing transfers the energy consumption problem from one location to another.

“The findings suggest instead that cloud computing can significantly reduce the overall net energy use of business computing needs,” Bernard wrote for Forbes.com. He referred to a recent study that found cloud computing might reduce the carbon footprint of large corporations by more than 30 percent.

Bernard compared the energy savings of cloud computing to that of mass transit. “The data center is essentially getting computing applications to carpool or take the bus instead of sitting in their own individual servers,” he wrote. Unlike mass transit, however, cloud computing requires no sacrifice in convenience or performance.

A reduction in energy through the cloud would not just make companies greener, it would also save them money. According to the study, cloud computing reduces wasted computing resources, flattens peak loads, operates servers and higher utilization rates and reduces power loss, all of which could help cut costs.