HorizonWatching

IBM Announces Big Green Initiative

Big Blue is turning to green to find growth.  IBM today announced it is redirecting $1 billion per year across its businesses and mobilizing the company’s resources in order to dramatically increase the level of energy efficiency in IT.   Wow!

The plan includes rolling out some new products and services that will help  clients to sharply reduce data center energy consumption, transforming the world’s business and public technology infrastructures into something that is much more energy efficient that what is in place today..

Called “Project Big Green,” our initiative targets corporate data centers where energy constraints and costs can limit their ability to grow.  According to IBM's press release, the initiative includes a new global “green team” of more than 850 energy efficiency architects from across IBM.

IBM is using its expertise and energy-smart technology innovations to outline a five-step approach for clients that is designed to dramatically improve energy efficiency:

1. DIAGNOSE:  Evaluate existing facilities -- energy assessment, virtual 3-D power management and thermal analytics
2. BUILD:  Plan, build or update to an energy efficient data center
3. VIRTUALIZE:  Virtualize IT infrastructures and special purpose processors
4. MANAGE:  Seize control with power management software
5. COOL:  Exploit liquid cooling solutions -- inside and out of the data center
   

I'm really excited about our initiatives with this project, and with other 'green' initiatives we have underway.  It is nice to see our great company providing leadership in this area.

For a simple PDF act sheet on what the Big Green Initiative is all about, go here.   If you want all the detail, go here:  http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/21440.wss

The Conference Board Holds Its First 'Virtual' Meeting on Second Life, the 3-D Online Digital World

I am a member of the Conference Board through IBM and recently they announced an event that caught my eye.  On June 15, 2007, The Conference Board Council of Telecommunications Executives in cooperation with Columbia University's Business School Institute for Tele-Information will host a meeting onsite at Columbia University in New York City with part of this event being held within Second Life via the IBM SOA facility.   

As I have been experimenting holding business meetings in Second Life since last September, the meeting sounded very interesting to me.  So I signed up. 

There is little doubt in my mind that the future Internet and Intranets will be 3-D enabled.  These simulated and virtual environments provide the user with a very different and enriching experience they do not get from 2-D websites. 

Virtual worlds such as Second Life are emerging as a fast growing Internet-based environment that has attracted the interest of a wide range of participants.  Second Life participants range from entrepreneurs to large multinational enterprises that have established "virtual stores" online.  Companies experimenting in Second Life include: IBM, ABN-AMRO, Sears, Circuit City (CC), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor (TM), Dell (DELL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Sun Microsystems (SUNW), Reuters Group (RTRSY), Wal-Mart (WMT), Intel (INTC), American Express (AXP) and many others.

The Conference Board meeting sounds very interesting as there will be a virtual portion where those of us who will not be able to be in NY to attend the meeting in person can attend virtually.  I will most likely be attending only the virtual portion through my avatar (named Jett Chambers).

For more information on this upcoming meeting, go to http://www.conference-board.org/e/detail.cfm?pressid=1283&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=email&utm_content=us&utm_campaign=emailexpress