(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Managed service provider professional association, the MSPAlliance (www.mspalliance.com) has launched its Green IT Program for MSPs, to promote environmentally friendly IT management practices as well as efficient uses of energy.
According to the organization’s Thursday eagerly awaited announcement at its Managed Services Summit in Las Vegas, MSPAlliance has created a set of standards for MSPs and their clients to achieve Green IT Certification. The evaluation is based on quantifiable standards, and is given to alliance members that are able to demonstrate proficiency in such areas as remote client management and data center efficiency.
“The need for Green IT has never been more evident, and the standards set by this new program will guide MSPs in delivering Green IT services and reducing their own carbon footprint,” MSPAlliance president Charles Weaver said in a statement. “Today, every MSP has access to tools that deliver environmentally conscious services, however, there isn’t an industry standard for them to use as a guide to ensure proper stewardship of all resources. As the industry’s only accrediting body for MSPs, we are proud to address this glaring deficiency.”
The program also encourages MSPs to implement alternative energy and cooling practices in their own data centers. Also, MSPs are also encouraged to nominate clients demonstrate energy saving practices to become Green IT certified by demonstrating only “minimal level of adoption of these Green IT practices” to gain the designation of a “Green IT Approved Company.”
Global technology leaders have already shown their support of MSPAlliance’s Green IT Certification program including Intel (www.intel.com), which hopes MSPs will adopt its hardware in their efforts to become more energy efficient.
“An MSP can drastically reduce the carbon footprint and energy consumption of PCs and notebooks used in small to medium-sized business by deploying systems based on Intel Core2 and Centrino2 processors with vPro Technology,” Intel SMB market development director Frank Soqui said in a statement. “The vPro technology enables MSPs to securely manage the power state of PCs and notebooks remotely, and to reduce truck-rolls to fix issues at customer sites. It delivers a winning solution for the MSP, the end customer and for the environment, and can definitely help MSPs earn an MSPA Green IT accreditation.”
With 7,000 members spanning the globe, MSPAlliance is the largest Managed Services Industry association and accrediting body, making many expect this new certification standard to have a large effect on the entire industry.
“The MSPA Green IT certification program will allow MSPs and consumers to finally change the current IT industry norm of wasteful energy use,” said Tim Lambrecht, president and chief executive officer of MSP IncompassIT (www.incompassit.com). “By standardizing the approach, and educating the global IT community, this green initiative promises to not only save major utility expenses, but also change the way we think of IT availability in the future.”
