Avanade software helps you get a grip on more than 100 green IT variables

For those of you seeking a green IT / power management calculator that isn't necessarily tied to one vendor's view of the world, you might want to consider a tool being used by services company Avanade to evaluate more than 100 different variables related to the data center.

Toby Velte, business development executive for Avanade, says the software focuses on helping businesses explore four areas: data center optimization metrics, especially power costs; desktop transformation possibilities that could play into the energy-efficiency equation; application rationalization options; and IT tools that can contribute to building a green-er business (such as tools for supply chain or videoconferencing or unified communications).

The calculator takes the info you enter and then generates different scenarios that show the impact of doing something vs. doing nothing. Most often, the ROI from doing something typically comes in an 18-month timeframe, Velte estimates.

Incidentally, now is as good a time as any to give Toby a plug for his new book, "Green IT: Reduce Your Information System's Environmental Impact While Adding to the Bottom Line." (Published by McGraw Hill.) As you might expect, topics covered in the text include power consumption issues, tips for the greening process, and granular information about the specific green business efforts of several companies such as Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Rackspace. It provides a great grounding for anyone trying to get their arms about where to start.