Cloudworks shows the green side of managed services

Here's a refreshing twist: An executive with an ostensibly "green" technology who really isn't willing to pitch it that way. I'm talking about Cloudworks founder and CEO Mike Eaton, who really cares more instead about the "overall convenience and efficiency" of his company's services. He's playing the economy card, rather than the environmental card, although in this case, the former leads to the latter.

Cloudworks is a hosting provider that sells "webtops" into small businesses. Users can log into a complete Microsoft Office environment that also includes QuickBooks and other specific software. Starting at $595 per month for five users, Eaton figures his service can help a smaller company save between 30 percent and 50 percent on IT infrastructure costs and on the related power needed to run it. The applications can be accessed with any computer or thin client that has Internet access.

Even though Eaton doesn't like saying so, I consider Cloudworks "green" on two metrics. First, it consolidates redundant IT infrastructure (think of this as a way of virtualizing the IT infrastructure of multiple small businesses) and, second, it enables companies to invest in the most power-efficient client computing technology possible without having to worry about gargantuan operating system requirements.