South African energy company embraces power management software

South African energy and chemicals company Sasol will reduce its energy consumption by about 1.7 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually by deploying 1E NightWatchman Enterprise software across 15,000 personal computers and laptops.

That works out to about $100,000 in annual energy costs.

The deployment is part of a broader efficiency initiative being undertaken by the company, one that focuses on rationalizing its software application licenses. The NightWatchman application automatically powers down client systems that are not in use, by integrating with the Microsoft System Center 2007 Configuration Manager. The company sets parameters for when this happens.

Here's what one of the company's IT managers, Danie Smit, had to say about why Sasol choose to install the software:

"It is extremely important to Sasol that it is both green and efficient; NightWatchman Enterprise helps us achieve this goal by cutting out PC power waste, without impinging on the user. This deployment has been so smooth that there has been no need to warn users about the implementation, and we have also been able to collect valuable data about how much energy is being saved."

Power management is one of those unsung, simple IT management measures that can save money relatively quickly behind the scenes. Data from Pike Research suggests that businesses could save upwards of $18.6 billion by taking steps to shut down personal computers or servers when they are not in use.