EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
SAMMY ZOGHLAMI , SVP EMEA , NUTANIX
Switching from traditional 3-Tier architectures to an
HCI-based platform can reduce energy consumption by more than 27 % annually .
The dual challenges of rising energy costs and increased regulatory pressure to reduce their environmental impact are making this more difficult for IT leaders . As a result , energy efficiency has become a top priority for CIOs and data centre managers . CIOs and digital executives are facing challenges to provide the digital infrastructure to cope with the fast-growing demand for compute power and storage capacity , especially with the emergence of AI applications .
Data centres rank among the largest consumers of energy . In EMEA alone , data centres demand over 98 TWh of energy annually , equivalent to the consumption of an entire country like Belgium . The findings of this report show that by leveraging HCI-based solutions , companies can make a powerful contribution to climate action while significantly cutting operational costs .
Hyperconverged infrastructure is at the forefront of transforming data centres into more energy-efficient and climate-friendly operations , as this report confirms .
The financial windfall from reduced electricity consumption could reach € 25 billion by 2030 , offering businesses a rare opportunity to align sustainability with profitability . Migrating HCI platforms to colocation or public cloud environments magnifies these benefits , with potential energy savings reaching as high as 54 % compared to traditional on-premise data centres . This is due to the low PUE of Public Cloud Providers as well as the flexibility in providing ondemand computing capacity .
HCI-based architecture also enables lean , energyefficient disaster recovery systems in the Cloud , reducing the infrastructure footprint while maintaining scalability and responsiveness .
The analysis models a typical enterprise data centre , comparing traditional 3-Tier infrastructure to HCI-based systems in terms of energy consumption , carbon emissions , and operational costs . For the first time , the report provides a comprehensive forecast of energy and emissions savings .
As IT budgets are under pressure and electricity prices are soaring , energy efficient data centre and cloud operations are key levers for profitability and sustainability .
As businesses face-up to post-Covid digitisation and the demands for data-hungry technologies , such as AI and IoT , there is increased urgency for action .
Switching from traditional 3-Tier architectures to an HCI-based platform can reduce energy consumption by more than 27 % annually , helping companies cut both operational costs and emissions . Across the EMEA region , a full-scale transition could save up to 92 TWh of electricity and eliminate 19 million tons of CO 2 e between 2024 and 2030 , comparable to the emissions of 4.1 million cars . In the UK alone , this amount would equate to savings of 13.4 TWh of electricity .
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