Absolutely. Many companies are running their IT off ageing servers where the technology is inefficient compared to the latest generation of machines, not just in terms of performance but also in power consumption. Older technology was developed at a time when energy prices were low and environmental concerns were barely on the radar.

All that has changed and to meet the new business demands there is a range of HP servers that can significantly reduce a company’s energy costs by up to 48 per cent over a three year period. Ergo is helping highlight how tangible savings can be made and is working in partnership with HP and ESB Customer Supply's energy efficiency programme, which encourages firms to look at ways of reducing power costs and make a positive impact on the environment.

Companies that want to get a clear picture of what the new wave of products can do for their businesses should visit an online energy savings calculator where they can work out what savings they can make by upgrading to HP Blade servers. The calculator is available online at www.hp.com/go/HPESB.

It depends on the size and scale of your organisation, but there is always an Ergo solution that will meet your needs. As a HP Gold Preferred Partner we are currently running an exclusive starter solution deal based around two Proliant BL460c Blade Servers with 72GB hard discs and Intel 542o.5Hz processors. For more mature businesses, Ergo and HP can deliver a migration package based around four Proliant BL460c Quad-Core Blades for increased performance, resilience and future proofing.

All the servers utilise the latest energy-efficient HP server technology, saving up to 25 per cent on energy efficiency and delivering an expected 50 per cent return on the investment over the first three years. In tougher economic times, these hardware solutions benefit the bottom line and advance the green agenda, a real concern for the many organisations that have set themselves environmental targets as part of their corporate social responsibility. To find out more ring the number below.

Yes, but it’s also about software. Microsoft’s Hyper-V server changes the way businesses run their applications, going green and saving money in the process. Many companies have seen their data centres evolve in an ad hoc fashion, running single applications on individual servers. The problem is compounded because most servers only run at 20-30 per cent capacity.

Virtualisation lets you consolidate multiple applications servers down on to a single server that is more efficient to power and cool. Using Hyper-V, you can put as many as 10 virtual servers on a single physical machine, saving energy and space.

Also, running typical business applications such as file services, Exchange and SQL on one virtual machine is a lot more practical when it comes to back up and recovery. If the server goes down, it is quick and easy to replicate the virtual environment on another host machine.

The next stage is to move to a virtual desktop environment, whereby users work off thin client machines that use a lot less power than an average PC. All the applications are hosted centrally which means the desktop isn’t running on the server until the client kicks in, saving more power.