Let's Get Compliant

Just because everything looks rosy in IT doesn't mean there are no thorns.
Take, for instance, the mobility and gadgets revolution. Market is flooded with
so many smartphones, notebooks, gadgets, plasma displays, etc. Their
manufactureres are making huge profits, their shipments are growing, lots of
purchasing is happening, the economy's booming, and everyone's happy. So
where are the thorns? We're not feeling them directly, but they're very much
there, and affecting our environment. The manufacturing of these devices emits
huge amounts of CO2 and other harmful gases into the atmosphere. Not only that,
but these devices also contain a lot of harmful substances like Lead, Cadmium
and Mercury. Every time a company boasts of its shipments hitting an ever high
number, the emissions are also hitting all time highs, thereby increasing global
warming.

Anil Chopra, Executive Editor

This doesn't mean nothing is happening to protect the environment. There
are several new environment friendly standards and initiatives that are hogging
the limelight. RoHS or restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in
electrical and electronic equipment is one such directive for the EU market. It
bans products that have more than agreed levels of hazardous substances. Lots of
electronics equipment manufacturers, have taken heed and introduced RoHS
compliant products in the market. Countries like Japan have enforced
restrictions on emission levels for these manufacturers. Similarly, lots of IT
equipment manufacturers are being forced through directives to make their
products more energy efficient. Many industries in India are also following
various compliance standards.

If industries can follow standards, why not IT setups? Everytime we need a
new app, up comes a new server for it. Everytime a new security threat emerges,
up comes another security appliance. Everytime data increases, up comes another
storage device for it. While it may solve one immediate problem, it causes lots
more in the long run. For one, more devices mean more power consumption, and a
higher electricity bill. This bill isn't just for the power consumed by
servers, but also for cooling the heat they generate. All equipment may not be
used all the time, it still has to be kept powered up always, resulting in
wastage of resources. More equipment also means more complexity, thus, higher
manpower costs. It also results in higher chances of equipment failure, and if
(God forbid!) the equipment does fail, you suffer from downtime.

It's time we started focusing at our existing IT equipment and utilizing it
more efficiently. A lot of problems can be resolved by creating and enforcing
compliance policies. We saw some action happening towards compliance last year,
and hope that the wave will continue throughout this year. So here's wishing
you a very happy and a more compliant new year!