Climate change has the potential to affect all aspects of our society from the delivery of essential services to the environment in which we live. For a future with a more challenging climate, we need to be well prepared.
A key challenge for the engineering profession is to ensure that as the climate changes, policies and infrastructure continue to support and enhance healthy and sustainable lifestyles in a cost effective and sustainable manner.
As part of Convention 2014, the inaugural engineering conference hosted by Engineers Australia later this year, the third Practical Reponses to Climate Change Conference and the Business Enterprise Sustainability Forum will take place. These two events provide an opportunity for engineers, policy makers, scientists, planners, academics, other professionals and interested members of the public to present, discuss and debate the latest research and practice relating to the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. Additionally, the idea that business enterprise needs to be sustainable in order to prosper, in terms of social and human capital, and in the context of the environment and economy will be a key topic of discussion.
High profile national and international speakers will come together with delegates from around Australia and the world. A series of plenary lectures, contributed papers and posters will ensure a vibrant and interesting program. The half-day workshops also allows a forum for debate of key issues, learn new techniques and plan for new directions for practical responses to climate change.
As part of actively promoting sustainable environmental practices and reducing their impact on surrounding resources Engineers Australia wanted to incorporate key principles into their recent IT infrastructure refresh. The idea of reducing the amount of equipment through consolidation nd convergence and a subsequent reduction in both energy and cooling requirements whilst still being able to maintain the resiliency and scalability necessary for future growth resonated with Barry Goodwin, National Manager ICT and Michael Allen, Executive General Manager, Corporate Services.
OPC, as a 30 year trusted advisor and long term provider of managed IT services to Engineers Australia, leveraged the strength of the Dell datacentre product suite to build a platform that met the requirements and delivered the efficiencies Engineers Australia were looking for. Through the utilisation of the Dell 12th Generation servers, Dell EqualLogic storage and Dell Networking equipment Engineers Australia saw a 66% reduction in the number of servers and storage appliances required to run key business critical systems. Combined with Dell’s Fresh Air Cooling technology allowing datacentre equipment to operate in much higher temperatures, ongoing cooling requirements have been further reduced.
On the floor, Dell PCs and laptops that incorporate the latest generation Intel processors deliver better performance at a lower power consumption than their predecessors. Proactive system management policies implemented by OPC ensure all workstations are powered down overnight further minimising Engineers Australia’s energy consumption.
“Engineers Australia is very committed to reducing our carbon footprint in all areas of the business and we see the introduction of the Dell solution provided by OPC will play an active role in lowering our reliance on finite resources,” Barry Goodwin said.
Dell is committed to helping customers compute more while consuming less and are designing next-generation solutions that make a positive impact on the environment. With ongoing efficiency development in every stage of their product lifecycle, from the development of bamboo and mushroom based packaging, to recovering over one hundred thousand tons of electronic waste in 2014 alone, Dell have made significant contributions to minimising carbon footprints and ensuring their customers can meet their own sustainability goals.
Engineers Australia, OPC IT and Dell, working together to build a sustainable workplace.
OPC offers end-to-end IT support!
* Fully Managed IT Services
* Project Management & Consulting
* VMware Server & Desktop Virtualisation
* Helpdesk & Service Desk Support
* Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
* Procurement Services
* Dell Server & Storage Solutions
* Desktop, Laptop and Mobile devices
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* Accessibility Compliance Testing.
For more information on how OPC can revolutionise your business,
contact the team on 1300 788 616
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www.opc.com.au