Hmmm, where do I start?
Its been a great summer for us and we have a number of irons in the fire that I need to tell you all about.
Lets start with current projects.
The EURECA project www.eureca-project.eu continues and has reached a number of milestones, the first was the release of the beta version of the tool, this can be found on this link, registration is required. The training portfolio has also been released, although recent updates from beyond the project has required a review and possible amendments to the course content. The content is online but may be subject to change. The EURECA project will provide updates as required.
The project is due to be completed by September 2017 and we'll be organising a number of workshops in Paris, Stockholm, Barcelona and Brussels. Please visit the project website for more information.
We've completed a number of EU Code of Conduct for Data Centre (Energy Efficiency) applications for 2 customers, one based in the Nordic region and a global telecommunications company for their EU sites. This brings up the total of Carbon3IT Ltd assisted EUCoC applications in 2016 to 17 and we have another 6 in the pipeline to be fulfilled by Q1 2017.
We continue to work on an ISO standards project for a Nordic client, providing ISO22301/27001 Management Systems.
Our work with the Data Centre Alliance http://www.datacentrealliance.org/ continues with our chairing of the DCA energy efficiency steering group and providing support to the executive team.
The next DCA EE steering group will have its next meeting on the 31st October at the UEL in East London, registration is required and you can do that here
This meeting takes place the day before the DCD Zettastructure event so that delegates can attend both events without incurring additional costs.
Information on DCD Zettastructure can be found here
I'll be attending DCD Zettastructure working on behalf of the CEEDA team, more information on CEEDA can be found here
We've completed a number of CEEDA assessments this year and more are in the pipeline.
Our Sustainability for London (SFL) project, more info will launch on the 25th October 2016.
The launch event will take place as a part of the BCS Green IT SG AGM, registration is required and places are extremely limited and you are urged to register asap, the registration link can be found here
SFL was developed to meet the Mayor of London's energy and carbon targets and provides specific asistance to London based organisations and more importantly the use of ICT systems, datacentres, networks and user devices, based upon 5 pillars, for more information please visit the SFL website.
On that note, is been a relatively quiet year for the BCS Green IT SG but we have been working on our SFL project, but now that SFL is ready to be launched our focus will return to BAU after the AGM and we look forward to developing a full programme of events with the committee for the rest of 2016 and 2017
We have a number of irons in the fire for future projects, the first is a new ISO management systems client, this will be the implementation of 7 ISO standards for a data centre group based in the UK but with regional ambitions.
This client has also requested EUCOC applications for up to 7 sites in the UK.
We're also doing something else with this client that for the moment wil remain secret, save that if everything goes to plan, we are going to change the way a certain part of the datacentre industry works, more details when the plans have been finalised.
We've also been approached by another consortium to assist in the development of a new data centre site in the NW of the UK.
We're also involved with the DCA in a new EU project that will commence in Jan 2017 and whilst we've been writing this blog we've also be on a conference call for another project.
A note on BREXIT, whilst the mechanism of BREXIT is still being worked on by the UK government it is still very much business as usual here at Carbon3IT Ltd, we've not seen any direct impact from the referendum, but it is too early to tell.
We are working with the DCA on a project for Central Government and we have meetings scheduled this week to progress our thoughts, we will of course let our readers know the outcome.
One final event to tell you about, we'll be visiting the EU-JRC Ispra complex in Italy in mid November as part of an expert panel created to evaluate and discuss the impending EMAS for the ICT sector.
We're also meeting with fellow industry members for TCT 7/3 work next week.
All in all its been a busy period, but as we all know the devil makes work for idle hands.
We've not been idle...until next time.
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Monday, 22 August 2016
Next EURECA Workshop & EUCOC
The next EURECA Workshop www.eureca-project.eu will take place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the 29th September 2016. We will be launching the tool and the training programme at this event.
We are also pleased to be supporting the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres (Energy Efficiency) best practices committee meeting the day before on the 28th September.
If you are an endorser or participant to the EUCOC and would like to go to this meeting, please contact Paolo directly.
All EUCOC delegates are invited to register for the EURECA event and registration for this will be posted shortly on the above link.
We'll be syndicating this link once its been published.
See you in Amsterdam
We are also pleased to be supporting the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres (Energy Efficiency) best practices committee meeting the day before on the 28th September.
If you are an endorser or participant to the EUCOC and would like to go to this meeting, please contact Paolo directly.
All EUCOC delegates are invited to register for the EURECA event and registration for this will be posted shortly on the above link.
We'll be syndicating this link once its been published.
See you in Amsterdam
Saturday, 25 June 2016
EU IN or Out?
What follows may annoy some, infuriate others whilst some may just sigh and say thats John all over but it is my personal opinion on the last 7 weeks or so of EU debate, resulting as we all know in the people stating that they want to leave the EU.
OK, for starters let me state that in my opinion both the leave and remain campaigns have been next to useless, neither has managed to get over the real reasons for staying or leaving the EU. It is, to be plain, an indication of how much the electrorate is treated with contempt by the ruling elite. I've seen posters that echo a nasty past, I've heard statements from both sides that are completely and utterly untrue, lies, lies and even more lies all designed to confused and infuriate the voter which has sadly resulted in 37% of the population holding sway over the rest and voting to leave.
I was geniunely shocked early Friday morning (watching the coverage) to see that Leave was coming first in so many towns and cities all over England, with the notable exception of my own area, an island of Remain yellow in a sea of Leave blue, London, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
I was all at sea yesterday, moribund, depressed, questions running through my head "what will happen next?, can the business survive?, is it worth continuing, seeing as we've been given about €200,000 in EU funding since 2013!
Last Leg In, Last Leg Out and Glastonbury last night lifted my mood and I've realised that what I had been saying to our EU partners was essentially correct.
I had said that the vote would be close and probably be to leave, armed with this mandate from the people the PM would go to Brussels and demand radical and wholesale change to the mechanisms that make up the EU and then he would hold a referendum 2 based upon a package of measures designed to persaude the British people to remain, and to counter the rising far right parties across the EU complaining about creeping federalism, immigration etc.
Once Referendum 2 was complete and the people had spoken then and only then (if the vote was to leave) would article 50 be invoked.
So in essence this referendum has NO legal status, it is not yet passed, the decision to leave the EU will not happen (if ever) for some time and this is why...
Cameron has stood down, his successor is likely to be Johnson or May, they will wish to hold a General Election to obtain a mandate to rule, the manifesto for this election will be fought over by leavers and remainers in the Conservative Party, the conclusion that the party will fight for a leave vote within Parliament is NOT assured.
Labour, whilst remaining unelectable under its current leadership would do well to campaign actively to remain in those areas where the "leave" vote was strongest and it has to be said in traditionally labour strongholds.
The result of the General Election will depend on who commits to remaining or leaving the EU.
Both parties should up their game when it comes to campaigning and this should be overseen by an independent watchdog with more teeth to endure that false and misleading claims cannot be published.
The people of the UK, have voted based upon lies, falsehoods, bigotry and racism to leave, a sensible parliament would heed the obvious discontent within the country and take steps to eradicate the problems, first off the bankers that caused the 2009 crisis should have all their assets sequested by the state and they themselves should be jailed, people smugglers should be given life sentences and have all their assets returned to the state, people in postions of power who misuse the power for personal gain should have all their assets removed and jailed (expenses scandal anyone?). No one should be in any doubt that the law is the law and it will be upheld.
All companies, big or small, local or international will pay the taxes that are due, the HMRC will not provide "sweatheart" deals that are opaque and secret, everybody who pays will be required to publish the details.
These are just two areas we should seek for redress, we should understand that taxes pay for infrastructure, health, safety, education and all those things that make a society, a community worth living in.
And the EU for all its bluster, the UK needs to start the exit proceedings now etc, can bloody well wait, this is too important a decision to act hastily, too important a decision to base upon the campaign lies, they would do well to begin the process of reform themselves, so that when the UK does make a binding decision is to remain in a club that is worth belonging to.
These are the PERSONAL views of Carbon3IT's MD and not of the company.
OK, for starters let me state that in my opinion both the leave and remain campaigns have been next to useless, neither has managed to get over the real reasons for staying or leaving the EU. It is, to be plain, an indication of how much the electrorate is treated with contempt by the ruling elite. I've seen posters that echo a nasty past, I've heard statements from both sides that are completely and utterly untrue, lies, lies and even more lies all designed to confused and infuriate the voter which has sadly resulted in 37% of the population holding sway over the rest and voting to leave.
I was geniunely shocked early Friday morning (watching the coverage) to see that Leave was coming first in so many towns and cities all over England, with the notable exception of my own area, an island of Remain yellow in a sea of Leave blue, London, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
I was all at sea yesterday, moribund, depressed, questions running through my head "what will happen next?, can the business survive?, is it worth continuing, seeing as we've been given about €200,000 in EU funding since 2013!
Last Leg In, Last Leg Out and Glastonbury last night lifted my mood and I've realised that what I had been saying to our EU partners was essentially correct.
I had said that the vote would be close and probably be to leave, armed with this mandate from the people the PM would go to Brussels and demand radical and wholesale change to the mechanisms that make up the EU and then he would hold a referendum 2 based upon a package of measures designed to persaude the British people to remain, and to counter the rising far right parties across the EU complaining about creeping federalism, immigration etc.
Once Referendum 2 was complete and the people had spoken then and only then (if the vote was to leave) would article 50 be invoked.
So in essence this referendum has NO legal status, it is not yet passed, the decision to leave the EU will not happen (if ever) for some time and this is why...
Cameron has stood down, his successor is likely to be Johnson or May, they will wish to hold a General Election to obtain a mandate to rule, the manifesto for this election will be fought over by leavers and remainers in the Conservative Party, the conclusion that the party will fight for a leave vote within Parliament is NOT assured.
Labour, whilst remaining unelectable under its current leadership would do well to campaign actively to remain in those areas where the "leave" vote was strongest and it has to be said in traditionally labour strongholds.
The result of the General Election will depend on who commits to remaining or leaving the EU.
Both parties should up their game when it comes to campaigning and this should be overseen by an independent watchdog with more teeth to endure that false and misleading claims cannot be published.
The people of the UK, have voted based upon lies, falsehoods, bigotry and racism to leave, a sensible parliament would heed the obvious discontent within the country and take steps to eradicate the problems, first off the bankers that caused the 2009 crisis should have all their assets sequested by the state and they themselves should be jailed, people smugglers should be given life sentences and have all their assets returned to the state, people in postions of power who misuse the power for personal gain should have all their assets removed and jailed (expenses scandal anyone?). No one should be in any doubt that the law is the law and it will be upheld.
All companies, big or small, local or international will pay the taxes that are due, the HMRC will not provide "sweatheart" deals that are opaque and secret, everybody who pays will be required to publish the details.
These are just two areas we should seek for redress, we should understand that taxes pay for infrastructure, health, safety, education and all those things that make a society, a community worth living in.
And the EU for all its bluster, the UK needs to start the exit proceedings now etc, can bloody well wait, this is too important a decision to act hastily, too important a decision to base upon the campaign lies, they would do well to begin the process of reform themselves, so that when the UK does make a binding decision is to remain in a club that is worth belonging to.
These are the PERSONAL views of Carbon3IT's MD and not of the company.
Saturday, 14 May 2016
May 16 Update
Phew, what a couple of weeks, as previously reported we've been quite busy over the last few weeks so a brief update is in order.
On the 28th April, I travelled to Austin Texas to conduct a CEEDA assessment for our first North American client, well I say American but in fact it is a UK client that has a facility within a DRT colocation site. The assessment went well and we'll be providing an update soon.
Austin, really is a busy bustling city, the vibe is infectious and I always enjoy going there, taking advantage of the cheap prices in the stores as well, I managed to procure a high end laptop that was priced in $ as it would have been in £, saving £300, and I got the tax back at the airport.
I also had a tickle on the way back with a complimentary upgrade to business class on the plane so thank you British Airways, ahem, I'm flying to Oslo in a few weeks btw!
I travelled back on the 2nd May and enjoyed a day with the family for my birthday, then flew to Scotland for a review meeting with our EURECA client, another tickle virtue of our use of booking.com was an upgrade and free breakfast at the Old Course Hotel (Golfers will recognise that this is the hotel on the right hand side of the 17th fairway on the Old Course at St Andrews, it sometimes gets hit by wayward shots!)
I do some much travel these days that I've invested in a Priority Pass, this gets me free acccess to Airport lounges and is very useful as I get free wifi, coffee, food etc so its well worth the relatively small price. I've used it on 4 occasions so far, outbound to Austin at Heathrow, (Inbound was via the client), Outbound in Birmingham for Scotland, Outbound at Edinburgh upon my return and Outbound from Birmingham to Dublin.
The Dublin trip was for EURECA meetings and the 4th EURECA workshop, we have made great progress on both the tools and the training packages and we will launch both in Amsterdam in late September, more details closer to the time.
We returned from Dublin late on Wednesday 11th in order to attend the DCS Awards on the 12th May, this event took place at the Grange St Pauls hotel, whilst the venue was central, the event tookplace in the basement and it was quite hot and humid down there.
The less said about the entertainment the better, I've never seen anyone "lose" the room quite so quickly and I'm sure that next year we'll see something a little different.
However, the event was very well attended and our congratulations to all the award winners.
So, whats in store over the next few weeks, well we have a DCA workshop on the 17th in Banbury (quite close to us, so very pleased), I have quite a bit of work to catch up on this week so will be looking forward to the family holiday in Kefalonia the week after.
Upon my return I will be going to Oslo for a meeting with our Norwegian client to discuss their standards implementaiton for ISO22301/27001 and the preparation of DR/BC plans, as well as reviewing their EUCOC applications.
The week after I shall be going to the Data Cloud Congress in Monaco to attend the EUCOC awards ceremony as well as meet up with clients past, present and future.
In July, we'll be chairing a workshop at the DataCentre Transformation Conference in Manchester, more details and registration can be found here.
Throughout the summer, we;ll be working on two standards implementation projects, continuing our involvement in the EURECA project and getting ready for the 5th Workshop in Amsterdam in late September, more information on the EURECA project can be found here.
Further details on the 5th EURECA workshop, which will include the launch of the EURECA tool and training programme will be available on that link, but we'll update you all via this site and our social media when further information is available.
A note on our SFL project, we've decide not to have a big flashy launch event in favour of a soft launch in late June and a pounding on our all the members social media channels leading up to the official launch, watch this space and dont forget to follow @carbon3it and @sustyforlondon for regular updates and further information.
So, all in all, quite a busy season ahead of us, we'll be posting again after all our trips (sometime in mid June), until then keep safe and think about making your data centre energy efficient...until next time....
On the 28th April, I travelled to Austin Texas to conduct a CEEDA assessment for our first North American client, well I say American but in fact it is a UK client that has a facility within a DRT colocation site. The assessment went well and we'll be providing an update soon.
Austin, really is a busy bustling city, the vibe is infectious and I always enjoy going there, taking advantage of the cheap prices in the stores as well, I managed to procure a high end laptop that was priced in $ as it would have been in £, saving £300, and I got the tax back at the airport.
I also had a tickle on the way back with a complimentary upgrade to business class on the plane so thank you British Airways, ahem, I'm flying to Oslo in a few weeks btw!
I travelled back on the 2nd May and enjoyed a day with the family for my birthday, then flew to Scotland for a review meeting with our EURECA client, another tickle virtue of our use of booking.com was an upgrade and free breakfast at the Old Course Hotel (Golfers will recognise that this is the hotel on the right hand side of the 17th fairway on the Old Course at St Andrews, it sometimes gets hit by wayward shots!)
I do some much travel these days that I've invested in a Priority Pass, this gets me free acccess to Airport lounges and is very useful as I get free wifi, coffee, food etc so its well worth the relatively small price. I've used it on 4 occasions so far, outbound to Austin at Heathrow, (Inbound was via the client), Outbound in Birmingham for Scotland, Outbound at Edinburgh upon my return and Outbound from Birmingham to Dublin.
The Dublin trip was for EURECA meetings and the 4th EURECA workshop, we have made great progress on both the tools and the training packages and we will launch both in Amsterdam in late September, more details closer to the time.
We returned from Dublin late on Wednesday 11th in order to attend the DCS Awards on the 12th May, this event took place at the Grange St Pauls hotel, whilst the venue was central, the event tookplace in the basement and it was quite hot and humid down there.
The less said about the entertainment the better, I've never seen anyone "lose" the room quite so quickly and I'm sure that next year we'll see something a little different.
However, the event was very well attended and our congratulations to all the award winners.
So, whats in store over the next few weeks, well we have a DCA workshop on the 17th in Banbury (quite close to us, so very pleased), I have quite a bit of work to catch up on this week so will be looking forward to the family holiday in Kefalonia the week after.
Upon my return I will be going to Oslo for a meeting with our Norwegian client to discuss their standards implementaiton for ISO22301/27001 and the preparation of DR/BC plans, as well as reviewing their EUCOC applications.
The week after I shall be going to the Data Cloud Congress in Monaco to attend the EUCOC awards ceremony as well as meet up with clients past, present and future.
In July, we'll be chairing a workshop at the DataCentre Transformation Conference in Manchester, more details and registration can be found here.
Throughout the summer, we;ll be working on two standards implementation projects, continuing our involvement in the EURECA project and getting ready for the 5th Workshop in Amsterdam in late September, more information on the EURECA project can be found here.
Further details on the 5th EURECA workshop, which will include the launch of the EURECA tool and training programme will be available on that link, but we'll update you all via this site and our social media when further information is available.
A note on our SFL project, we've decide not to have a big flashy launch event in favour of a soft launch in late June and a pounding on our all the members social media channels leading up to the official launch, watch this space and dont forget to follow @carbon3it and @sustyforlondon for regular updates and further information.
So, all in all, quite a busy season ahead of us, we'll be posting again after all our trips (sometime in mid June), until then keep safe and think about making your data centre energy efficient...until next time....
Saturday, 16 April 2016
Data Centre World and April Update
Firstly, an apology is in order, we created an April Fool post based upon the EUCOC becoming mandatory in April 2017 and this was published on the 9th April due to a scheduling error.
We had some feedback, but we thought that our spokesman Mr Alfred Phool would have been sufficient to alert readers, it seems not.
We spent the last week in London, firstly at the UEL to attend a few DCA meetings, namely the Certification steering committee, the Energy Efficiency committee and finally the Board of Governors meeting, this was followed later in the evening by a EURECA project meeting and dinner.
Thanks to Steve and Kelly of the DCA for letting me stay at their apartment opposite the Excel Arena on the Monday/Tuesday. This in return for helping out with the stand layout and for helping out on both days of the event Data Centre World.
I've been to a few events and we like this one! There are few occasions in the year when the industry can get together and chew the cud, but this is most definately one of the best.
If you've not been, this event takes over 3 halls at the Excel Arena London and includes Cloud and IoT expo's, always worth a visit and best of all its free to attend.
One of the highlights this year was the construction of a fully working "green data centre" built by one of our partners with assistance from many of the supply chain.
Our MD was interviewed by Brighttalk on a host of topics ranging from future trends in the data centre to green data centres and we'll post the video once its been published.(perhaps!)
Ok, so whats on the agenda for the next couple of weeks?
Next week the MD is out in London for a "market warming" event, we're not quite sure what this will entail but the end client is a potential EURECA client so, watch this space.
The following day is a BSI meeting, lots to discuss at that one.
Provisionally booked for the next day is a CEEDA update meeting with the delivery partner.
One the following day there is a SFL meeting, then its back to the office to catch up with outstanding actions arising from the days out.
The following week, we start a standards project with a new client in the Midlands, this client is taking over a new site and we'll be providing a full management systems suite, including all of the EURECA projects Magnificent 7 listing. We've also got something else in preparation for them, and we'll be reporting on this in future posts.
We're also attending a SMART TO FUTURE Cities event on the Tuesday/Wednesday prior to our flight to Austin Texas to conduct a CEEDA assessment.
When we return we have a quick visit and then its off to Scotland for a few days, closely followed by a quick trip to Dublin, these are both EURECA project trips.
If you're wondering what we're doing this weekend, well we're finalising our proposal for Project Spagetti, reviewing lots of EUCOC applications for the DataCloud Congress award on June 7th and some new applications.
Well thats it for now, we'll be updating later in May after all our travels.
Until, next time...be energy efficient
We had some feedback, but we thought that our spokesman Mr Alfred Phool would have been sufficient to alert readers, it seems not.
We spent the last week in London, firstly at the UEL to attend a few DCA meetings, namely the Certification steering committee, the Energy Efficiency committee and finally the Board of Governors meeting, this was followed later in the evening by a EURECA project meeting and dinner.
Thanks to Steve and Kelly of the DCA for letting me stay at their apartment opposite the Excel Arena on the Monday/Tuesday. This in return for helping out with the stand layout and for helping out on both days of the event Data Centre World.
I've been to a few events and we like this one! There are few occasions in the year when the industry can get together and chew the cud, but this is most definately one of the best.
If you've not been, this event takes over 3 halls at the Excel Arena London and includes Cloud and IoT expo's, always worth a visit and best of all its free to attend.
One of the highlights this year was the construction of a fully working "green data centre" built by one of our partners with assistance from many of the supply chain.
Our MD was interviewed by Brighttalk on a host of topics ranging from future trends in the data centre to green data centres and we'll post the video once its been published.(perhaps!)
Ok, so whats on the agenda for the next couple of weeks?
Next week the MD is out in London for a "market warming" event, we're not quite sure what this will entail but the end client is a potential EURECA client so, watch this space.
The following day is a BSI meeting, lots to discuss at that one.
Provisionally booked for the next day is a CEEDA update meeting with the delivery partner.
One the following day there is a SFL meeting, then its back to the office to catch up with outstanding actions arising from the days out.
The following week, we start a standards project with a new client in the Midlands, this client is taking over a new site and we'll be providing a full management systems suite, including all of the EURECA projects Magnificent 7 listing. We've also got something else in preparation for them, and we'll be reporting on this in future posts.
We're also attending a SMART TO FUTURE Cities event on the Tuesday/Wednesday prior to our flight to Austin Texas to conduct a CEEDA assessment.
When we return we have a quick visit and then its off to Scotland for a few days, closely followed by a quick trip to Dublin, these are both EURECA project trips.
If you're wondering what we're doing this weekend, well we're finalising our proposal for Project Spagetti, reviewing lots of EUCOC applications for the DataCloud Congress award on June 7th and some new applications.
Well thats it for now, we'll be updating later in May after all our travels.
Until, next time...be energy efficient
Saturday, 9 April 2016
April Fool
Our previous blogpost was in fact an April Fool, it was supposed to have been posted on the 1st April but the automatic scheduling clearly didn't work.
So, we apologise.
So, we apologise.
EU Code of Conduct to become MANDATORY in April 2017!
We understand from our sources within the EU and EU-JRC that discussions are underway to make the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres (Energy Efficiency) and participation to the scheme MANDATORY for all public sector organisations throughtout the EU member states from April 2017.
This will also include 3rd party data centres providing hosting or cloud services to public sector organisations, so it is possible that many private data centre companies will also be included in the legislation and will be required to review and audit their facilities and prepare EUCOC participant application forms.
Our spokesman Alfred Phool states "Whilst many organisations providing data centre services and colocation/cloud services to the public sector are already EUCOC participants, there are a great many that are not, and this includes the public sector organisations themselves, this despite the previous UK governments committment via the "Greening ICT strategy of 2012" to have all central government departments registered as "endorsers" to the scheme (and thereby requiring 3rd parties to be participants) by 2013 AND for their internal systems to be participants by April 2014 (this commitment for all NEW services).
Currently, just 5 UK Central Goverment departments are included in the EUCOC scheme.
Whilst the UK Government has a "cloud first" strategy, the current G CLOUD framework does include the requirement for cloud suppliers to be hosted in EUCOC participant data centres, unfortunately, the CCS does not "police" and verify supplier statements, this means that many public sector services being provided by Cloud operators are actually not being hosted in EUCOC registered data centres.
We have not run the numbers yet to check how many companies on the G Cloud are in breach of their contractual commitments, but this exercise is underway and we hope to report soon.
The legislation is currently being drafted by the EU Energy Directorate and it is expected that there will be a period of "grace" to allow public sector organisations to implement the EUCOC into data centre operations, especially the reporting aspects (energy reporting) and to advise some 3rd party facilities to adopt the EUCOC.
Carbon3IT Ltd believes that this legislation is long overdue as the EUCOC has been in circulation since 2008 and currently only has 115 participants representing just over 300 sites across Europe and some of the 115 are actually based in non EU countries.
Mr Phool beleives that the mandation of the EUCOC can only reap benefits for the public sector in creating reviews and auditing of current infrastructures that may allow the production of cast iron business cases for the transition to newer energy efficient data centres both internally and externally
This will also include 3rd party data centres providing hosting or cloud services to public sector organisations, so it is possible that many private data centre companies will also be included in the legislation and will be required to review and audit their facilities and prepare EUCOC participant application forms.
Our spokesman Alfred Phool states "Whilst many organisations providing data centre services and colocation/cloud services to the public sector are already EUCOC participants, there are a great many that are not, and this includes the public sector organisations themselves, this despite the previous UK governments committment via the "Greening ICT strategy of 2012" to have all central government departments registered as "endorsers" to the scheme (and thereby requiring 3rd parties to be participants) by 2013 AND for their internal systems to be participants by April 2014 (this commitment for all NEW services).
Currently, just 5 UK Central Goverment departments are included in the EUCOC scheme.
Whilst the UK Government has a "cloud first" strategy, the current G CLOUD framework does include the requirement for cloud suppliers to be hosted in EUCOC participant data centres, unfortunately, the CCS does not "police" and verify supplier statements, this means that many public sector services being provided by Cloud operators are actually not being hosted in EUCOC registered data centres.
We have not run the numbers yet to check how many companies on the G Cloud are in breach of their contractual commitments, but this exercise is underway and we hope to report soon.
The legislation is currently being drafted by the EU Energy Directorate and it is expected that there will be a period of "grace" to allow public sector organisations to implement the EUCOC into data centre operations, especially the reporting aspects (energy reporting) and to advise some 3rd party facilities to adopt the EUCOC.
Carbon3IT Ltd believes that this legislation is long overdue as the EUCOC has been in circulation since 2008 and currently only has 115 participants representing just over 300 sites across Europe and some of the 115 are actually based in non EU countries.
Mr Phool beleives that the mandation of the EUCOC can only reap benefits for the public sector in creating reviews and auditing of current infrastructures that may allow the production of cast iron business cases for the transition to newer energy efficient data centres both internally and externally
Saturday, 5 March 2016
March 2016 Update
Wow, its been nearly three months since our last update, that clearly
means that we've been busy with little chance to update this page, but
this will be resolved now. So, in January we completed an ESOS
assessment for a UK manufacturer and distributor of hygiene products,
this meant visits to Belfast, and Hertfordshire.
We also assisted in the production of an ITT for a new data centre for St Andrews University, this has now been issued and 5 bidders are preparing their tender responses. We will be involved in the selection process and I shall be visiting Scotland the week after next to present at a bidders workshop. This project is being observed by the EURECA project (www.eureca-project.eu).
We've also been hard at work on the specification of the EURECA tool, as well as talking and presenting at 4 events, the "Future of Government ICT" at the AJ Bell Stadium in Manchester, the Noord Group Infrastructure Dialogue in Oxford, "Data Centres North", also in Manchester and our "EURECA" workshop in Turin, Italy. Our next EURECA trip will be to Amsterdam in 2 weeks time for a tool workshop.
I've also been in Saudi Arabia to conduct a CEEDA assessment, the site received a "CEEDA Silver" but I cannot divulge who the client is. (visit www.ceedacert.com for current award holders) On CEEDA related activity, our next CEEDA trip will be to the USA, Austin Texas to revisit the ARM HPC cluster at the DRT facility . We've also been hard at work preparing the next CEEDA update and taking technical calls with potential new clients.
We've also expanded our standards capability with our Operations Director undertaking the BSI ISO 14001:2015 Implementing ISO 14001 course and the MD undertaking the ISO 22301 Implementing Business Continuity (next week), we now have capability in the following standards, ISO 9001, 14001, 22301, 27001 (via an associate), and 50001.
We're also undertaking a standards contract assignment with a company in Norway, this project includes a refurbishment of a data centre complex in Oslo and the construction of the worlds biggest data centre campus in Kristiansand. We are pleased and honoured to have been selected to provide assistance to this project.
We've also been involved in some detailed planning for the website and formal launch of "Sustainability for London" on the 22nd June 2016, this members organisation will provide a knowledge base, consultancy, education, events and research capabilities to any organisation in London interested in the further advance of Green IT and Data Centre energy efficiency to meet the cities energy and carbon targets. the site when fully live can be found at http://www.sustainabilityfor.london/ please visit and register for the launch event.
Thats it until next time....
PS, This post is also available on our facebook page.
We also assisted in the production of an ITT for a new data centre for St Andrews University, this has now been issued and 5 bidders are preparing their tender responses. We will be involved in the selection process and I shall be visiting Scotland the week after next to present at a bidders workshop. This project is being observed by the EURECA project (www.eureca-project.eu).
We've also been hard at work on the specification of the EURECA tool, as well as talking and presenting at 4 events, the "Future of Government ICT" at the AJ Bell Stadium in Manchester, the Noord Group Infrastructure Dialogue in Oxford, "Data Centres North", also in Manchester and our "EURECA" workshop in Turin, Italy. Our next EURECA trip will be to Amsterdam in 2 weeks time for a tool workshop.
I've also been in Saudi Arabia to conduct a CEEDA assessment, the site received a "CEEDA Silver" but I cannot divulge who the client is. (visit www.ceedacert.com for current award holders) On CEEDA related activity, our next CEEDA trip will be to the USA, Austin Texas to revisit the ARM HPC cluster at the DRT facility . We've also been hard at work preparing the next CEEDA update and taking technical calls with potential new clients.
We've also expanded our standards capability with our Operations Director undertaking the BSI ISO 14001:2015 Implementing ISO 14001 course and the MD undertaking the ISO 22301 Implementing Business Continuity (next week), we now have capability in the following standards, ISO 9001, 14001, 22301, 27001 (via an associate), and 50001.
We're also undertaking a standards contract assignment with a company in Norway, this project includes a refurbishment of a data centre complex in Oslo and the construction of the worlds biggest data centre campus in Kristiansand. We are pleased and honoured to have been selected to provide assistance to this project.
We've also been involved in some detailed planning for the website and formal launch of "Sustainability for London" on the 22nd June 2016, this members organisation will provide a knowledge base, consultancy, education, events and research capabilities to any organisation in London interested in the further advance of Green IT and Data Centre energy efficiency to meet the cities energy and carbon targets. the site when fully live can be found at http://www.sustainabilityfor.london/ please visit and register for the launch event.
Thats it until next time....
PS, This post is also available on our facebook page.
Friday, 1 January 2016
Carbon3IT Ltd 2015 Review
What a year!
Our financial accounts are in preparation but it looks like 2015 will have been our best ever year!
I am not surpised at this, considering the amount of travel I've done, which of course is related to work so, here a list of contries and work undertaken in 2015.
CEEDA assessments first!
In January I was in Mexico, visiting 3 data centres for KIO Networks, the results were 2 silver and a gold.
April, in the UK for a big 4 bank (unable to disclose who under a NDA). This was a Gold.
September saw 2 assessments, the first in India for Tata Communications Ltd, another Gold, and the second for EUMETSAT, also a GOLD.
November, Ireland, for a global IT provider, and a Silver.
December, in Gibraltar, and the award level has not been released as the report has yet to be audited.
We also conducted a remote review of a design and build project in Hong Kong which will be finalised sometime in Q2 2016.
This year, we will be in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong twice, the US and Australia, a mixture of reassessments and new business, and thats just what in the pipeline now, hopefully, more assessments will be scheduled. CEEDA is fast becoming the global accreditation for Data Centre energy efficiency, please contact us directly if you want your data centre assessed amd we'll point you in the right direction.
On the EURECA project I visited the following countries, again a mixture of liasion work with international standards bodies and for formal workshop or project meetings:
Milan in April
Paris & Berlin in May
Monaco & Paris in June
Manachester & Amsterdam in July
Milan & Edinburgh in October
Dublin & Riga in November
Scotland in December.
In 2016, we'll be in Scotland, Italy, Ireland, and The Netherlands on EURECA work.
Other trips (working for ourselves) included various locations in the UK and Norway (project awaiting confirmation)
We've also attended many ISO meetings, both in the UK and abroad and look forward to finalising some of the standards and improving the scope of others.
So, all in all a very busy year for us, and 2016 looks like it'll be similar to last year, but we could also have 3 new projects to deal with. (more information and details once the projects are confirmed.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has come into contact with us last year, clients, consultants, manufacturers, project partners and potential clients and wish you all the very best for 2016 and beyond.
Until next time....
Our financial accounts are in preparation but it looks like 2015 will have been our best ever year!
I am not surpised at this, considering the amount of travel I've done, which of course is related to work so, here a list of contries and work undertaken in 2015.
CEEDA assessments first!
In January I was in Mexico, visiting 3 data centres for KIO Networks, the results were 2 silver and a gold.
April, in the UK for a big 4 bank (unable to disclose who under a NDA). This was a Gold.
September saw 2 assessments, the first in India for Tata Communications Ltd, another Gold, and the second for EUMETSAT, also a GOLD.
November, Ireland, for a global IT provider, and a Silver.
December, in Gibraltar, and the award level has not been released as the report has yet to be audited.
We also conducted a remote review of a design and build project in Hong Kong which will be finalised sometime in Q2 2016.
This year, we will be in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong twice, the US and Australia, a mixture of reassessments and new business, and thats just what in the pipeline now, hopefully, more assessments will be scheduled. CEEDA is fast becoming the global accreditation for Data Centre energy efficiency, please contact us directly if you want your data centre assessed amd we'll point you in the right direction.
On the EURECA project I visited the following countries, again a mixture of liasion work with international standards bodies and for formal workshop or project meetings:
Milan in April
Paris & Berlin in May
Monaco & Paris in June
Manachester & Amsterdam in July
Milan & Edinburgh in October
Dublin & Riga in November
Scotland in December.
In 2016, we'll be in Scotland, Italy, Ireland, and The Netherlands on EURECA work.
Other trips (working for ourselves) included various locations in the UK and Norway (project awaiting confirmation)
We've also attended many ISO meetings, both in the UK and abroad and look forward to finalising some of the standards and improving the scope of others.
So, all in all a very busy year for us, and 2016 looks like it'll be similar to last year, but we could also have 3 new projects to deal with. (more information and details once the projects are confirmed.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has come into contact with us last year, clients, consultants, manufacturers, project partners and potential clients and wish you all the very best for 2016 and beyond.
Until next time....
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