1. lefttop<br />Executive Summary<br />Consolidate, Virtualize, Energize<br />A Proposal for a Green IT Data Center Initiative for<br />Minnesota State Colleges and Universities<br />Project Manager: Lori Schmidt<br />Team Members: Lisa Neuttila, Matt Dorner, Lewis Muaka<br />Executive Sponsor: Minnesota State Colleges and Universities<br />Business Issue/OpportunityIn order to compete effectively in complex economic and regulatory environments, it is necessary for institutions to plan proactively to decrease expenses. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities currently has 32 colleges and universities in its system, each having its own IT data center. The focus of this project has been on bringing awareness of energy usage and waste, finding solutions to reduce that waste, and building a standardized Green IT data center with alternative energy solutions. Project Business Goals and ObjectivesCreate a program to make faculty, staff, and students aware of current energy consumption of computers and devices Select key staff members to obtain certificates in Green Technology Review the use of Active Directory and software to switch off certain devices during down times Take a baseline measurement of current energy consumption by use of monitoring software Utilize current server resources more efficiently with the use server virtualization Reduce heating and cooling expenses by incorporating alternative energy in the data center Reduce energy consumption by 5% in the first phase and 10% by project completion Project BenefitsMonitoring and measuring created a savings of $5,000,000 over 5 years Virtualization increased single server capacity by 65% with an overall energy savings of $384,000 at the end of 5 yearsSavings on overall cost of server hardware of $768,000 Solar energy implementation realized savings of $4,000,000 in 5 years Standardized data centers save energy, increase flexibility, versatility and ease of system management. Total percentage of reduced energy consumption at project completion was 30% exceeding our goal of 10% Future Project RecommendationsEnhance online education to increase enrollment and reduce carbon footprint Mobile technology to replace PCs and thin clients, implement voucher system to assist with cost to students Consolidate data centers from 32 individual to 10 regions<br />Data Center Design<br />Contact InformationProject Manager: Lori Schmidt; http://www.linkedin.com/in/lorisuzanneschmidtProject Admin: Lisa Neuttila; LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lneuttila03Project Technical Coordinator: Matt Dorner; dorn0013@my.century.eduProject Designer: Lewis Muaka; eFolio: http://lewismuaka.efoliomn.com<br />