Cisco has announced the release of EnergyWise, a software technology that can measure, manage and control the energy consumption of IP devices such as phones, laptops and access points.
The software aims to help companies save money and reduce their carbon footprint.
EnergyWise will roll out in three stages over the next year or so, Cisco said. The first phase, Network Control, will launch in February and will manage the energy consumption of Power over Ethernet (PoE) IP devices such as phones, video surveillance cameras and wireless access points.
Users can set policies to control when certain devices are operational and when they can be turned off. For example, a policy can dictate that an IP phone is turned off when the user leaves the office at the end of the day.
The second stage, which Cisco expects to roll out during summer 2009, is called IT Control. This will extend EnergyWise to non-PoE devices such as PCs, laptops and printers.
The final stage, Building Control, will be implemented in early 2010. This will extend EnergyWise to the management of building system assets, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, lifts, and lights.
Announcing the product during his keynote at Cisco Networkers, CEO John Chambers said that the system can be configured to automatically switch on a user’s computer and phone and any other IP devices when they ‘badge-in’ on arrival in the morning.
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Inbar Lasser-Raab, senior director of network systems as Cisco said that the product aims to help companies to understand how and where they are consuming energy so that they can begin to reduce their carbon footprint and make financial savings.
“Companies often don’t know about their energy consumption and how much it costs them. It is hard to save money if you don’t know where you’re spending it,” she said.
Cisco has announced a number of partnerships to help it to deliver EnergyWise. The company will be working with SolarWinds on network monitoring, Schneider Electric for building utility management and Verdiem for monitoring PC power.
The technology has been added to Cisco’s Catalyst switching portfolio, meaning companies do not have to invest in new switches to use EnergyWise. A free software upgrade will be provided for existing Cisco customers while the product will be included in new Catalyst switches from February this year.
Also announced by Cisco is its Green Business Value Calculator, which aims to provide customers with projected cost and energy emission savings from switching to EnergyWise and other ‘green’ technologies from Cisco, such as TelePresence and WebEx. This joins similar offerings already announced by networking rivals Nortel and HP.
