Oh no, not another New Year’s Resolution guilt trip...yes, sorry, we have to do it. However, don’t worry about spending three hours in the gym every day; instead focus on this vital virtualization idea which consists of lowering energy costs with automation.

As a recent blog post from Carousel Connect shows, virtualization can help you save up to $36 per PC per year. That’s the estimated cost of each employee when they leave their computers and monitors on when leaving the office to go home for the night. With the right desktop power management, you can eliminate much, if not all of that.

Okay, 36 bucks doesn’t sound like a lot, but multiply that by the number of computers in your entire operation and it adds up to real money.

Echoing this sentiment, last July Intel announced company-wide initiatives to cut the power consumption of the PCs in its domain. Of course they have about a billion of them, and they talk about “terawatts” saved, but still, it’s the principle that counts. If Intel (News - Alert) can do it, so can you.

And no, simply using the power management options that come with Windows isn’t enough. The GreenBiz post “Six Predictions for Green IT in 2012” notes that even Windows 8 won’t have the sufficient muscle to really cut into waste, mainly because most users will disable the obnoxious quick sleep function. Really, GreenBiz says, nothing will do but turning the technology off.

In essence, what you need is desktop energy management software that you can use to control all the machines’ energy usage from one place.

And yes, they exist, as the Carousel blog points to the case of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District in San Bernandino, Calif., which used a Faronic product named Power Save to acquire the ability to give the school district centralized power over the power usage of the computers within their jurisdiction, at all 4,800 workstations.

The result? They saved about $350,000 per year, according to school officials. But if those kinds of savings don’t interest you, then fine, sorry to have wasted your time. And yes, so real people will pay attention to it, there are also mobile tools that can wake up a PC, so you can feel better about actually turning it off at night, according to the post.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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