Efficiency triumphs through game-changing technologies at Le Mans

A couple of Sundays ago (June 17, 2012) saw, for the first time ever, a hybrid car triumph at the 80^th Le Mans 24 Hours race, but the real winner was fuel efficiency and new technologies enabling this game-changing feat to happen.
Audi came top by doing more with less – with half the weight, half the drag, half the power, all of which contributed to halve the fuel and tire consumption and outperform the competition.
It got me thinking that there are some obvious comparisons to be made between Audi’s approach to creating a fast, agile and efficient car and how we look at ActiveEfficiency at 1E.
Looking at the automotive market, fuel economy sells but in reality consumers also want highly performant cars that meet their needs. To date, hybrid motor technology has been seen as simply eco-efficient, yet rather dull and slow. By coming first and second in this endurance race, perceptions are shifting. It’s more than just eco-efficiency now – it’s about speed and agility as well.
In IT, much the same can be said for 1E’s ActiveEfficiency approach. Those responsible for enterprise IT infrastructure, hardware and software are still spending far too much on just maintaining the status quo, which only allows for about a fifth of their budget to be spent on new innovation and new technologies.
Creating a lightweight (ActiveEfficiency) approach – stripping out unnecessary infrastructure, servers and software – reduces the drag of useless IT and frees up budget and manpower, enabling organizations to become agile, an important necessity in today’s challenging economy.
1E solutions, such as Nomad Enterprise which has been proven to cut the number of servers for systems management within an organization by up to 95%, AppClarity which detects unused software (there’s approximately $400 sitting on each enterprise PC) and reclaims it, NightWatchman Enterprise which drastically reduces energy consumption (by up to $36 or 586 pounds of C0₂ in other terms – per PC per year) or Shopping which empowers users and frees up the service desk to deliver huge savings and create efficiencies which immediately impact the bottom line (savings of $40 per ticket to the helpdesk).

No drag on efficiency

For Audi it was important to look at the how the car could derive maximum aero efficiency with very low drag. Nomad Enterprise similarly reduces the drag on IT and eliminates unnecessary servers in an infrastructure. Applying intelligent bandwidth throttling, IT data never competes with business data regardless of network hops, line speeds or configurations. Nomad Enterprise also reduces the number of servers needed as it uses existing infrastructure to distribute software, OS upgrades and deployments, which removes the need for branch servers or desk side visits.
Another way to streamline the business is to identify software waste and remove it thereby maximizing cost savings, through only having the right numbers of licenses needed and avoiding significant resources spent on shelfware and other ongoing costs. AppClarity produces an instant and accurate inventory of all deployed applications. It detects unused software and automatically reclaims and recycles licenses. It also restricts use of prohibited applications. Companies are able to change the focus of negotiations with vendors from compliance to a value-based discussion.

Supreme agility

In developing its race car to be efficient, streamlined and agile, Audi advances its knowledge and technology for road car development. Using advanced carbon materials to build the vehicle has resulted in a stronger lighter car enabling greater agility.
The ability to upgrade software and operating systems in a fast and risk-free manner is important especially in large organizations with thousands of users. Upgrading to a new operating system like Windows 7 can be very expensive, complicated and time consuming. We employ proven software tools and business-focused technical consulting to deliver an extensible, end-to-end operating system deployment solution all without any servers and with zero impact on the business traffic on your network. In early 2012 one of 1E’s customers sought to upgrade its entire estate and migrate all desktops to Windows 7. Using Nomad Enterprise, it performed its Windows 7 migration on 39,000 seats in just one month with zero disruption to the business.

Doing more with less

Audi’s engine is lower powered than before, hence the lightweight carbon chassis which keeps the power to weight ratio high. It manages to do more with less.
Shopping empowers users to get the software and services they want when they need them. By automating the request, approval and delivery process, Shopping dramatically reduces the numbers of software requests that go through the helpdesk enabling IT to concentrate on core tasks. By enabling users to schedule their own Windows 7 migration and application reinstalls, Shopping minimizes disruption and increases productivity and satisfaction.

Speeding up carbon reduction

Fuel efficiency cuts the carbon footprint. Audi prides itself on how it minimizes carbon emissions. So much so that its advertisements closing credits highlight CO₂ output per km driven. NightWatchman Enterprise PC Power Management cuts the cost of utility bills, maximizes productivity and cuts CO₂ emissions across even the largest organizations. The highly intelligent solution has saved 1E customers more than $800m in energy costs and a reduction in CO₂ emissions of 6.4 million tonnes.

How to get in pole position

After this first ever win by a hybrid race car at Le Mans there will be continued emphasis on efficiency.
According to Forrester, improving efficiency in IT now tops the list of priorities for CIOs. ActiveEfficiency removes large maintenance costs and leaves more budget for innovation. Many successful companies use this ability to drive efficiencies so that they can create their own differentiators and competitive advantages. Isn’t it time you got in the driving seat to become a winner in your own right?