Cisco's EnergyWise Leads to More Economical Energy Use

Cisco (News - Alert)'s EnergyWise has some new services and solutions that will let businesses lower their energy use and costs, as well as reduce carbon emissions.

The changes are a result of Cisco recently acquiring JouleX software for $107 million. JouleX offerings are now being used by the company, and its employees have been merged into the workforce of Cisco Services. 

Now, EnergyWise – which was started in 2009 – manages, measures and monitors energy use of devices and systems connected to networks. That includes access points, ATM machines, IP phones, laptops, monitors, routers, servers and switches.

“EnergyWise provides the technology that allows businesses of all sizes (and across every industry) the level of visibility and management needed to reduce costs, increase employee responsibility and strengthen their corporate sustainability profile," Faiyaz Shahpurwala, senior vice president of Cisco's Industry Solutions Group, said in a recent statement. "When customers are recouping costs as quickly as three months, companies have more funds to reinvest in other areas of growth."

It was also reported how IT energy use is between 25 and 80 percent of enterprise energy consumption, according to Gartner (News - Alert). The totals can add up.

“The potential gains in deploying a solution to manage this cost are substantial,” according to a statement from Cisco. “As more devices are connected in the Internet of Everything, it's becoming even more important for organizations to find a solution to manage and lower these costs.”

The two companies, working together, offer a solution. "With JouleX now fully integrated into Cisco, we've created solutions that will help address a significant issue with the newly formed Cisco EnergyWise Suite that helps customers reduce their operational expenses, and use energy more efficiently, while lowering their carbon emissions," Tom Noonan, general manager of Cisco EnergyWise Solutions and who used to be JouleX president/CEO, said in a statement.

EnergyWise has some new features and services, too. For instance, Cisco has a free, trial license of the EnergyWise Management software. It provides reports on energy use and return on investment. It also monitors energy use of a device, data center and distributed office connected to a Cisco intelligent network, the company said. Another option is the Cisco EnergyWise Discovery Service. It finds energy waste and identifies benchmarks on energy and carbon footprints. “As part of the 90-day service engagement, Cisco will conduct an energy audit with detailed requirements and information collection, product installation and energy baselining, biweekly energy discovery reporting, and a detailed executive summary upon conclusion,” the company said in a statement.

Another service is Cisco EnergyWise Optimization. It offers total visibility into data center energy use for all physical and virtual devices and reduction of IT energy costs by 35 percent in distributed offices.

Also, there is EnergyWise Management for Distributed Office software. It lets businesses use “existing infrastructure to quickly begin seeing, measuring, and managing the energy consumption and utilization of all connected devices within their office and building environments. Customers are able to save up to 35 percent of their IT energy costs, and the typical return on investment is achieved in as little as three to six months.”

In addition, there is also EnergyWise Management for Data Center software. Businesses can use infrastructure to see, measure and manage energy consumption and use it for connected devices in their data centers.

 Before the acquisition, JouleX’s clients included BMW, Sony, Coca Cola, Equifax, Nestle Water, Schneider Electric (News - Alert), Danske Bank, and Deutsche Telekom. The company was founded in 2009.