With high throughput businesses coming into increasing focus on the nation’s carbon emission and energy management agenda, firms operating within the automotive sector can consider themselves prime targets for business improvement processes brought about (in many cases) by advances in technology.

With this thought in mind, news this week surfaces of software specialist consultancy and development shop Certero and its deal with the Lookers car dealership to roll out PC power management solutions across more than 100 sites in the UK and Ireland.

Auto energy starts at the keyboard

Certero describes itself as a specialist in software asset management, PC power management and password reset solutions and services. The firm is supplying its PowerStudio product to help Lookers meet carbon reduction targets and drive down energy costs. It will monitor the usage patterns of more than 3,000 individual PCs and provide reports on energy supply, man (and woman) hours and carbon emissions.

The firm specifies that this data will then be used to drive a range of power saving schemes which will adapt to working patterns and switch off computers not in use.

Lookers IT technical specialist Dan Calderbank said the decision to adopt Certero’s solution came after a free 30 day trial. It is now hoped the new power saving tool will help the organisation slash energy costs by around £100,000.

From PC console to car cockpit

“The trial clearly demonstrated the benefits the product could deliver,” he said. “These benefits were particularly attractive in terms of a quick return on investment. Due to the nature of our business we created a policy that suited us. It was great to have this flexibility, rather than having to use out of the box policies. The easy to understand reports will now give users the ability to control and report on the cost and carbon achievements. PowerStudio’s straightforward management console means that we now have the full suite of Certero solutions.”

Certero managing director John Lunt has said the latest deal reinforced the financial and environmental rewards of effective PC power management. The firm’s PowerStudio product offers a payback period of between four to six months.

“Our PowerStudio solution enables organisations to get a firm grip on PC power management. It provides greater administrative flexibility with the choice to tailor power policies to specific needs of individual workers. Detailed feedback can also be gained through PowerStudio’s advanced reporting. This allows IT managers to study overall power usage in fine detail and establish areas to save power, reduce bills and reach green energy targets,” said Lunt.

NOTE: PowerStudio solution can achieve up to 45% cost savings per PC each year or 380kWh per PC per year, or 586 pounds of CO2 per user per year. Certero notes that PCs make up 40pc of overall energy consumption from IT equipment.