Globally, the need to consider the impact of technology on the environment is the basic premise upon which many operators within the ICT sector are constructing their strategies.
According to Walter Bredell, CEO of Integr8 FAX, part of the Integr8 Group, the trend has now enveloped the burgeoning fax-to-e-mail space.
Primarily the motivation to organise and apply a 'green' technology strategy is based on a worldwide effort to contain or save costs, says Bredell. Service providers within Asia, Europe, South Africa and the US are now positioning this aspect as a key selling point of solutions, he adds.
"Enterprise data centres are struggling to keep pace with increasing power requirements for their infrastructures. Businesses today need to invest substantial amounts of money to conserve and sustain power supply as well as reduce the amount of wastage. Up until very recently, the fax machine was considered a chief culprit in this regard," says Bredell.
The reasons for this are clear, says Bredell. He points to the fact that fax machines are usually left on continuously and usually in 'standby mode' and the average power consumption of these devices is 8.15W2.
"Fax machines on standby generate over 60 000 tons of carbon dioxide. On average, each fax machine receives 3 000 fax pages a day based on 15 faxes a day, of two to three pages each. Each fax is copied at east once," says Bredell. "One tree produces on average, 16.674 reams of paper (8 333 sheets). Each fax machine results in the use of 6 000 sheets (fax transmissions and copying). Therefore 1 432 857 trees are consumed by fax transmission and copying of faxes each year."
Put into local context, the pressure on organisations to reduce wastage is compounded by external influences of ongoing power cuts and load-shedding. These issues are forcing users to save as much electricity as possible.
This creates opportunities in the IT industry to improve the environmental footprint, throughout the lifecycle, of all products and services without any significant increase in price or impact on performance.
"We are busy moving from power-efficiency of products and services to energy-efficiency of products and services," he adds. "Fax-to-e-mail solutions today must improve the full lifecycle of energy-efficiency and the carbon dioxide footprint of a fax sent or received."
While there has been some progress made in the development and introduction of environmentally-friendly fax solutions, Bredell and his team are under no illusions of the work that lies ahead within the market.
"There is no doubt that the market has matured in this respect. We have introduced a number of sought-after advantages, such as the fact that faxes can no longer be lost or sent to the wrong recipients, e-mail systems are used to prioritise faxes and the latest technology is not limited by supply issues with critical resources such as paper or toner. There are no more paper jams thanks to the latest e-mail-based solutions and all faxes are encrypted for security. However, much still needs to be done, especially in light of supply and adoption," Bredell continues.
Integr8 IT FAX continues to expand on its rollout of free fax-to-e-mail solutions and now has established server infrastructure throughout South Africa and in the United Kingdom, with plans afoot to enter into the Asia market.
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Integr8 IT is South Africa's largest privately owned national BEE ICT network integration and infrastructure management specialist.
A renowned leader in the field of system integration, infrastructure management and support services, the company employs over 350 full-time highly skilled professionals.
Integr8 IT is the innovator, founder and operator of the only South African based Nerve CentreTM (www.nervecentre.co.za), providing a digital hub to manage and regulate many of the country's leading corporations.
The company's core focus is on network infrastructures specialising in design, planning, deployment, management and maintenance. Integr8 IT has offices in South Africa, Botswana United States of America and the United Kingdom. The South African Offices are found in Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban and representation in Port Elizabeth, East London, and across the southern Africa region.
Integr8 IT is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner for Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Network Infrastructure Solutions, Information Worker Solutions, and Security Solutions.
It has been acknowledged and accredited with many awards, namely Microsoft Gold Partner of the Year, African ICT Achievers CIO of the Year for Africa, Best Customer Experience of the Year, Network Infrastructure Solution of the Year, Security Solution of the Year for Middle-East, Africa, & Eastern Europe, Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, and many others, every year, since its inception.
Named as one of the country's Top ICT Companies and honoured with a position among South Africa's Technology Top 100 Companies, Integr8 IT has established itself as a strategic partner with numerous internationally-recognised technology vendors and industry leaders.
Integr8 IT has been nominated as the Most Innovative Company in Africa and Microsoft Network Infrastructure Solutions of the Year
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