(Web Hosting News) International consultancy BroadGroup, has announced the second regional level Data Centre Asia 2008 (DCA08) Conference which will take place in Singapore 12-13 November 2008 at the Pan-Pacific Hotel (www.datacentres.com/dca>/a>)BroadGroup, a leading consultancy in data centres, has found that the development of green data centres is lagging in some Asian markets, but expects this to change in the next twelve months as the environmental impact of data centres becomes clearer, and users are hit by a combination of regulatory, customer and investor pressure.

Power and Cooling present the most significant challenges as user transaction demand is accelerating and MNCs continue to engage in Asian markets. In addition, global pressures to reduce carbon emissions, curtail energy requirements, introduce green technologies and comply with a raft of legislative and regulatory requirements, brings new focus to emerging auditable data centre green standards.

Global technology leader IBM ASEAN is Global Platinum Sponsor, and the event is supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore, and is endorsed by BICSI South East Asia, part of the globally-recognized telecoms association. The Partner Organisation is Globeron, Singapore.

“IBM’s long history and expertise with data centre implementations enabled us to create solutions to save energy and ensure efficient server performance for our customers,” said Alex Tay, Manager, Business Continuity and Resiliency Services (BCRS) & Site and Facilities Services (SFS), IBM Global Services ASEAN . “IBM’s green solutions are part of ‘Project Big Green’ and provides an efficient, reliable and secure data centre that will support customers in achieving their goals in maintaining and improving customer satisfaction, as well as helping them be more energy efficient.”

Announced in May 2007, IBM’s “Project Big Green” is a US$1 billion initiative to dramatically reduce energy use by IBM and its clients. The initiative includes new energy efficient IBM products and services and a five step approach to energy efficiency in the data centre. If followed, this approach can sharply reduce data centre energy consumption, transforming clients’ technology infrastructure into “green” data centres and provide energy savings of up to 42 percent for an average data centre. Currently, one year has passed since IBM’s Project Big Green and recently, IBM announced Project Big Green II, adding new products and service capabilities to enhance the portfolio of solutions addressing the Green IT market place. These new services include data centre strategy, Portable Modular Data Centre, Enterprise Modular Data Centre, as well as additional software and hardware solutions.

DCA08 is the recognised regional event for Data Centres and is part of a regional programme established by BroadGroup in Europe and Latin America. The company has a leading data centre practice which conducts research and consulting projects, publishes market reports and the monthly newsletter, Data Centre News.

“As the annual Asian networking hub for data centres, DCA08 will be the largest regional gathering of leadership in the sector. Although taking place at a time of growth, there is increasing concern about power and cooling which has reached critical levels, and the need to introduce green technologies,” commented Philip Low, managing director of BroadGroup. “The sheer range of challenges and critical factors impacting future expansion presents the regional forum with much to consider and discuss. Bringing together Asian providers and users will facilitate a compelling opportunity for everyone in this growing sector.”