Earmarked new funds for green IT? Don't make a move until you've figured out exactly how much energy your datacenter facilities already use. By Doug Washburn

According to a recent survey by networking giant Cisco, nearly a third of CIOs expect a budget boost for their departments in the coming year as companies target greener, more energy-efficient operations. Of the 30% who anticipate more funding this year, a quarter say they could see a bump of as much as 24%.

Before you get too excited about spending this potential windfall, however, remember the old adage "You can't manage what you can't measure," Don't invest in a single piece of new equipment without establishing a baseline for current energy consumption. Use this benchmark to:

• Prioritize effectively. Avoid guessing on what to green first by referencing concrete statistics on energy consumption per IT equipment and facility asset within your data center. As the IT director at an $11 billion health insurer puts it to me, "Know how much power each datacenter asset consumes – you might be surprised what your top-ten list looks like."
• Set smart green goals. With an accurate picture of your current datacenter energy consumption per IT and facility asset, you can ensure that your energy efficiency goals are realistic - and that your department will meet expectations.
• Quantify the benefits of your greening efforts. You can't establish that progress is being made if you don't know where you've been. Once green IT upgrades are implemented, compare your new energy consumption data to your baseline, highlighting both environmental and economic savings.

"A recently passed bill authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to analyze the growth of energy consumption in datacenters. The European Union has established a directive to drive a 20% reduction in energy use by 2020. And Australia requires all companies using more than 150,000-MW per hour of electricity per year to prepare an assessment and action plan."

But don't take my word for it - that's a direct quote from IBM, which released a free energy-benchmarking tool for datacenters last week.

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Doug Washburn is a senior advisor at Forrester Research, where he advises clients on sustainable business and green IT practices and the role of technology in business. He also hosts SLM's Greener IT Update e-newsletter.