Symantec published its 2008 Data center report as a press release.

Symantec’s 2008 State of the Data Center Report Reveals Managers Pressured to “Do More with Less”
Struggling with adequate staffing, data center managers worldwide are compelled to deliver better service levels to meet increasing demands while reducing costs
CUPERTINO, Calif. – Jan. 12, 2009 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today released the findings of its 2008 State of the Data Center report. The second annual study found that data center managers are caught between two conflicting goals – more demanding user expectations and higher levels of performance, yet reducing costs remain the primary objective for the data center. The report also found that data center staffing remains problematic, servers and storage continue to be underutilized and disaster recovery plans are out of date. Finally, the respondents indicated that while they are pursuing green data center initiatives, they are doing so primarily based on cost benefits.

“This research confirms what we are seeing in the field,” said Rob Soderbery, senior vice president of Symantec’s Storage and Availability Management Group. “Attention has turned to initiatives that will drive immediate cost reduction, rather than longer term ROI driven programs.Storage has been a primary focus of these initiatives as the demand for capacity continues to rise, despite economic challenges.”

Green Data Centers are a subject of the study.

Green Data Center Driven by Cost

Continuing the trend first spotted in 2007, the data center’s focus on “being green” was driven by cost issues in 2008 with social responsibility on the rise. The study asked companies why creating a Green Data Center was important to their workplace. Reducing electricity consumption was mentioned by 54 percent, followed by reducing cooling costs (51 percent) and a sense of responsibility to the community (42 percent).