Next week I am heading off to Gartner Data Center Conference in LV, Dec 6 - 9, 2010. My calendar is pretty full; meeting with friends who will be there, meeting people in person I've met virtually, and interviewing many vendors on their green data center solutions.

It will be interesting going to see how the messaging has changed. Also some of my past clients are presenting and it will be cool to see how well their presentations are accepted.

Green IT and Green Data Centers are viewed by some as not important as it was last year. But, there SearchCIO throws this article up.

Consolidation, compliance pushing demand for a green data center

By Laura Smith, Features Writer

01 Dec 2010 | SearchCIO.com

John Phelps was not surprised when the Gartner Data Center Conferenceroundtable he's hosting -- its subject is the green data center -- was the first to fill up with reservations. He's been speaking about green IT for a few years now, and says the topic has just "gelled" for CIOs this year.

The Green Data Center is maturing as people figure out there is a regulatory aspect they need to think about along with energy efficiency.

In the past, conference audiences were a mix of a few IT managers looking at the green data center for its environmental benefits, and more people looking to the concept to save money, said Phelps, a research vice president at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn. "Now we have both: the first group looking to save money, and the others realizing that with the possibility of regulations, 'I might bypass problems if I pay attention to the green issue too,'" he said.

Indeed, green IT has gone from a whisper to a shout. Understanding best practices in energy-efficient IT is critical to their profession, said two-thirds of IT managers responding to a recent survey by CDW LLC. The percentage of organizations that cite energy efficiency as a key consideration when they buy new IT equipment jumped from 26% in 2009 to 39% in 2010, according to CDW's third annual Energy Efficient IT Report. The Vernon Hills, Ill.-based IT solutions provider, which surveyed 756 IT professionals in the public and private sectors for the report, also found that 79% of organizations are consolidating data centers or have a strategy to do so, with many citing energy reduction as a top driver.

I'll have a busy couple of days at Gartner DC as it is one of the few data center conferences that has higher level executives who the data center managers work for.