APC has unveiled its new Efficiency Quotient online tool to help IT professionals worldwide determine the efficiency levels of their data center. The tool provides a fact-based rating of an existing data center’s current efficiency levels; recommended next steps for improvement; access to related white papers, tools and information; and more information on the key elements of an Efficient Enterprise. This is the first in a series of efficiency quotient tools that APC will introduce in the months ahead.

Gartner Research predicts that by 2008, 50% of today’s data centers will have insufficient power and cooling capacity to meet the demands of high density equipment. In fact many IT professionals today already grapple with insufficient power and cooling capabilities in their data centers and the problem is only expected to grow more challenging as the need for power has increased due to the adoption rate of more powerful blade server technology.

Once an IT professional completes the 18-question survey (requiring only multiple-choice or yes/no responses), the online measurement tool provides an audit of current efficiency and identifies any gaps that need attention to improve efficiency. The audit provides results in three categories including the data center infrastructure efficiency (0 – 100%), the IT efficiency effectiveness on a relative scale of zero to five, and the data center’s efficiency maturity level also on a relative scale of zero to five. The data center infrastructure efficiency is a quantitative metric based on the methodology described in APC’s White Paper #113, "Electrical Efficiency Modeling for Data Centers." In addition, an overall efficiency score, on a scale of 0 to 5, lets users know their overall performance levels.

Based on the survey results, the tool provides recommended next steps to immediately improve a user’s efficiency. While there are other variables that effect data center infrastructure efficiency, such as geographical location, this tool is meant to provide a relative score from which a user can begin to benchmark themselves against their peers.