First National Bank chooses 1E to lower energy consumption, Reduce Carbon Footprint and is pioneer in qualifying for rebates from power supplier

South African financial institution deploys 1E NightWatchman Enterprise to become
energy efficient and benefit from rebates from Eskom

London and New York, February 25, 2013: 1E, the global leader in IT efficiency software today announced that First National Bank (FNB) of South Africa has selected NightWatchman Enterprise to reduce energy consumption, on its estate of 8,500 workstations, during peak demand times, overnight and during weekends.

With PC power management in place, the project is set to reduce peak load on the grid by 55KW and FNB will reduce its energy consumption by approximately 850,000 kWh per year. It is the first technology project of its kind that has been approved under the rebate scheme offered by Eskom, the local utility in South Africa.

Like many countries around the world, South Africa has a resource-constrained energy grid, yet studies show that the country, with a vibrant economy, has a higher than average levels of energy consumption. However a significant proportion of its energy comes from the use of less energy-efficient technology and production processes. To this end Eskom introduced a rebate scheme to support customers in the drive to optimize energy consumption. NightWatchman Enterprise from 1E, the world’s leading PC power management solution, was approved for Eskom funding as a pilot technology, to be verified by an Independent Measurement & Verification body, whereby businesses can implement policies to automatically power down computers and maximize savings without disrupting users.

“We applaud FNB for taking the lead in adopting sustainable business practices to reduce energy consumption through deploying NightWatchman Enterprise. Its ability to demonstrate credible energy savings makes it possible for FNB to show accurate savings that qualify the company for rebates,” says Andrew Etzinger, General Manager of Integrated Demand Management at Eskom.

The project was driven and implemented by green IT specialist and 1E partner SustainableIT, with input from LDM Energy, the energy-services company contracted to realize and secure the Eskom rebates. William Cass, Firstrand spokesperson, Group Energy and Climate Change Manager, says “NightWatchman Enterprise gave us the visibility within FNB that 40 percent of all computers were being left on overnight and through weekends. With 1E we were able to automatically and securely power down those PCs without impacting users. In fact, we will improve productivity as users’ machines get automatically patched with security updates and software, and scanned for viruses out-of-hours with NightWatchman Enterprise.”

“We are delighted that FNB will benefit from the cost savings, reduced energy consumption and CO₂ and improved efficiencies thanks to NightWatchman Enterprise. It will also be rewarded for these efforts by the local utility, Eskom. Today’s harsh reality is that energy costs continue to rise, but with 1E technology, companies are able to become more efficient,” says Sumir Karayi, CEO, 1E. “To date, NightWatchman has collectively helped customers save £$1.3billion in energy costs and reduce CO₂ emissions of 11.5 million tonnes.”

Tim James, CEO of SustainableIT adds, “FNB is a model citizen in its approach to energy consumption. NightWatchman has made a significant difference for this organization. We look forward to working with other companies adopting this example by rapidly embracing energy efficiency. This is complemented by the fact that they are financially rewarded with rebates, and at the same time, able to lower their carbon footprint.”

ENDS

About 1E

1E is the pioneer and global leader in Efficient IT solutions. 1E’s mission is to identify IT waste, help remove it and optimize everything else. 1E Efficient IT solutions help to reduce servers, network bandwidth constraints, software licenses and energy consumption. With more than 24 million licenses deployed worldwide, 1,700 organizations in 42 countries trust 1E to help them to work efficiently, productively and sustainably. To date, 1E’s customers make $2.3 billion in efficiency savings. This includes $1.3billion in energy costs alone and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 11.5 million tonnes. For more information, please visit: https://www.1e.com.

About sustainableIT

sustainableIT is a pioneer in the sustainable computing field in South Africa and helps organizations deliver efficiencies through the identification, management and reduction of carbon emissions and other IT inefficiency. Please visit www.sustainableIT.com for more.

About First National Bank

FNB is the oldest bank in South Africa, and can be traced back to the Eastern Province Bank formed in Grahamstown in 1838. Today, FNB trades as a division of FirstRand Bank Limited.