CNT - Central Networks & Technologies

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Housing Technology Magazine: Rays of Sunshine for Merlin

Click here to read the latest edition of Housing Technology Magazine.

Savings for You and The Environment from CNT

Damage to the environment by companies and the resulting carbon
footprints is increasingly making headline news. ICT is one of the areas
that an organisation can investigate and help significantly reduce their
carbon footprint. These changes can also bring about substantial cost
benefits.

According to the Global Action Plan, ICT equipment currently accounts for 3-4% of the world’s carbon emissions and 10% of the UK’s energy bill.

There are many ways that CNT can work with you to help initiate a ‘Greener IT’ solution. Some of the core solutions we can offer include:

• Greater energy efficiency through server virtualisation;
• Thin client implementation and ‘virtual desktops’;
• Video conferencing enabling communication without travel.
• Significant savings and reductions in emissions can be achieved through these and other solutions combined with a change in behaviour within the workplace.

Contact us today to find out how we can work with you to help create a more efficient and greener working environment.

CNT and 5i win UK Technology Partnership of the Year Award 2007

The award was in recognition of the innovative infrastructure and communication solutions the team has delivered to a number of Housing Associations in the last 12 months.

Together CNT and 5i have delivered many stock transfer projects and helped many housing associations to optimise their efficiency and improve communicaitons inside the organsiation and across the community.

The CNET Awards are one of the most prestigious awards and are judged by an international team of technology experts and visionaries. Other winners on the night included Cisco, for their Telepresence solution and BeBo, for their Internet Innovation. With this profile of award winners we are very proud to have taken our place alongside the major players in the industry.

CNT Launch New Website

CNT are proud to announce the launch of their completely redeveloped website. The site is the first step towards a new brand from CNT and offers many new features and enhancements, designed to make finding information even more smple and effective.

The website includes a secure customer log in portal, enabling all CNT clients with instant, secure access to account information at the touch of a button.

The launch of the site signifies the start of a new look for CNT, moving away from the traditional orange and black logo to a fresh, new green identity. This signifies our commitment to providing greener IT solutions for our clients wherever possible.

12 November 2008

Leading the Way with Virtualisation and Green IT

Bron Afron Community Housing was set up in March 2008 to own, manage and improve the homes previously owned by Torfaen County Borough Council. With over 8,000 dwellings within the organisation, Bron Afon’s aim is to promote and support Torfaen’s communities.

One of Bron Afon’s core requirements was to implement as green an IT solution as possible. This was to not only reduce any impact on the environment but to also reduce the number of physical servers that needed managing. Business continuity was therefore built into the infrastructure design from the ground up and annual operation costs were ultimately reduced.

As a result, it was decided that as much of the installation as possible would be virtualised to ensure that this those was adhered to.

In order to complete the virtualisation process, all desktop PCs were replaced with Sun Ray Virtual Display Clients. By implementing the Sun Rays, CNT ensured that Bron Afon would have as environmentally friendly a solution as possible by reducing energy consumption and extending the life of the desktop while providing a simple hot desking solution.

By implementing the set of Sun Ray Virtual Display Clients, Bron Afon became the first Registered Social Landlord ever to integrate such a solution.

During the course of the installation, CNT pushed the boundaries of virtualisation by setting the benchmark of the first project in the world to virtualise Sun Ray and Secure Global Desktop (SGD).

Cost savings were substantial. Each Sun Ray Virtual Display Unit uses just 4 watts of power in comparison to 70 watts used by a desktop PC. This equates to annual electricity savings of £7,996.32 per year and CO2 savings of 68.83 metric tons.

Significant savings were also attained by virtualising Bron Afon’s servers. Annual electricity savings of £9,247.27 were achieved alongside CO2 savings of 56.08 metric tons.

The extended life cycle of both the virtualised servers and Sun Ray devices means that the acquisition costs were also significantly reduced. The virtualised servers generated a one off acquisition cost saving of £130,000.00.

By deploying Sun Ray Devices, Bron Afon will save £47,000.00 per annum on acquisition cost savings due to the mean time between failures of a Sun Ray device being 22 years.

To find out more about the project, visit http://www.cnt.co.uk/press-room/case-studies to view a copy of the case study.