Data centre managers have been found wanting when it comes to establishing a green policy, new research has revealed.

A survey by data centre software management vendor Aperture Technologies found that managers are investing in technology to monitor energy, but that 30 per cent have yet to implement a formal green policy.

A further one in ten indicated that they did not actually know whether a formal policy had been put in place.

An encouraging 90 per cent of data centres have introduced some kind of monitoring system, and over two thirds of respondents cited power consumption as the most important reason for doing so.

"A green policy can help to remind staff across the business that they have a duty to the environment, and can explain how the decisions they take can make a real difference," said David Perry, European sales director at Aperture Technologies.

"But for it to be truly effective data centres must have tools in place to monitor, manage and optimise the energy they use to power and cool devices.

"It will take a commitment from data centre managers, and most likely the boards of directors above them, to make the green data centre the norm."