IBM has announced it has partnered with Highmark, Inc. to transform Highmark's energy-efficient data center in its Harrisburg, PA location. For Highmark, Pennsylvania's largest health insurer, a commitment toward a healthier environment is being undertaken in the belief that it will help create healthier communities, the companies said.

An increasing number of companies are implementing initiatives to reduce the risk of climate change's impact. Highmark's active role in green business projects was awarded a prestigious honor by Computerworld magazine, which ranked it as a top "green" information technology company for 2008.

"A significant percent of our IT costs are driven by actual computing systems--the hard drives, servers, and storage appliances. At Highmark, we are always looking for opportunities to reduce our power footprint. IBM has shown us how we can improve efficiency in our data center--both to reduce our environmental impact and to support our offerings to the community," said Mark Wood, director of data center infrastructure at Highmark.

IBM's technologies and services are aimed at helping clients sharply reduce data center energy consumption. The data center is an area of information technology (IT) that can reap substantial and lasting benefits by using greener technology. IBM's analysis of Highmark's data center included a data center energy efficiency assessment and a thermal analysis using IBM's Mobile Measurement Technology (MMT), which measures 3D temperature distributions within data centers to discover where improvements could be made.

By identifying cooling and electrical usage trends, IBM helped Highmark uncover opportunities to reduce excessive operational costs. This has helped Highmark increase data center flexibility, speed of response and availability--all of which will translate into better service and value for Highmark members, the companies said.

"Inefficiencies in power and cooling usage can represent a tremendous drain on data center environments. IBM's Mobile Measurement Technology can help clients optimize their environments and realize an annual energy savings of 10-12 percent above and beyond savings from their green investment," said Bob Tierney, Site and Facilities, Services sales leader at IBM. "Improving energy efficiency and extending the life of the data center is especially important in these economic times, as clients look for ways to positively impact bottom lines."

The data center energy efficiency assessment and thermal analysis were completed in November.

Highmark has a variety of sustainable, eco-friendly, green business projects; more information can be found at www.highmark.com.