Lenovo ThinkPads to Feature Cisco Energy Management

Lenovo is rolling out a suite of laptops that will be the first PCs to support the Cisco EnergyWise energy management service, the two companies have announced.

EnergyWise is a service embedded within millions of Cisco Catalyst switches deployed in enterprises around the world. The two companies say their collaboration will help customers to monitor, control and report on the energy use of Lenovo smart PCs as well as other IT devices connected to Cisco networks, including phones and printers.

Laptops with this new capability include models of the ThinkPad Edge, L, R, T, X, W and SL Series.

“Since PCs are such a keystone within a business’ IT infrastructure, embedding Cisco EnergyWise on our ThinkPad laptops makes it easier for large customers to gain an accurate, holistic view of their organization’s IT energy consumption so they can optimize their assets and reduce costs,” said Dilip Bhatia, vice president and general manager of the ThinkPad Business Unit at Lenovo.

Via Cisco EnergyWise, ThinkPad laptops can report the exact power use at a moment in time versus estimates, the companies said. Customers can use EnergyWise on their ThinkPad to establish more customizable and accurate energy management policies to help save money during times of peak energy costs, Lenovo added.

The companies say that a company using EnergyWise to shift unused phones to “sleep” mode, laptops to battery mode and other wireless access points to low-power mode during peak-demand electricity pricing can realize up to 35 percent savings on its energy bill.

Existing energy management tools on the ThinkPad include the ThinkVantage Power Manager and Remote Power Manager, which allow users and IT administrators to control power consumption modes on PCs to help conserve energy and maximize battery life.

In February Lenovo announced that the ThinkPad T420 had become the first product to earn the highest rating in the laptop category of UL Environment’s Sustainable Product Certification (SPC) for high-tech equipment.