Tripp Kuehnis turns IT green

[fritz schrichte]

GreenTech Member Tripp Kuehnis is a busy man. When he’s not managing his family of eight, he runs business development for GNT Solutions. Tripp targets companies who not only need help with their IT infrastructure, but want to use their IT revamp as a way to cut energy costs and help their bottom line. GNT focuses on outsourcing to help clients reach this goal. Enter virtualization and cloud computing. For most GNT clients implementing a Green IT plan is a gradual process. The GNT approach is to help clients change from owning your infrastructure to outsourcing not only software, but hardware and services. Many GNT clients choose virtual desktops and a virtualized server environment to achieve these goals. With clients in the non-profit world, healthcare and the travel industry, Tripp notes that these solutions also provide a side benefit, better security. As corporate America hashes through massive layoffs, data security has become a lightning rod for IT. In a virtual desktop environment, secure content is only available to one terminal, and only when the client is logged in. This prevents disgruntled employees from waiting for the right moment to download redundant copies of confidential information from a desktop to the CSO’s worst enemy, the memory stick. Another company, Ncomputing, uses virtualization software to turn any PC a virtual machine. These guys focus on developing countries and school systems where tight budgets force IT to look for unique solutions to give students access to computers. In fact, Ncomputing’s CEO Stephen Dukker says that more than a million people are using his solution, as compared to the 750K laptops distributed by the One Laptop Per Child initiative- and they are profitable! Tripp has also used Ncomputing in libraries, where he can get up to 4 computers off a single physical machine and sees them as a great solution for many budget conscience businesses.

Before I let Tripp go to change a diaper or whatever he does in his spare time, he also turned me on to a Green Technology Summit in Sacramento on March 16 which I hope to cover in a future post. By the way, even Tripp’s frosty drink at the coffee shop where we met was green, that’s commitment.