Business intelligence through patinformatics: A study of energy efficient data centres using patent data
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37380/jisib.v6i3.193Keywords:
Cooling, data centres, energy efficiency, green data centres, patents, patinformaticsAbstract
The advent of cloud computing has nurtured an unprecedented growth of data
centres. With its growth, the main concern for service providers and data centre owners is to
efficiently manage the energy of the data centres without compromising their computing
capabilities. This concern is genuine as data centres utilise 10-30 times more energy than
office spaces and also generate immense heat. As cooling accounts for half of the total power
consumption in data centres, efficient cooling systems have become a vital need for data
centres. This has resulted in increased research and innovation in the field of efficient cooling
of data centres, which in turn has led to growth in filing of patents in this domain. Patents are
techno-legal documents that contain different kinds of information that is accessible to all. In
the present study, patents are used as source of information for competitive/business
intelligence to highlight the technological trends in the field of energy efficient cooling of data
centres. The study reveals that IBM, HP, Schneider and Hon Hai Industries are the major
players working in this technological area. Contrary to the notion that air conditioning would
be the most researched area for cooling data centres, the study reveals that there is also
interest in the hardware of the servers and racks to produce less heat or to have built-in
cooling mechanisms. The main technologies for which patents are being filed include
ventilation using gaseous coolant, technologies related to rack design as well as liquid cooling.
Original equipment manufacturers and other vendors have increased filings, along with cloud
service providers. Most of these technologies originate from Asia-Pacific and this region is a
strong market, following the USA.
References
Ahmed, S., Khode, A., Arya, R., & Hirwani, R.
(2013). Understanding Patent Mining using
Analysis of the Samsung Patent Portfolio as a
Case Study. In proceedings of International
Conference on Bridging-The Gap between
Management Strategies and Execution.
Pune:NCDM 2013, 45-47.
Azoff, M., & Charlesworth, I. (2004). The new
business intelligence. A European Perspective,
Butler Group, White Paper.
Beloglazov, A., & Buyya, R. (2010). Energy
efficient allocation of virtual machines in
cloud data centers. In Cluster, Cloud and Grid
Computing (CCGrid). Melbourne: IEEE/ACM
International Conference, 577-578.
Beloglazov, A., Buyya, R., Lee, Y. C., & Zomaya
A. (2011). A taxonomy and survey of energyefficient
data centers and cloud computing
systems. Advances in computers, 82(2), 47-
Brown, R. (2008). Report to congress on server
and data center energy efficiency: Public law
-431. Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory.
Caldow, J. (2008). The greening of government: A
study of how governments define the green agenda. Institute for Electronic Government,
IBM Corporation.
Calof, J.L. & Viviers, W. (2001). Adding
competitive intelligence to South Africa’s
knowledge management mix. Africa Insight
(2): 61-67.
Columbus, L. (2015). Roundup Of Cloud
Computing Forecasts And Market Estimates,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumb
us/2015/01/24/roundup-of-cloud-computingforecasts-
and-market-estimates-
/#3b45c2fa740c
Daim, T., Justice, J., Krampits, M., Letts, M.,
Subramanian, G., & Thirumalai, M. (2009).
Data center metrics: An energy efficiency
model for information technology managers.
Management of Environmental Quality: An
International Journal, 20(6), 712-731.
Deshpande, N., Ahmed, S., & Khode A. 2014.
Web Based Targeted Advertising: A Study
Based on Patent Information. Procedia
Economics and Finance, 11, 522-535.
Ditter, D., Henselmann, K., & Scherr, E. (2011).
Using XBRL technology to extract competitive
information from financial statements.
Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business,
(1).
Dou, H., Leveillé, V., Manullang, S., & Dou Jr, J.
M. (2005). Patent analysis for competitive
technical intelligence and innovative
thinking. Data science journal, 4, 209-236.
Du Toit, A. S. (2015). Competitive intelligence
research: An investigation of trends in the
literature. Journal of Intelligence Studies in
Business, 5(2).
Emma (2008). Data Centers Need to Promote
Green IT, Gartner Says. Available online on
URL: https://www.littlefish.co.uk/news/datacenters-
need-to-promote-green-it--gartnersays
European Patent Office (2016). Cooperative
Patent Classification (CPC).
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/help?locale=
en_EP&topic=cpc&method=handleHelpTopic
European Patent Office (2016). Patent families.
http://www.epo.org/searching-forpatents/
helpful-resources/first-timehere/
patent-families.html
Gabriel, J.M.O. & Adiele, K.C. (2012).
Competitive Intelligence as panacea for
environmental vagaries in Nigeria. Economic
Journal of A 2 Z 1(1): 25-30.
Gartner (2016). Gartner Says Worldwide Server
Revenue Declined 2.3 Percent in the First
Quarter of 2016, While Shipments Increased
7Percent.http://www.gartner.com/newsroom
/id/3335717
Ghoshal, S., & Kim, S. K. (1986). Building
effective intelligence systems for competitive
advantage. Sloan Management Review (1986-
, 28(1), 49.
Grandjean, N., Charpiot, B., Pena, C. A., &
Peitsch, M. C. (2005). Competitive intelligence
and patent analysis in drug discovery: Mining
the competitive knowledge bases and patents.
Drug Discovery Today: Technologies, 2(3), 211-
Hawkin, J.M. (2015). 2016: The Year of The Data
Center. Data Center Knowledge.
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archive
s/2015/11/23/2016-year-data-center/
International Data Corporation (2016).
Worldwide Server Market Revenues Increase
2% in the Fourth Quarter as Demand in
China Once Again Drives the Market Forward,
According to IDC.
https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=p
rUS41076116
Jones Lang LaSalle (2016). Data Center Outlook
Strong Demand, Smart Growth. Available
online on URL: http://www.us.jll.com/unitedstates/
en-us/research/data-centers/trends
Judge, P. (2015). Global Forecast bright for the
Data Center Construction Market.
http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/contenttracks/
design-build/global-forecast-bright-forthe-
data-center-constructionmarket/
fullarticle
Kahaner, L. (1998). Competitive Intelligence:
How to Gather, Analyse and Use Information
to Move Your Business to the Top. Touchstone,
New York.
Kepes, B. (2015). An Intriguing Prospect: Amazon
Acquiring Salesforce.com. Forbes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/benkepes/2015/05
/10/an-intiguing-prospect-amazon-acquiringsalesforce-
com/#852cc275d3b3
Lönnqvist, A., & Pirttimäki, V. (2006). The
measurement of business intelligence.
Information systems management, 23(1), 32
Pulate, M. P., Deshpande, N. A., & Hirwani R. R.
(2015). Implementation of Dice coefficient to
identify target for IP asset licensing.
International Journal of Intellectual Property
Management, 8(3-4), 135-146.
Rouach, D., & Santi, P. (2001). Competitive
Intelligence Adds Value: Five Intelligence
Attitudes. European management journal,
(5), 552-559.
Shih, M. J., Liu, D. R., & Hsu M. L. (2010).
Discovering competitive intelligence by
mining changes in patent trends. Expert
Systems with Applications, 37(4), 2882-2890.
Shuja, J., Madani, S. A., Bilal, K., Hayat, K.,
Khan, S. U., & Sarwar S. 2012. Energyefficient
data centers. Computing, 94(12), 973-
Solberg Søilen, K (2010). Boosting innovation and
knowledge through delocalization: market
intelligence at trade shows. Problems and
Perspectives in Management, 8(3), 200-207
Uddin, M., & Rahman A. A. (2010). Server
consolidation: An approach to make data
centers energy efficient and green. arXiv
preprint arXiv:1010.5037.
UK Intellectual Property Office (2014). Eight
Great Technologies: The Internet of Things - A
patent overview. Available online on URL:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/syste
m/uploads/attachment_data/file/343879/infor
matics-internet.pdf
Viviers, W., Saayman, A. & Muller, M.L. (2005).
Enhancing a competitive intelligence culture
in South Africa. International Journal of
Social Economics 32(7): 576-589
Walker, T. D. (1994). The literature of
competitive intelligence. Library trends, 43(2),
-284.
Weinberger, M. (2015). The cloud wars explained:
Why nobody can catch up with Amazon.
http://www.businessinsider.in/The-cloudwars-
explained-Why-nobody-can-catch-upwith-
Amazon/articleshow/49706488.cms
WIPO (2016). International Patent Classification
(IPC) version 2016. Available online on URL:
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/classifi
cations/ipc/en/guide/guide_ipc.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
