More than two years ago, Computing first reported that firms in the City of London and Docklands were facing serious power supply problems that could restrict their IT expansion plans (see www.computing.co.uk/2150433).

“Canary Wharf doesn’t have enough power,” said one financial services IT director at the time.

Now, with more firms such as investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort looking to move datacentres to out-of-town locations, the power crunch in major urban areas is increasingly real.

You may be fed up with hearing about energy efficiency, oil prices and the environment ­ but the confluence of these issues can no longer be ignored by IT leaders.

Electricity costs, supply restrictions and green regulations are boardroom problems, and you know where the chief executive will turn for answers. Nobody will benefit from ignoring the issue until it is forced on you.

 Technology has driven much of the developed world’s economic gains of the past 20 years ­ but global macro-economics are biting back, and IT is central to both the problem and the solution.