For the past year or so, the economic news has been pretty dire all across the country. The economic storm that began with hurricane-like activity in the form of the housing market collapse and credit crisis was followed by a serious drought of consumer spending and unemployment that dragged on with no end insight.

When we started Open Road to Savings, we wanted to create a portal where businesses could find the savings secrets, tips and stories to help them tighten their budgets. Using these tools and tips helped our readers navigate the treacherous terrain created by the economic storm while ensuring they were in a position of strength when it blew over.

But now, for the first time in months, the outlook is something besides dark clouds. In fact, it’s looking at least mostly-sunny. Although unemployment rates are still high in many areas of the country, the economy is showing signs of improvement.

After months of sharing some truly sensational savings secrets, the economic upswing is making the path more manageable and the Open Road less of an unknown. So, after almost 300 posts, the road is closed to travelers…for now.

In the meantime please visit these other sites for resources on creating better business efficiencies with greater performance and lower cost:

Business IQ Blog on BusinessWeek.com

Small Business Section of WSJ.com

Small Business Trends Blog

Sun’s Place for Midsize Companies

GreenBiz.com

Sun.com

Remember, economic downturns aren’t the only time to you should be thinking of how to make your company run more effectively and efficiently. Continue to follow the direction the Open Road has pointed you in all the time and the next economic storm will seem like nothing but a passing shower.

Thank you for reading…

The Staff of the Open Road to Savings

Historically, datacenters were built like bank vaults. They were practically airtight, controlled environments that were difficult to access for both people and outside air. However, this is rapidly changing.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, in 2006, datacenters accounted for 1.5% of the nation’s energy usage. That number is higher than the state of Massachusetts’ and expected to double over the next five years.

Since servers and other datacenter hardware generate copious amounts of heat, datacenters need to be kept cool constantly. The amount of energy needed to cool these enormous datacenters to under 80 degrees accounts for nearly a quarter of the total energy used to power the datacenter.

In an effort to cut down on their energy bills, companies like Google and Yahoo are turning to an old friend, Mother Nature. In a new trend that’s influencing how and where datacenters are being built, new forms of renewable and inexpensive power are being embraced, and outside air is being used to cut cooling costs.

Yahoo recently opened a new datacenter in Buffalo, NY. By installing fans and vents that bring in the chilly upstate NY air, Yahoo is capable of cooling their datacenter without expending serious amounts of energy.

Also, Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems, as well as virtualization company VMWare, have built datacenters near sources of hydroelectric power. Hydroelectric power is not only renewable, but cheaper as well.

It looks like Mother Nature truly DOES know best.

The servers currently sitting in most datacenters are running on Xeon processors made by Intel. The problem with these processors is that they’re powerful. Too powerful, in fact. For most basic tasks, the Xeon processors in servers are just overkill.

Unfortunately, these high powered processors can be energy hogs. When you couple that with the fact that many of them pack processing power that isn’t necessarily needed, they essentially come with energy inefficiency built right in.

Luckily, some server companies have begun offering tuned-down versions of these processors to help save and conserve energy, but there’s some folks taking it just a few steps further.

According to a recent New York Times article, two new startups, California-based SeaMicro and Texas-based Smooth-Stone, are thinking outside the box and using cellphone processors to power servers. These processors pack some serious power since they’re relied upon to run some increasingly complicated mobile apps. They also are energy efficient since they need to run on battery power alone.

SeaMicro is working on a server utilizing Intel’s Atom chip, which currently runs netbooks and other mobile computing devices. Smooth-Stone is banking on ARM architecture chips from companies like Samsung and Qualcomm, which run phones like the iPhone.

These new servers may not be capable for editing a movie or running the most advanced programs, but they’ll hold their own for the basics and just may save some power and money for its users.

Now that’s some small, creative thinking!

Most of us have memories of parents who were obsessed with battling high energy bills. Whether is was a father who turned off the hot water when your shower exceeded the allotted twenty-minute mark, or a mother who turned down the heat at night in the dead of winter because, “that’s why you have blankets,” we all know the lengths people will go to save some money at the end of the month on water, electric and other utilities.

Well, if the electric bills for an American family can have such a dramatic impact on the household finances, just imagine what electric bills can do to the success of a business.

The fact is, as datacenters gain in importance and technology continues to proliferate into all parts of a business, the energy needs of enterprises are steadily increasing, and so are the electric bills. In fact, most green initiatives and new trends in datacenter technology are geared towards making things more energy efficient. Yeah, it benefits the Earth, but it helps the wallet too.

Here at Open Road to Savings, we’ve long been an advocate of new datacenter technologies that cut energy usage, virtualization and green ways to power and cool your datacenter. However, we’ve also shared a lot of stories and tips on ways that companies can make a big difference through little changes that add up to significant savings over time.

Well, here’s another one.

Belkin, the manufacturer of networking solutions, accessories for mobile devices and energy conservation products, has just released their newest power strip, which they claim has serious savings built right in.

The Belkin Conserve Surge features a timer that powers off after 11 hours of use. Why? Well, many electronic devices continue to use significant amount of power even when they’re off. The timer eliminates this waste and saves money on electric bills. It also features two “always on” plugs that ensure no hard work is lost when a computer mysteriously powers itself off.

At $35 per unit, the power strip costs no more than a standard surge protector. According to metrics reported by ITBusinessEdge, the ROI for companies with 100 seats was $1,000 and the ROI for a company with 2,000 seats was $18,000 per year.

Now that’s something small that can bring big savings!

Whether it’s creative and fun ways to imbibe beverages or low-cost alternatives to expensive commercially-available products, there are very few people alive as innovative as American college students.

Unfortunately, the ability to take common, readily-available items and use them for unique and often unexpected purposes has created a serious and expensive problem for college campuses across the country.

The problem? The versatile design, relative durability and availability in large, easy-to-purloin quantities make the common cafeteria tray the perfect, free solution for students looking for flat writing surfaces or makeshift tools for sliding down snow or mud-covered hills. The use of cafeteria trays for the above purposes does, unfortunately, keep them from functioning as…well…trays.

In an attempt to eliminate the need to constantly replace missing trays, cut back on the amount of dirty dishes to wash, and reduce food waste, many colleges employing “all you can eat” meal plans for their students have begun to eliminate the brown-plastic icon from their cafeterias.

According to a recent article originally featured in the Los Angeles Times, food service companies servicing colleges estimate that 40-60% of their customers, including campuses like the University of Connecticut, Catholic University of America and Middlebury College, have made the horribly inconvenient decision to eliminate trays.

The schools claim that the decision is based on an environmentally-friendly desire to eliminate waste, but the numbers show a serious savings to the schools. In numbers reported by the Times, San Diego State University has seen food costs cut by $65,000 (2%), and the University of California, Santa Cruz has estimated $100,000 in annual savings.

The savings come from a reduction in the water used washing trays, the elimination of the cost to replace stolen trays and the decline in the amount of food being taken, eaten or wasted by students.

To those schools that have made a smart decision that is both environmentally and fiscally responsible, we salute you.

To the students complaining about the need to precariously carry their plates back to their tables, we say, “stop your whining.” In our day we had to hunt for our own food…in the snow…uphill. But at least we got to ride our trays back to our dorms…

The Motor City. Motown. Hockeytown. Detroit is a city with many names. Unfortunately, it’s also a city with many problems.

Having been home to the “Big Three” American automobile companies (Ford, GM and Chrysler), Detroit’s economy has been invariably tied to the peaks and troughs of the auto industry for as long as many can remember.

The automation of building cars by robot and the availability of cheaper labor in other countries has seen Detroit hemorrhage manufacturing jobs over the past decade, but the recent economic downturn has taken a more significant and rapid toll. According to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, as of July 2009, the unemployment rate for the city hit 28.9%.

With a lack of jobs and a high unemployment rate, Detroit is currently looking for ways to patch up its economy while also cutting its own costs. The city is approximately $300M in debt, and has a cash shortfall of $80M this year.

According to a recent Detroit Free-Press article, in an effort to cut costs and bring the city out of the red, Mayor Dave Bing is looking to make some strategic cuts and outsource all but the most important services. The CORE services of the city, such as police, fire and EMS, will continue to be run by the city, but other services that can be handled more effectively and efficiently by outside contractors may soon be up for bid by the private sector.

For example, the article references the Mistersky Power Station which produces power for the city at a cost of $212 per megawatt hour. That same power can be purchased from DTE Energy at $15 to $20 per megawatt hour.

What the city is looking to do hasn’t been popular with civil servants and labor unions, but it has some obvious potential for cost savings in the long run. In fact, the outsourcing of non-mission-critical tasks is a popular and effective cost cutting tool in the public sector. By identifying which tasks your company can outsource to third parties who can accomplish them better and cheaper, you can make a positive impact on your bottom line.

The ongoing recession and credit crunch has been horribly difficult on many companies. In fact, as we discussed in an earlier post, many companies that are seeing profits are doing so despite reduced sales and revenue and simply coasting along on cost cutting.

Reduced corporate and consumer spending is tough enough, but when your industry as a whole is seeing significantly reduced need for their product, it may just be time to hit the panic button. Luckily there’s no panic at Lexmark headquarters.

The printing company, which has seen declining sales and their stock price drop approximately 30% this year alone, has been outperformed annually by competitors like HP. What’s worse, they’re a part of a printing market that could very well be following the road of the dodo bird as Kindles, green initiatives and other technologies make the printed page a thing of the past.

Lexmark has taken it all in stride, however. In a recent article in Fortune, Jon Fortt discusses the ongoing plan to help Lexmark get back in the fight.

In addition to introducing a new product line, Lexmark has decided that it needs to break out of its comfort zone. They’re looking past the enterprises and other companies that were the mainstay of their client portfolio and are looking to reach new markets. The company is working to widen their customer base by creating products that are in demand in the SMB market.

The company is also taking the green trend in stride. They’ve began offering more managed services for helping customers get the most for their imaging dollar and reducing waste.

Lexmark is hoping that a little out of the box thinking with products and markets can help their company bring back business. Has your company tried expanding markets or product portfolios to weather the recession? If so, drop us a comment and let us know about it.

Having hit and eclipsed the 200 post mark, the Open Road to Savings staff is no savings spring chicken. We’ve talked about everything companies can do to save money, from data center cooling costs to employee healthcare expenses.

After months of savings tips and stories, we’ve found that some of the most effective and innovative savings secrets aren’t new, aren’t crazy and often involve using existing, under-utilized resources in interesting ways. And what resource is as under-utilized as your roof?

Often the under-appreciated surface used solely to keep rain out of your work environment, the roof is getting an image makeover. It’s no longer the lazy lay-about it once was and is now a hard-working bastion of cost savings and environmental friendliness.

Don’t believe us? Well, let’s take a look at the roofs owned by some very familiar brands, UPS and FedEx.

UPS recently replaced the roof on their 2.2 million square foot Morgan mail processing facility in midtown Manhattan. The roof on this historical landmark was originally built like a tank in 1933 and could support 200 lbs on each square foot. That’s one strong roof, and definitely strong enough to support some greenery. So that’s what UPS did.

The roof of the Morgan mail processing facility is now covered in a lush garden featuring native trees and plants that work to cool off the building and reduce pollution from water runoff. What does this urban jungle do for the company? First, it won’t need to be replaced for 50 years (that’s twice the longevity of traditional roofs), and it’s expected to save 30% on energy expenses by 2015.

Not to be outdone by their arch delivery nemesis, FedEx recently began a project to put the roof of their distribution hub in Woodbridge, NJ to work as well.

According to this article in Fleet Owner Magazine, the project is a “2.42 megawatt solar power system that will cover approximately 3.3 acres of rooftop space with approximately 12,400 solar panels.” If that doesn’t sound impressive, just listen to the end result, the solar panels are expected to provide 30% of the facility’s energy.

We hope this inspires you to stop giving that lazy old roof a free pass and put it to work. Not only could you help the environment, but you can line your pockets as well.

Want an easy and hassle-free way of saving your company some money? Get rid of your employees.

No, no, no…we don’t mean fire them all! Although it would save money, productivity would take a serious slide. What we meant was…send them home.

According to a Network World article The Commonwealth of Virginia has the right idea. On August 3, 2009, they’re encouraging government employees to work from home. Telework Day is a joint project by Telework!VA and Virginia government officials to help the environment and reduce costs.

By having their employees work away from the office, the government will save on the energy that would have been consumed, the supplies used and other operating expenses. Also, the employees’ productivity is also supposedly higher when they work from home.

Other positive, less cars on the road means less emissions. Also, less commuting means happy employees.

It’s a win, win, win.

When the economy turns south there’s a handful of budgets that are usually cut by companies. Advertising? Sorry. Marketing? You’re gonna have to tighten the belt. R&D? Research some new ways to make a living. Travel? Get out of here. Training? On your own dime buddy!

But training is necessary in the business world. The IT department needs to learn new programs and technologies. Employees want to know how to lead better, speak clearer and manage their time more effectively. This will all help your business in the long run.

But with travel budgets cut and money thin, how do you help advance your workforce without breaking your budget? Maybe have the training come to them.

According to a recent blog post written by the video teleconferencing folks at TANDBERG, the addition of video teleconference and telepresence technology could not only help your company operate more effectively and efficiently, but also allow employees to attend training events without having to travel.

New technologies make it simple to teach from afar. Crystal clear audio and video, coupled with the advanced abilities to share desktops and information make teaching via video teleconferencing just as natural as teaching in a classroom.

All that education at a fraction of the cost? TANDBERG’s technologies get a nice, shiny apple for that.

Click here for more information