Microsoft recognizes the tough challenges that data center managers, industry operators, and IT businesses face today as they struggle to support their businesses in the face of budget cuts and uncertainty about the future. It’s natural that environmental sustainability is taking a back seat in many companies at this time. But the fact is, being “lean and green” is good for both the business and the environment, and organizations that focus their attentions accordingly will see clear benefits. Reducing energy use and waste improves a company’s bottom line, and increasing the use of recycled materials is a proven way to demonstrate good corporate citizenship to your customers, employees, and the communities you do business in. 

1.  Provide incentives that support your primary goals

2.  Focus on effective resource utilization

3.  Use virtualization to improve server utilization and increase operational efficiency

4.  Drive quality up through compliance

5.  Embrace change management

6.  Invest in understanding your application workload and behavior

7.  Right-size your server platforms to meet your application requirements

8.  Evaluate and test servers for performance, power, and total cost of ownership

9.  Converge on as small a number of stock-keeping units (SKUs) as you can

10.  Take advantage of competitive bids from multiple manufacturers to foster innovation and reduce costs

The full article is here : http://www.globalfoundationservices.com/documents/MSFTTop10BusinessPracticesforESDataCentersApril09.pdf