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- Companies are increasingly incorporating technology into their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
- A cloud operating model can play an important role in a company’s sustainability efforts.
- For example, it allows you to choose where to run IT from, such as sites with limited environmental impact.
Over the past few years, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have become a top priority in the corporate world. These changes are led by consumers and stakeholders supporting organizations that act on their values and do better for the world. In fact, a report by KPMG shows that 58% of CEOs say that their investors, regulators, and customers demand increased reporting and more transparency on their ESG goals.
Under increasing pressure to report on the actions they take to and decrease their impact on climate change and other environmental topics, business leaders are turning to technology; the KPMG report shows 75% of them say their digital and ESG investments are inextricably linked.
So is cloud technology.
A cloud offers not only the agility and speed that moves you into the express lane of the digital transformation journey, but it can also help meet your sustainability goals.
“A cloud operating model enables organizations to be more green,” said Adam Glick, senior director of portfolio marketing for APEX Cloud Services at Dell Technologies. “It gives you more control. You can choose where and how you want to run your IT operations, selecting sites with limited environmental impact and choosing to purchase renewable electricity.”
And beyond managing the IT assets in a cloud efficiently and responsibly, you can also use a cloud to get better business insights, helping you reach those sustainability (and financial) goals even faster.
Choosing a ‘green’ cloud
A number of years ago, as cloud computing was in its infancy, many worried that the new massive data centers constructed around the world would dramatically increase pollution and electricity demand.
But a recent study found that while these data centers’ computing output increased six times, their energy consumption rose by only 6%. The reason: These data centers were constructed with the latest sustainable technology in mind and are the most energy-efficient in the world.
Choosing to build and run a green cloud allows a company to reduce its carbon footprint, Glick said, adding that one area of focus should be embracing “green power from the start and choosing the right locations for where your data will be.”
Reduce, reuse, recycle your old data warehouse
Site and electricity choice are important, but so is how the equipment in a data center is managed throughout its lifecycle. Some cloud technology, like Dell Technologies APEX, helps companies transition to a cloud and retire their old infrastructure sustainably.
“We are focused on responsibly managing the lifecycle of technology, which includes refurbishing and reusing equipment that hasn’t reached the end of its life and recycling what has, really minimizing the creation of electronic waste,” Glick said. “It’s part of Dell Technologies’ effort to have a lower impact on the environment and make it a better world for all of us.”
To that end, in March 2021, Dell Technologies became one of the founding members of the Circular Electronics Partnership, which aims to maximize the value of electronic components, products, and materials through their full lifecycles, using safe and fair labor and depending exclusively on circular resources.
As part of this initiative and in line with its own sustainability goals, the company is also committing to recycle or reuse one piece of equipment for every product sold by 2030.
Dell Technologies collects used electronics from its clients to refurbish and reuse all of them, meaning your old data servers and other e-waste can get a new lease on life after you migrate to the cloud. In 2021, over 27 million pounds of sustainable (recycled and renewable) materials were used in new Dell Technologies products.
Better, greener insights
Reusing or recycling old technology and equipment is only one step toward achieving sustainability goals. Like with all business insights today, data is key here too.
Investing in a cloud experience can help you make data-driven decisions that will further improve your sustainability benchmarks in real time. The Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing is a proven solution enabling organizations to monitor energy consumption, water use, or materials’ waste. When coupled with cloud technology, this data — regardless of its volume, source, or type — can be ingested and analyzed automatically.
In manufacturing, for example, various artificial intelligence techniques use the IoT data to design and produce better products faster. Predictive and prescriptive analytics running in the cloud help to leverage sustainable production methods and react to changes in real time.
“It’s the same whether you want to create a greener IT department, a greener company, or you want to drive profitability more, and greater efficiency,” Glick said. “Data’s always the best way to be able to look at your goals and objectively see if you are achieving what you intended.”
Fighting climate change together
Global leaders regularly gather to address the climate crisis, setting goals and looking for joint solutions. This includes both governments and business leaders, whose investors and customers are demanding they transform organizations into sustainable ones.
It’s often said that every little step counts and brings about a bigger change. Building a sustainable cloud experience is one such step — not just for your company itself, but for its end users too.
“We are shifting to a cloud-based model that’s using more sustainable pieces,” Glick said. “Every user that’s checking their email, everyone that’s using their remote desktop, every backend data processing system, every online ordering system, every sales’ tracking system — all of those things benefit and every user — without having to do anything, is now helping create a cleaner, more sustainable world.”
Switching to a cloud experience can fast-track your ESG goals because when an IT department switches to a greener, more sustainable cloud technology, the whole company benefits. A manufacturing plant installs IoT devices and leverages cloud-based data tools to improve its utilities consumption and minimize waste, and it expands its production and can reach its environmental goals faster. And when a company switches from storing and analyzing its data in legacy infrastructure to a modern cloud, it chooses a greener solution and sustainable growth for many years to come.
This post was created by Insider Studios with Dell Technologies APEX.
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