Due to the fast-paced technological development we have grown used to in IT, we have lived for some time in a disposable environment where equipment is quickly outdated and replaced in a bid to improve customer experience or outcomes. However, at some point, most of us have looked at a stack of equipment destined to be disposed of and thought of the cost. It is only a small jump to consider the cost to the environment as well.
IT Leader Strategies for Sustainability
A sustainable company is one which recognizes its corporate responsibility to lessen the harm it does to the environment and reduce its draw on global resources. Customers, employees and investors are increasingly looking to all companies to answer the call to action by developing their own sustainability measures, especially in the IT sphere.
A Wall Street Journal article reported that many CIOs are focused on sustainability initiatives now that the relationship between digitization and carbon-based emissions is more apparent.
In addition to the recycling of endpoint devices and the other examples listed above, these leaders’ wide-ranging efforts often include:
- Improving data center efficiency
- Reducing electricity consumption
- Adopting technologies developed for energy optimization and waste reduction
- Increasing reliance on sustainable hardware certification programs
Managing a global technology environment brings significant challenges. With insights gained through IT asset management software, you can aid sustainability initiatives and assist those who still need to transition to a cloud computing model. Spending money on servers that are sitting and consuming power whilst being unproductive is not in the interests of business or the environment. By ensuring full visibility of the technology environment, wasted resources can be identified and eliminated.
Relocating as much as possible to the cloud (due to the greener credentials of the cloud providers vs. legacy data centers), leaves processing tasks to larger, more efficient providers. It also allows companies to run only the number of machines that they need at any one time, depending on the design. Utilizing auto-scaling technology efficiently allows a business to decrease their carbon footprint significantly and save cost.
Sustainability Certification and TCO Certified
To help ensure that we are holding ourselves to the highest standards in our hardware decisions, we partner with TCO Certified, the world-leading third-party sustainability certification for IT products which is independent from the IT industry and buyers. Snow products make use of the data that TCO Certified produces and incorporates that into the intelligence that our customers have about their technology environment, allowing them to make better decisions.
Companies wishing to extend their corporate social responsibility beyond their own consumption can use hardware asset management tools. These tools identify “end of life” assets so companies can consider how they can best utilize those assets to meet development goals, lessen waste, and reduce the global requirement for raw materials. Donating their IT assets (after giving due regard to data removal) to charitable organizations which give individuals and communities access to basic services helps both the environment and a demographic in need.
Waste of resources, be they physical, environmental or financial, is becoming indefensible in the modern business climate. While it is certainly a challenge to find innovative ways to improve our consumption and impact on the environment, it is one that those who are in leadership roles in IT should take seriously.
