Embracing Sustainability: Using IT Strategy to Further Environmental Goals

Embracing Sustainability: Using IT Strategy to Further Environmental Goals

In recent years, the adoption of positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices has gained traction among business leaders here in Canada. There are several reasons for this trend. Firstly, ESG practices ensure that businesses contribute positively to society and the global community, which is unquestionably beneficial. Secondly, there is a growing demand for ESG initiatives from customers. Additionally, a significant majority, 65% of investors, now consider a commitment to ESG practices a crucial factor in their investment decisions. In essence, businesses that neglect to embrace ESG principles risk alienating the customers and investors essential for long-term, sustainable growth.

Despite this, many businesses still struggle to incorporate ESG goals into their IT operations. Some fail to recognize the substantial environmental impact of their data centers, hardware procurement, and overall IT operations. Nevertheless, integrating sustainable IT practices is imperative for any business striving to achieve its ESG objectives. The encouraging news is that numerous strategies are available to accomplish this. To delve deeper, here are three specific approaches that businesses can adopt to promote IT sustainability as part of their broader ESG initiatives.

Sustainable Hardware Sourcing

While it may not be immediately apparent, a business’s IT hardware constitutes a substantial portion of its overall IT carbon footprint. This encompasses not only the electricity consumption of the hardware but also its sourcing and extends throughout its lifecycle, including decommissioning. Consequently, businesses must assess their IT hardware procurement practices and seek opportunities to embed sustainability into them.

One of the most effective approaches is through a concept known as circular procurement. This encompasses a comprehensive design and lifecycle philosophy for IT hardware. It starts during the design phase, where hardware companies strive to minimize waste in their product designs and maximize the use of recycled materials in production. Additionally, they prioritize the use of recyclable materials to facilitate the reintegration of decommissioned hardware into the production cycle.

Businesses can further enhance the sustainability of their IT hardware procurement by selecting hardware that meets any or all of the following sustainability criteria:

• Modularity
• Upgradability
• Repairability
• Recycled or recyclable
• Refurbished

The concept is to depend on IT hardware with an extended lifecycle achieved through upgradability and repairability. Additionally, it is crucial for this hardware to have an alternative disposal method other than ending up in a landfill once it reaches the end of its useful life.

At the conclusion of the hardware lifecycle, businesses should explore sustainable disposal options. Whenever feasible, they should collaborate with technology donation programs that repurpose serviceable IT hardware, making it available to those in need. In cases where this is not feasible or practical, partnering with a reputable e-waste disposal company is essential. These companies can recycle as much of the hardware as possible.

Streamlining Compute Workloads

Another method through which businesses can adopt IT sustainability involves optimizing computing workloads and restructuring their computing topology for maximal efficiency. This endeavor commences with a thorough assessment of both on-premises and cloud server workloads. The objective is to pinpoint any redundant computing tasks and underutilized physical server hardware. Subsequently, the business should eliminate the former and consolidate workloads from the latter.

Businesses can initiate this process by focusing on their cloud operations. All major cloud providers offer integrated workload optimization tools, simplifying the process. For on-premises operations, utilizing monitoring tools over a representative period is a solid starting point. Additionally, upgrading outdated server hardware to newer and more efficient models is advisable. Fine-tuning server configurations for optimal energy efficiency should also be part of the effort. The outcome should entail fewer servers and cloud resources accomplishing the same tasks, resulting in significant energy savings.

Following this, businesses should conduct a comprehensive review of the major software packages they utilize to identify more efficient alternatives. Ideally, they should prioritize software packages that provide ratings according to the latest Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) specifications. For sizable legacy applications, businesses can calculate their own SCI scores. The goal is to phase out any inefficient software solutions, particularly on the server side, to reduce energy demand across the business’s IT infrastructure.

Embracing GreenOps Standards

Finally, businesses should embrace the principles of GreenOps to enhance their IT sustainability. Broadly, this entails adopting an operating model that prioritizes minimizing the carbon footprint of all cloud operations, rather than prioritizing bottom-line costs as the most important cloud metric. It is an environmentally focused version of FinOps that incorporates many of the same efficiency concepts but evaluates them based on their environmental impact.

Fortunately, the major cloud operators already enable business users to determine their cloud carbon footprints with reasonable accuracy. Microsoft’s Azure and Microsoft365 platforms, for example, offer an emissions impact dashboard, allowing business users to measure their cloud carbon footprint on the platforms. Amazon’s AWS provides a similar tool called the Customer Carbon Footprint Tool , offering comparable functionality. Additionally, there is an open-source tool called Cloud Carbon Footprint that businesses can utilize to track their carbon footprint across multiple public cloud services.

The goal of the cloud carbon footprint analysis is to achieve two outcomes. First, the business should adjust its cloud usage and provider selection to minimize its total carbon footprint. Second, the business should devise a plan for the ongoing purchase of carbon offsets to cover as much of what remains as is financially practical. This approach can help the business move closer to achieving net-zero IT operations, which is the overarching goal of any comprehensive IT sustainability initiative.

Your IT Sustainability Partner

Indeed, IT sustainability initiatives are significant endeavors, demanding meticulous planning, analysis, and a considerable amount of workload reorganization and workflow redesign. Fortunately, the IT experts at Outsource IT are prepared to assist. We specialize in managed cloud services and can help customers integrate GreenOps concepts while still fulfilling their computing requirements. Additionally, we offer full-cycle procurement services , simplifying the adoption of a circular procurement strategy for any business.

To discover more about how Outsource IT can bolster your business’s IT sustainability and ESG goals, contact one of our knowledgeable account managers today.

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