Widespread cloud adoption was a major step forward for digital transformation. But as businesses have come to rely on these technologies, energy consumption and, therefore, carbon emissions have dramatically increased. Beyond the standard best practices for individuals, like unsubscribing from unnecessary newsletters or regularly emptying your computer’s trash, solutions that facilitate greener IT at the company level are critical.
To mark this year’s Digital Clean Up Day, which aims to spread awareness of digital technology’s environmental footprint, Virgile Delécolle, green IT and FinOps evangelist at OpenText, discusses the state of sustainability in business today. Protecting the environment is more than just a societal cause. It must concern everyone, including businesses. Taking environmental action offers many benefits beyond simply the primary goal of driving down emissions. It can bring cost reduction through more efficient resource use, or risk mitigation and compliance with new regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Other benefits are more discreet, such as boosting innovation through the eco-design of new products or forging more efficient processes with an “IT for Green” approach.
But while environmental action has many benefits, it is still all too rare in companies. OpenText’s recent “State of IT Sustainability Report 2023” study reveals that 97% of companies have adopted, or plan to adopt, sustainable development initiatives, but just 42% are now beginning their actions, and only 51% have software to monitor their IT carbon footprint. Additionally, 46% of respondents are struggling with a lack of expertise, highlighting the need for sustainable IT training and skills development.
For companies today, it is vital to build awareness among their teams and have a “showback” approach, like that of FinOps, to help share the responsibility of green initiatives. AI is a major stakeholder in growing electricity consumption, so should be used responsibly to help reduce carbon emissions. Businesses can use AI to make recommendations for resource use based on operational data and carbon emissions, facilitate infrastructure maintenance using predictive analytics, or rationalise supply chain operations. While some use cases are already operational, others are yet to be built.
The excessive energy expenditure and greenhouse gas emissions that have come hand in hand with technological innovation have undoubtedly had a negative impact on our environment. But now is time to reverse this trend and use technologies responsibly for greener businesses and a protected planet.
