The footprint of IT has reached the same levels today as the global CO2 emissions of global air traffic. Furthermore, various studies show that in the coming years the digital revolution entails the energy consumption produced from IT being multiplied with an increase from todays 2% of the world’s CO2 emissions to a minimum of 8% in 2030.
Therefore, it is imperative to focus on CO2 emissions from IT.
In 2017, a leading international IT expert carried out a study on the use of IT servers. One of the conclusions was that about one-quarter of the servers ”were ’zombies’ sucking up power without doing useful work”. In addition to using electricity, servers often cause unnecessary software costs. SMT Data’s experience has proved that these figures apply to most companies.
But with the right focus, companies can actually reduce both the CO2 emission and at the same time reduce the costs of IT capacity by about 25% thereby freeing resources to be used for growth oriented activities.
The reason for the significant IT footprint is that we use numerous solutions demanding increased computer capacity interlinked through software. As a result, the underlying data centers are booming proportionally. Digitalization, AI, Machine Learning, Data Science are areas catalyzing the development.
This fantastic ”disruptive” technological development opens up new business opportunities and consequently growth. But the development also means that IT consumption is growing at an unprecedented rate. Therefore, the increased IT use also leads to the growing energy consumption, heat emission, as well as consumption of space and materials that can only be partially recycled.
Danish companies alone can annually reduce costs for IT capacity by more than a billion DKK and save the world the environmental effect.
UN’s Global Goals to ensure that everyone has access to sustainable energy can to a certain extend meet the environmental challenges. But this it not the same as saying that you should not focus on the savings potential in order to both reduce the CO2 emissions and at the same time improve the bottom line. A fact that the recently concluded Danish Climate Act makes even more vital.
The environmental impact of IT is an executive responsibility on an equal footing with all other areas to ensure that the goals of the Climate Act are achieved.
At SMT Data, we help companies find where their IT capacity, both on mainframe and servers, is in excess of their needs. With the support of our effective tool, ITBI, and the expert knowledge of our world-class consultants, we support IT departments in pointing out optimization and rightsizing opportunities that reduce consumption and cost without negatively affecting performance. This ongoing exercise is not only good for the economic health of the companies but also a must for the health of our planet.
To hear more about how to improve your IT sustainability by reducing unnecessary capacity-related consumption, contact us here.
