Sustainable IT - Capgemini

1 Sustainable ITWhy it s time for a Green revolution for your organization s IT 2 Sustainable IT | Why it s time for a Green revolution for your organization s IT IntroductionAs organizations around the world look to balance their growth objectives with the need to build Sustainable businesses, it is important to ensure that balance extend to the use of technology as well. While tech solutions can help solve environmental issues, IT as a whole, has a significant carbon footprint itself. For instance, data centers represented nearly 1% of the world s energy demand in And the digital acceleration that we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic will further increase the enterprise IT carbon tech industry is urgently addressing this critical issue.

2 For example, Microsoft is experimenting with approaches that help reduce the energy requirements of data centers. Microsoft s Project Natick, for instance, aims at testing the performance and energy efficiency of underwater data But this focus on Sustainable IT does not seem to be important for most organizations. We found, for instance, that 89% of organizations recycle less than 10% of their IT hardware. This research focuses on how to make enterprise IT itself more Sustainable (it does not, therefore, look in detail at how smart systems can be used to develop innovative sustainability solutions).

3 To investigate this critical issue, we surveyed 1,000 organizations with annual revenues in excess of USD1 billion to understand their outlook when it comes to Sustainable IT. We also interviewed senior IT executives, sustainability professionals, as well as senior executives from core functions such as human resources, finance, and marketing. In this research, we address the following questions:1. What is the impact of enterprise IT on the environment and how is it growing?2. To what extent are organizations aware of the environmental impact of IT?3. Are organizations prioritizing Sustainable IT? 4.

4 What are the benefits of implementing Sustainable IT initiatives and what are the key use cases that organizations should focus on?5. What is the roadmap for organizations to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable IT initiatives?3 Executive summary Enterprise IT contributes significantly to the world s carbon footprint In 2019, million tons of e-waste were generated worldwide an increase of 21% in five 89% of organizations recycle less than 10% of their IT despite significant growth in the carbon footprint of IT, Sustainable IT is not a priority for most adoption and deployment of solutions is undermined by a lack of tools and expertise Globally, only 43% of executives say they are aware of their organization s IT footprint.

5 50% of firms say they have an enterprise-wide sustainability strategy, but only 18% have a comprehensive Sustainable IT strategy with well-defined goals and target timelines. 49% say a major challenge, when it comes to implementing Sustainable IT initiatives, is the lack of tools or standards/ratings to evaluate the carbon footprint of IT 53% say they do not have the required expertise for Sustainable IT a result, organizations are missing out on a significant performance opportunity Only 6% of the organizations in our survey can be classified as highly mature when it comes to Sustainable IT 61% of those highly mature companies have improved their ESG (environmental, social and governance)

6 Score and brand image 56% have improved customer satisfaction. A three-stage roadmap is key to driving progress and seizing the Sustainable IT prize1. Set the foundations with a qualitative and quantitative diagnostic assessment and a Sustainable IT strategy that aligns with the organizational sustainability strategy2. Create a robust governance approach with a dedicated Sustainable IT team and support from the top leadership team3. Operationalize Sustainable IT initiatives, with sustainability a key pillar of software IT | Why it s time for a Green revolution for your organization s IT Defining Sustainable ITSustainable IT is an umbrella term that describes an environment-focused approach to the design, use, and disposal of computer hardware and software applications and the design of accompanying business processes.

7 The term also extends to activities such as responsible mining of rare metals used to develop IT hardware, water conservation, and the application of circular economy principles across the technology lifecycle. Our research spans all areas of enterprise IT, including user hardware and devices, networks and communication systems, applications and data, and cloud computing (see Figure 1). We look at key aspects of Sustainable IT in each of these areas including the application of ecodesign principles and the design of Sustainable IT architectures. We also focus on organizational reporting related to environmental disclosures and the governance of Sustainable IT computingApplications and dataNetworks and User hardwareand devicescommunication systemsSustainableITSource: Capgemini Research 1: Sustainable IT applying an environment-focused approach across the enterprise IT landscapeEnvironmental disclosure and policyGovernance1.

8 Establish public disclosure and sustainability reporting for IT operations2. Establish green policies for IT hardware and services procurement1. Procuring hardware and user devices with minimum lifecycle carbon cost2. Improving employee awareness of device utilization and sustainability3. Proper disposal, recycling and refurbishment of hardware4. Utilizing energy certified and auto-off hardware5. Prolong the lifespan of devices1. Deploy edge computing to reduce network transfers2. Use efficient data transfer mechanisms1. Adopt enterprise cloud solutions2. Switch to a green cloud architecture and framework3.

9 Use AI/ML to optimize data center utilization and improve cooling solutions4. Utilize or shift to public cloud utilizing low carbon grids1. Ecodesign applications to minimize resource utilization2. Develop Sustainable architectures to rationalize applications, and identify and decouple energy-intensive applications3. Streamline data architecture and optimize the data lifecycle4. Design efficient and Sustainable AI applications1. Assess the environmental impact of technologies and computing hardware2. Establish and follow lifecycle carbon footprint accounting for all hardware3. Mandate environmental disclosure for IT vendors 4.

10 Advocate circular economy principles for vendors 3. Establish carbon cost of IT operations4. Develop change management programs and user awareness campaigns5. Ensure participation of senior technology executives in the organization s sustainability governance5 The rising demand for computing power and data storage poses a significant environmental challenge. The number of connected devices is expected to reach billion by 2025, of which 75% will be connected to an IoT The data generated by connected IoT devices is expected to grow fourfold, from zettabytes in 2019 to zettabytes by The storage and processing of this data will in turn lead to increased demand for data centers.