How will investing in sustainable IT cut your costs in the long term?

Adopting sustainable IT practices is good for the environment, reduces IT cost, improves performance, and supports your ESG credibility.

In brief

• How can green practices support IT cost reduction and performance?
• What sustainable IT practices are the most relevant for my organization?

In the wake of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), and in a context of global economic uncertainty, organizations recognize the need to get up to speed in terms of ESG reporting and compliance (CSRD, EPR, Plastic Taxes, etc.). A key enabler of these aspects is Technology. But what about the sustainability of Tech itself? Amid the need for control over IT costs, organizations can struggle to develop tech strategies that support ESG from every angle. Untapped approach to achieving this objective is not a halt in the sustainability transformation journey, but on the contrary an accelerated adoption of sustainable IT practices.

Sustainable IT, often referred to as “green IT”, alludes to the optimized and strategic use of computers, software, servers and related components to manage energy and production cost efficiently while reducing environmental impact. While these principles are not new in the domain of IT architecture, the sense of urgency triggered by the ESG agenda gives further arguments for organizations and IT department to adopt optimized practices that benefit them in terms of efficiency, cost and environmental impact.

But where to start? And which sustainable IT practices should you adopt for the most impact?

Real-world benefits of virtualization

Sustainable IT begins with server consolidation through the use of virtualization. This method allows companies to run multiple virtual systems on a single server, reducing the need for physical hardware, lowering energy consumption and reducing costs significantly. The associated reduction in physical space also brings in savings from operational expenses including power, cooling and maintenance.

Taking virtualization, a step further, moving workloads to cloud platforms also aids in reducing energy consumption and operating costs. With the pay-as-you-go model, businesses only pay for the capacity and infrastructure they require, allowing them to scale up or down on demand, which is resource and cost effective.