Becoming a digital-first business is now imperative, but this is happening in an environment where sustainability is increasingly essential. At first glance, these two objectives appear to conflict. On the one hand, digitalisation requires the freedom to adopt energy-hungry solutions and new technologies, such as GenAI, that may further increase energy use. On the other hand, organisations are pushing towards decarbonisation.

However, organisations can reconcile these objectives by adopting a strategy that centres around embedding sustainability by design across the IT domain. New IDC research sheds valuable insight on how to achieve this. If organisations get it right, this route delivers the freedom to adopt digital technologies such as connected IoT, 5G, edge computing, cloud-based solutions and AI - but in carbon-conscious ways.

An essential part of this means that IT teams must also enable the broader organisation to deploy connectivity, security and software solutions to achieve sustainability goals. Their capabilities in data management and data flows, as well as in designing networks, are fundamental to noticeable achievements. These capabilities can include optimising energy use in buildings and their fleets or integrating ESG reporting capabilities.

The first issue is getting key stakeholders to buy into the concept of digitalisation in a sustainable context. This takes more than agreement from the C-suite; it often requires broad shifts in approach and winning over hearts and minds. 

However, the second – and even more critical - issue is that procurement teams lack accurate information on prospective ICT solutions' precise carbon impacts or suppliers’ true capabilities to support the organisation’s carbon reduction ambitions. The absence of reliable data to measure, monitor, and optimise energy and carbon across networks, data centres and endpoint devices is holding them back.

Increasingly, organisations are turning to solutions that can measure, monitor and report on carbon emissions in formats that meet disclosure requirements and help drive action. 

The use of tools to measure, monitor and report carbon emissions is growing. Broader research by IDC revealed that 53% of companies are using carbon management software to cut emissions across their IT networks, data centres and endpoint devices.

Measuring and monitoring Scope 3 emissions is particularly important because reducing these emissions will significantly impact an organisation’s carbon footprint. IDC’s research shows that, on average, Scope 3 emissions account for over 70% of an organisation’s total carbon footprint, yet only 16% of companies measure them.

This non-measurement is often due to the complexity of this measurement operation. Scope 3 emissions include all carbon generated by the organisation’s wider supply chain, both upstream and downstream, regardless of which IT vendor or partner generates them. However, these emissions are largely beyond the organisation’s immediate control, and where emissions information is available, it’s laborious to collect and collate the data from each supplier.

Organisations want to measure their carbon emissions comprehensively and are looking for low-effort, straightforward ways to do this. They want simple, robust, and transparent ways to demonstrate their carbon reduction achievements because they understand the importance of proving their compliance with regulations and environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities. 

Unfortunately, the tools to achieve this are few and far between.