Sustainability is becoming a key topic in strategic boardroom discussions, with recent research showing it’s a major factor in decision-making for 86% of multinational corporations globally. This raises an important question: How can CTOs and CIOs contribute meaningfully to this conversation and ensure they remain integral to these discussions?

Sustainability often reveals a significant gap in objectives between IT and other C-suite functions. Traditionally, IT teams focus on building organisational capabilities, ensuring applications run smoothly, and resolving issues as they arise. This has often led to increased data usage, energy consumption, and energy costs, with minimal emphasis on sustainability. While these efforts are crucial for operational efficiency, they have yet to fully integrate sustainability values. It’s time to rethink how IT can contribute more effectively to environmental goals.

IT teams must have a proactive role in sustainability discussions in the boardroom. The sharp increase in global energy costs is driving cost-reduction initiatives across all departments, affecting their budgets. This trend could limit IT’s ability to invest in new technologies and applications.

As GenAI grows, the demand for more capacity and computing power will rise, leading to greater energy consumption and higher carbon emissions. This further distances IT from sustainability goals. Additionally, as sustainability teams gain more influence, they might implement measures like internal carbon taxes, which could have a significant impact on IT budgets.

IT teams need to find an effective route into joining the sustainability drive with practical tools to manage the energy use and carbon emissions of IT without compromising their ability to evolve their organisations.

Perhaps the most obvious way to improve sustainability is to tackle the ‘always-on’ culture in IT. If, like in many retail operations, lights and applications were powered down when not in use, IT would be able to cut energy use and deliver meaningful reductions in carbon emissions.

To achieve this, the IT function would need to find a simple way to measure the current energy use of IT, to form a baseline. Then, they could add Internet of Things (IoT) functionality to connect cameras to access points to identify when there are no people in an area. By bringing together insights from the baseline with real-time usage data from the cameras, IT teams could apply AI-based decision-making to optimise energy use, cost savings, and carbon consumption.

Wrapping this functionality into one easy-to-manage tool would make scaling optimisation up across multiple sites simple, straightforward, and cost-effective. And, importantly, it would give the CIO and CTO a valuable way into boardroom conversations about sustainability.

Our new network energy management tool, the Smart Energy Optimiser, integrates smart cameras with V-App, a Cisco technology partner, to help manage the energy use of the BT network and gain savings. Effectively, the cameras decide when to turn off switch ports to save energy. As an indication, when we ran a test at one of our offices, applying policies to two access points, we realised energy and cost savings of 30%*.

It’s simple to control the energy usage of switches, wireless access points, and other devices by creating custom rules without having to write code. A straightforward dashboard gives you easy access to real-time monitoring and device status information. It also tracks data on saved energy, carbon emissions, and energy costs, and highlights monthly trends.

We leverage our deep expertise in networks to craft a robust technology ecosystem, tailored to deliver high-quality solutions that meet your needs. As one of a select few elite Cisco global partners, we collaborate closely to provide managed solutions that enhance the sustainability of your IT infrastructure.

Our commitment extends globally. We manage clients across 180 countries and six continents, integrating sustainability into every innovation, alongside our own efforts to meet rigorous sustainability goals.

To find out more about our new network energy management tool, speak to your BT account manager or read our Step towards net zero with IT optimisation whitepaper.