Sustainability is no longer an option
As the urgency grows around the climate crisis, sustainability is no longer an option but an expectation, with every multinational organisation now expected to have a sustainability strategy in place. In fact:
86%
say sustainability is the top factor in decision-making
54%
say reducing emissions is now a top priority
3900+
companies have formal carbon reduction targets
81%
of consumers actively choose sustainable sellers
What’s driving network sustainability strategies?
We’ve found many drivers are pushing organisations to improve the energy efficiency of their networks, including:
Increased scrutiny of environmental claims
Since 2021, 42% of environmental claims were proven false by the European Commission – intensifying expectations for transparency.
Mounting consumer pressures
Today, 88% of consumers say they won’t purchase from companies that aren’t sustainable.
Growing Scope 3 accountability
There’s increasing scrutiny around Scope 3 emissions, with up to 95% of an organisations’ emissions coming indirectly from their supply or value chains.
Rising energy costs
On average, fuel prices increased by 50% in 2022 so optimising operations makes financial, as well as environmental, sense.
What’s holding organisations back?
Although organisations want to embrace greener networking, many are struggling to pinpoint inefficiencies and make meaningful sustainability improvements by themselves.
They’re often encountering significant barriers to achieving their sustainability goals:
40%
40% of global enterprises need more reliable solutions
39%
of organisations have a shortage of in-house skills
22%
of organisations lack consistent and measurable data
Three essential steps for long-term network sustainability
To overcome these challenges and accelerate their sustainability journey, organisations need to have proven solutions and methodologies in place for making external and internal improvements.
Based on our experience, we’ve found there are three essential steps to building long-term network sustainability:
1. Measuring baseline carbon emissions
Organisations need a holistic picture of their total power usage across apps, devices and workloads to create a baseline from which to start making informed strategic improvements.
2. Procuring energy efficient solutions
Organisations can then start to explore where they can invest in redesigning, upgrading or reconfiguring their IT and network infrastructure to optimise energy consumption.
3. Monitoring ongoing energy consumption
Regular monitoring and reporting will highlight patterns and inefficiencies across an organisation’s estate and enable them to manage and optimise their ongoing operational environmental footprint.
A comprehensive strategy for sustainable networking
In partnership with Cisco, our sustainable network refresh proposition is a proven methodology that can deliver results – helping you to build the network you need to get to net zero, as well as optimise overall performance.
Start building a more energy efficient network today
Wherever you are on your network maturity journey, we can help you to maximise the sustainability of your network infrastructure.
