The environmental impact of moving to cloud computing

Cloud computing is quickly becoming one of the most important advancements for modern business, the benefits can’t be overstated. 

One of the most significant benefits of cloud computing is its positive environmental impact on your business. With the ever-looming threat of climate emergency and a massive push for companies to go green, cloud computing seems to be a major way for companies to begin pushing the envelope in this regard. We believe that the environmental impact of technology cannot be ignored and that any way to reduce this effect is a positive thing for your company and the world at large.  That’s why in this article, we’re going to look at the environmental benefits of cloud computing, and how your company can get started with cloud computing today. 

Making a positive difference - the growing importance of Corporate, Social Responsibility (CSR) 

As companies become more socially responsible, CSR is becoming a key factor in how those companies are run. Large or small, organisations are finding that it’s key to both increasing their reputation and attracting both new customers and employees — nurturing growth.  

Sabine Heine-Bickle, Kyocera Group UK’s Head of Governance and Standards and sustainability lead shares:  “In support of our company philosophy of “Doing the right thing as a human being” and helped by our ISO1400 certified environmental management system, we are committed to helping to address the climate emergency both via our own commitment to be carbon neutral, but also helping our customers to achieve this goal through their supply chain, whether it’s via our carbon neutral managed print service or working with our strategic partners such as Microsoft to be able to offer our customers more environmentally friendly computing through sustainable cloud services."

Kyocera's CSR commitment

• Corporate: Our business model is to make a concerted effort to operate in ways that enhance rather than degrade society and the environment. 
• Social: The impact of our company on the people around us and the people within it (employees). 
• Responsibility: Environmental, Ethical, Philanthropic, Sustainability, and financial responsible. 
  

How Cloud Computing Can Reduce Your Environmental Impact 

Higher Utilisation Rate 

Cloud Computing significantly increases utilisation rates, due to higher productivity and workflow. This is great, as higher utilisation means more energy saved — saving costs and lessening the environmental impact of your energy consumption. Furthermore, a higher utilisation rate also means that you’re spending less time running physical hardware as you’re able to log out of a virtual instance when finished — whereas usually, on-prem hardware will need to be constantly run and maintained to be effective for your whole institution. 

Enable Remote Work

Remote working has taken the world by storm and has single-handedly dropped carbon emissions by 15%. By allowing your employees to work remotely, there is a corresponding decrease in emissions - passenger cars being one of the lead polluters on EU roads. 

Remote work also means that you don’t have hardware running on-site, this saves emissions as computer hardware uses significant amounts of energy. Slashing those emissions can significantly help your company’s carbon footprint. 

Improve Efficiency

Cloud computing is incredibly efficient, for example moving to Microsoft Azure can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 98%. Their push for sustainable data centers has become apparent. 

Microsoft states that the Microsoft cloud is between 22 and 93 per cent more energy efficient than traditional enterprise data centres. For any company with an on-prem infrastructure, that’s a huge shift towards becoming more environmentally sustainable as a company. 

Powered By Renewable Energy 

Microsoft has committed to Azure running on 100% renewable energy by 2025. Whilst a large undertaking, this is already far better than most on-prem solutions, which run on mains electricity for most organisations. 

Furthermore, Microsoft not only fuels Azure with renewable energy but also has partnered with solar farms in Virginia to propel the green revolution into full force, creating jobs and growth in the green industry. Not only does this help with your environmental commitments to green usage, but also means that any money put into Azure is investing in green initiatives and the growth of sustainability. 

Cost-Effective Energy Innovations

Microsoft not only wants to help lead the green revolution but also innovate their technology to the next level of sustainability. By using Azure as a cloud-based solution, this innovation is at your disposal. 

Azure provides a wealth of tools to be able to run your business on your terms, and that doesn’t end with sustainability. With water-cooled AI options and a switch from diesel to a less-carbon-intensive backup generator fuel, Microsoft continues to push the envelope to allow your business to become as sustainable as possible.

Become Environmentally Equipped with Microsoft Azure 

Environmental awareness and CSR are becoming increasingly important in our modern, environmentally conscious world. Cloud-based computing is one of the best ways you can reduce your company’s environmental impact. 

By investing in a cloud-based solution, you both reduce costs and reduce carbon emissions — both of which contribute to your company’s overall growth and profitability. Doing better for the planet is a wonderful way for your company to increase its reputation in the public eye. 

Are you ready to improve your company’s environmental impact and help your organisation grow and prosper?