Technology consumption has a far greater impact on sustainability than many organisations realise. IT global emissions are almost equivalent to that of the aviation industry (730 million tonnes of CO2, compared to 800 million tonnes) yet its footprint rarely receives the same level of scrutiny.

At a time when Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) pressures are at their highest ever, now is the time to go further and address the impact of technology consumption on sustainability. The immediate barrier for many organisations is they simply don’t know how their hardware and software usage is impacting the environment.

This is where IT Asset Management (ITAM) comes in. ITAM is the first step in the tech optimisation journey, as it provides much-needed visibility into the consumption of IT hardware and software – and how it’s impacting the environment. As an example, for one SCC customer, ITAM revealed it had 4,000 unknown devices that had been lost due to a lack of internal governance and process. With this level of insight, organisations can optimise usage, eliminate waste and duplication, and enable better decision-making around energy-efficient asset utilisation.

Pioneering sustainable IT with GreenOps and ITAM

GreenOps is an emerging practice that focuses on optimising the environmental impact of an organisation’s technology infrastructure. It combines sustainability principles with IT operations to reduce carbon footprint, improve energy efficiency, cut unnecessary costs and promote responsible resource consumption.

When paired with ITAM, GreenOps enables the implementation of best practice initiatives designed to make every part of an organisation’s technology infrastructure more efficient and sustainable, while simultaneously ensuring security is maintained and productivity improved.

Why are organisations struggling with sustainability?

Technical debt and legacy infrastructure

Older technology tends to be less efficient, and therefore uses more power and generates more carbon emissions. The need to upgrade for sustainability reasons is often overruled by the cost implications of bringing in new technology.

Lack of visibility and reporting

Not knowing the precise carbon footprint and energy consumption of IT resources is an increasingly pressing issue, as greenhouse gas emissions reporting is becoming a legal requirement in more countries and jurisdictions. Many organisations find that they unknowingly have a range of duplicated kit that drives up both costs and emissions.

Meeting employee and public demands

Organisations that aren’t demonstrating a full and meaningful commitment to sustainability face potential scrutiny by employees, regulators, industry influencers and the public at large.

Lack of in-house resources

Managing sustainability initiatives in-house can be a large, time-consuming exercise, and requires resources beyond the reach of most organisations without obtaining third-party support.

Embedding GreenOps into your IT Asset Management strategy

We believe that GreenOps and a strong ITAM solution go hand-in-hand. GreenOps practices ensure that an organisation is consuming precisely what it needs. It strikes a balance between sustainability, cost, process and compliance by providing metrics on energy usage and carbon emissions, enabling accurate reporting for ESG disclosures, and setting and tracking sustainability goals.

This is supported by the ITAM solution, which enables the complete picture of your IT landscape and how tech is used, across several different areas:

01

Hardware Asset Management (HAM)

Establishing the quantity, quality and variety of devices within your IT estate, from smartphones to servers, and identifying opportunities to replace and recycle assets that aren’t required. Combined with the SCC Recyclea model for extending equipment lifespan, you can reduce the energy and emissions impact of your hardware, and reduce your plastic and chip consumption at the same time.

02

Software Asset Management (SAM)

Obsolete and duplicate software is not only a waste of money, but also a waste of energy if running in the background when not required by the organisation. Pinpointing opportunities to rationalise the software estate through internal licence audits, process re-engineering, and SAM systems and programs can balance organisation productivity with energy efficiency.

03

Cloud FinOps

Moving away from on-premise servers towards Cloud FinOps can ensure that your IT and cloud needs are effectively managed. FinOps practices like resource right-sizing, storage optimisation, removing idle resources, and scheduling compute downtime are also utilised in GreenOps to reduce carbon emissions. The convergence of FinOps and GreenOps offers a crucial framework for organisations to achieve cost-efficiency and environmental sustainability.

04

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Behind the scenes, understanding the resources needed to power applications is key to identifying areas for change and improvement, and simultaneously driving transformation across cost, productivity and sustainability. SaaS involves delivering applications over the internet, enabling access to data from web-connected devices and eliminating the need for software installations on individual devices or networks. These solutions can provide organisations with ways of managing and diminishing their environmental impact by enabling activity monitoring, procedural optimisation and physical waste reduction.

How SCC can help

SCC can put your IT Asset Management journey on the right track, starting with an assessment and report of your current IT estate to find gaps and opportunities for the more efficient and sustainable deployment of assets. Our large, UK-based team of experienced ITAM experts can give you a fresh perspective on your asset usage, in the context of GreenOps and your ESG objectives, and provide a fully comprehensive solution to get you where you need to be.

Better IT Asset Management for a greener organisation

Gain better visibility of IT assets

Understanding the usage and energy consumption of hardware and software enables better decision-making around balancing productivity and sustainability.

Meet net-zero and ESG targets

Go beyond tick-box sustainability exercises by adopting a more sustainable approach to IT, and meet not only the legal requirements around eco-friendly operations but also the expectations of the workforce and public.

Reduce waste and drive efficiency

Use services like SCC Recyclea to maximise the lifespan of existing IT equipment, and responsibly dispose of obsolete devices, to minimise the environmental impact of buying and deploying new tech.

Cut costs and emissions simultaneously

Right-size IT and organisational needs through the GreenOps approach, and maximise efficiency across both costs and sustainability, without one compromising the other.

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Stronger sustainability starts with IT Asset Management

Now is the time to accelerate your journey towards net-zero, through the fully-optimised consumption of technology.

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