Sustainable Solutions, a suite of IT solutions and services that help organisations accelerate their sustainability strategy and manage their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was launched today by global IT solutions and services provider, Dimension Data. The company, which last year ranked among the frontrunners in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for the third consecutive year, said its solutions are focused on the reduction of travel, energy and waste.
Colin Curtis, Dimension Data’s Director of Sustainability says, “Business leaders are looking to technology to help them reduce costs and address stakeholder and corporate governance requirements. “They recognise the need to better plan, implement, monitor and report on their IT operations. As a result, they are calling on their suppliers and vendors to provide information on their sustainability strategies and carbon management, proving that they’re not only aware, but also taking action.”
While the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry is a significant contributor to the world’s CO2 emissions, Curtis believes it also has the potential to cut GHG by up to five times the size of the industry’s own GHG inventory, reducing GHG emissions in general business by 15% by 2020*.
“Sustainable ICT strategies should be treated as an extension of existing ICT best practice to minimise energy usage, reduce travel and decrease waste,” says Curtis and adds that although Dimension Data is not a manufacturer of goods, the group recognises that it has a business responsibility to do all it can to improve its sustainability posture.
“Sustainability is not simply about the environment: it’s about cost reduction, increased productivity, supply chain optimisation, and improved business opportunity, and it’s high on not only our own environmental agenda, but those of our clients and other external stakeholder groups.
Numerous governments have initiated programmes that incentivise IT organisations to hit targets. In addition, investors want to understand whether the impact of the environment adds risk to their investments, while NGOs and the media focus heavily on how ‘green’ companies are performing,” explains Curtis.
Dimension Data’s Sustainable Solutions provide services to help organisations across the following areas:
- Travel reduction: Our Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) solutions reduce travel by overcoming the restrictions of geography. Collaborative tools allow dispersed teams to work together effectively, while visual communications make face-to-face meetings successful without the need for expensive, time consuming journeys. IP telephony and Contact Centre solutions allow mobile workers and agents to be productive, irrespective of their location.
- Energy efficiency: Our Virtualisation solutions allow more computing to be carried out using less hardware, resulting in substantial energy savings in data centres and on the desktop. Traditionally disparate building systems can now work together effectively to significantly reduce energy by leveraging the intelligence of the IP network as the platform, itself designed with highly energy efficient and secure capabilities.
- Waste management: Improving the efficiency of the procurement process through our e-Procurement solutions not only reduces waste, but also ensures that projects can be up and running more swiftly and with greater control and visibility. Our e-Waste Services simplify the complexity and cost of disposing of redundant equipment, ensuring that electronic waste is eliminated in a secure, ethical and environmentally friendly manner.
* The Climate Group on behalf of the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI)
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