In today’s modern society, the need to incorporate sustainability into our lives is something of urgency. Businesses across the globe are rapidly innovating and adapting to ‘greener’ systems so that they do their bit to protect the environment. Amazon, Google, and Facebook are just a few sustainable businesses that have made great efforts to be environmentally friendly and set goals that help reach carbon-neutral ambitions.
Whilst there are different ways to combat climate change and become a sustainable organisation, you probably won’t think that switching from a physical IT system to a cloud-based solution is one of them. With the other benefits that cloud computing presents to businesses, upgrading to a private, public or hybrid cloud can also be good for the environment too.
We’ve created this sustainability guide to cloud computing so that you can understand whether this IT system is hurting the environment or benefitting it.
Is cloud computing a green technology?
Whilst not all cloud-based technologies are powered using renewable energy, they are a far better alternative to a local data centre (these can still use fossil fuels) making them the greenest and cleanest way to operate your server and IT systems.
As there are fewer cloud data centres than local servers, this already makes it a more sustainable and eco-friendly way to operate your IT systems and along with cloud computing’s other benefits, now is the best time to combat climate change and upgrade your business to a cloud-based system.
How can cloud computing be beneficial to the environment?
Cloud providers such as Microsoft are constantly innovating on ways to not only make their service more secure and flexible, but they also look for ways to power their data centres using renewable energy. Keeping at the forefront of technological advancements is what the cloud does best and with this, it also reduces your carbon footprint compared to a local system.
Reduction in electricity usage
Traditional data hardware systems require significant maintenance and upkeep by engineers – combine this with uninterruptible power supplies, and cooling fans and this equals a lot of electricity being used. Businesses that are simply looking to move basic software such as their emails, can experience a reduction of up to 87% in energy consumption.
Reduces greenhouse emissions
Cloud computing cuts the amount of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) produced from data centres compared to traditional local servers. One study surveying the customers of Salesforce, a fast-growing cloud computing organisation in the USA, suggested carbon emission reductions of 95% were experienced compared to companies with servers on their premises.
Measuring and reducing carbon emissions is not an easy task for any business, but switching to a cloud-based computing ecosystem is a great way to combat climate change and reduce environmental impact.
Increased utilisation rate
Businesses that still use their own private data centres find it difficult to scale their IT systems in accordance with their demand, leading engineers to purchase extra equipment in anticipation of a spike or drop in usage creating a sub-optimal utilisation rate. Switching to a cloud service gives organisations the flexibility to scale their operations up or down dependent on demand, leading to high utilisation and increased efficiency.
Why is cloud computing sustainable? – Summary
Combating climate change is one of the globe’s highest priorities and businesses can contribute to this effort in a number of ways – upgrading their IT systems is one of them. Cloud sustainability helps organisations lower their carbon footprint and this will not only benefit the environment, but it will also be a far better system to use than a local data centre.
If your company requires a sustainable IT system to be implemented, Westlake IT’s team of cloud engineers professionally manage projects from Initiation, through Planning and Execution.
To find out how your business can make the green switch to the cloud, speak to one of our experts.
