Four Essential CIO Building Blocks for More Sustainable IT

As technology trends and business models evolve, the sustainability challenge won’t get any simpler. Because of this, enterprises must integrate sustainability efforts into their digital transitions in order to maintain alignment with the business, their most important partner.

The development of sustainable IT has become a strategic focus for the majority of companies, with some CIOs incorporating it directly into agendas for digital transformation, frequently at the urging of CEOs and boards of directors.

The implementation of sustainability measures involves IT in a significant way. Many CIOs are concentrating on lowering the costs of managing those systems when they approach end-of-life and reducing generations of electronic trash, such as servers, PCs, and other equipment used to support organizations. According to a recent study Dell Technologies and Forrester Consulting commissioned, 64% of decision-makers surveyed think sustainability is important when making IT procurement decisions for their company.

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The most creative CIOs are already taking action, and a new strategy is beginning to take shape. Technology leaders at purpose-driven businesses can create more sustainable business processes by taking the next few measures.

Choose a capable sustainability leader

Although it’s unlikely that the IT department is leading the sustainability strategy, it has probably been involved in working with the sustainability organization. However, IT needs to make sustainability a key capability, which calls for appointing a leader familiar with the complex nexus between sustainability and technology. The ideal leader will act as a liaison between the business and IT, sharing the latter’s vision for how IT can support the execution of corporate sustainability while also enlisting the support of the former.

Integrate human and machine intelligence

CIOs using Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can find new solutions for long-standing issues. Predictive intelligence, for instance, may foretell the effects of various decisions so that users can deliberate about their choices.

These new features give CIOs additional power. Unstructured documents, flat files, and even manual reports frequently conceal crucial data. Ingestion, extraction, and classification of data are all expedited by AI. In addition, it facilitates behavior modification by offering timely and considerate nudges, many of which we have mastered through digital commerce. A human-in-the-loop strategy yields the best outcomes when it comes to machine intelligence.

Create an enterprise framework that focuses on sustainability

Leading businesses have a clear plan for reducing their carbon emissions, together with enterprise-wide thresholds. And they are promoting this objective across the entire company; both procedures are essential for triggering the transformation. In order to define the aim, the CIO must coordinate a number of activities, many of which come from highly siloed and fragmented business sectors. The CIO can develop a shared goal, give the program a company-wide perspective, and make sure that the sustainability goals are relevant to the company’s industry and line of business.

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Consider employing an as-a-Service mode

The majority of CIOs in medium- to large-sized enterprises work in extremely complicated environments. In a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy, they probably have hundreds or thousands of software containers and apps operating. So the question is, how can firms make their strategy more sustainable?

The first thing that companies should do is optimize their on-site infrastructure. Additionally, they shouldn’t set up and utilize more infrastructure than is necessary. As a result of optimization, the data center’s equipment uses less energy.

For on-premises investments, organizations can also use subscription-based and as-a-Service models. Some of them may even feature a single management console that enables enterprises to manage infrastructure on-demand over public and private clouds, colocation facilities, and the edge – everything while maintaining data security to ensure compliance and governance.

Businesses can right-size their environments by employing an as-a-Service approach, putting more emphasis on results than on managing infrastructure. It has the ability to lower energy use and e-waste production and is a more environmentally friendly way to run businesses.

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