The number of large-scale data centers is increasing by 14% annually, and public cloud spending will rise by 17% between 2020-2022. Some analysts estimate that 11.4% of the United States’ IT spending is dedicated to the cloud, with China at 2.7% and catching up rapidly. This double-digit growth comes with a price. Global data center electricity consumption is nearly equivalent to the annual consumption of the country of Spain.
However, pursuing a green approach can reduce global carbon (CO2) emissions by 59 million tons of CO2 per year. This represents a 5.9% reduction in total IT emissions and equates to taking 22 million cars off the road. This magnitude of reduction can go a long way in meeting climate change commitments, particularly for data-intensive businesses.
Hence, going green in energy usage is a welcoming trend for businesses. As a significant energy consumer, the cloud industry has always been held accountable. Sustainability is not just an obligation but a necessity to ensure that the future stays stable and clean.
Today, major IT companies have taken note of this and are switching the majority of their data centers onto renewable energy sources. Amazon, Google, and Facebook are just a few companies that have made great efforts to be environmentally friendly and set ecological company goals.
Companies working with a cloud provider that is carbon neutral or uses an enterprise-grade software service that has been designed from the ground up to have a low impact on resources are worth considering as a part of the sustainability movement.
Future of Business Will Depend on Sustainability
The most recent UNGC-Accenture Strategy CEO Study indicates that more than 99% of CEOs of significant corporations now concur that sustainability concerns are critical for their future success. Two-thirds believe that the industry 4.0 technology will hasten the socio-economic transformation. In their operations, 59% of CEOs claim to use low-carbon and renewable energy, and 44% predict that their company will be net-zero in ten years.
Hiring a carbon-conscious provider is the first step in a sustainable cloud-first journey. Different corporate sustainability pledges made by cloud providers influence how they plan, develop, power, run, and shut down their data centers. Even though many providers have concentrated on bringing down energy consumption to industry standards, carbon emissions can vary amongst providers. Diverse business expenditures in renewable energy production, the reuse and recycling of data center technology, and advanced analytics for better asset management all result in differences.
Additionally, cloud platforms that provide transparent real-time reporting of linked carbon emissions can be used to compare sustainability targets with actual performance.
Factors to Consider While Choosing a Green Cloud Service
- The corporate objectives of the provider are to be carbon negative or neutral.
- The electricity source, the percentage of renewable energy, and the cloud provider’s encouragement of the development of new renewable generation sources as opposed to the purchase of carbon offsets.
- Passion and commitment to the energy-efficient underlying infrastructure, including a network and optimized servers, smart architecture, and cutting-edge cooling.
- Customer-facing services can assist businesses in tracking their cloud footprint, such as carbon calculators or detailed cloud lifecycle emissions reporting.
The choices businesses make today about their cloud migration will directly impact the advantages they can realize for their profitability and the environment. Making intelligent decisions will lead to unparalleled levels of innovation. The possible result is a greener balance sheet and a better planet. India has a high potential to be a pioneer in the green cloud industry. It may emerge as the go-to destination for ethical and sustainable cloud infrastructure. This might thus hasten the digital transformation of Indian organizations and ignite a wave of innovation for cloud-based sustainability solutions in India.
By Vikas Bhonsle, CEO, Crayon Software Experts India
