Schneider Electric released three independent research studies to better understand the maturity of sustainability initiatives within IT and data center organizations, and more specifically, where the IT and data center industry stand in achieving this vision of net zero IT operations. The results of the studies, conducted by leading industry analysts, were previewed at a press meet hosted by the company in New Delhi, and exposed a sustainability action gap.
451 Research, Forrester and Canalys independently collected data from more than 3,000 global participants, include the largest colocation and cloud providers, IT solution providers and IT professionals across many segments and organization sizes. Overall, findings consistently demonstrated that across the data center and IT industry, there is a discrepancy between where companies think they are and in implementing full life cycle sustainability programs across their IT infrastructure. According to the 451 Research findings, in surveying 1,100 IT professionals responsible for core and distributed IT, where 26% of participants self-identified as having a full lifecycle sustainability program covering all the infrastructure, only 14% are undertaking actions to have implemented the programs. The analysis further identifies 22% as not addressing sustainability as a major focus, though they may have efficiency initiatives to improve specific areas of operation. This showcases that while many companies are formulating their sustainability strategy and deciding on investment priorities, action plans are not always being implemented.
Sachin Bhalla, Vice President and Country General Manager, Secure Power Division, India and SAARC said, “At Schneider Electric, our steadfast commitment in powering efficiency and integrating sustainability with innovation directs our approach towards creating future-forward solutions to transform businesses. Aligned with this vision, we are determined to bring our combined expertise in IT and sustainability to define the future of green technology. Today, there is an urgent need to integrate sustainability and resiliency in data centers and edge IT to achieve the nation’s sustainability commitments and goals. We hope that with this endeavour, we can continue laying the groundwork for forthcoming research initiatives that will help usher in smart and sustainable data center solutions for the future.”
According to IDC, the global edge computing market is facing massive growth, growing at 12.5% annually to an estimated $250.6 billion in 2024. Data centers play a critical role in driving Electricity 4.0 which is the key to changing the trajectory of climate change. As an industry, it is a collective responsibility to drive forward our environmental commitments with extreme urgency. To avoid a grave energy challenge, all data centers –including distributed edge data centers –must be more sustainable, efficient, adaptive, and resilient.
The research findings showcases that the industry is cognizant of how sustainability needs to be prioritized, but challenges still exist in taking action and this will take a collaborative effort to overcome. The good news is that the technology to act in sustainability exists today. In addition to releasing these research studies, Schneider Electric announced a new mySchneider IT Partner Program designed to help data center and IT professionals make progress towards their sustainability goals.
