You know the oft-touted savings and scalability benefits of using cloud-based infrastructure and applications. But did you know cloud technologies can boost your organization’s sustainability initiatives?
Consider these statistics from IDC’s 2024 InfoBrief on Energy and Carbon Efficiency Benefits of Public Cloud Computing over Enterprise Datacenters, which show that cloud computing is:
- About five times more carbon efficient in 2023 than enterprise data centers and will be seven times more efficient by 2027
- Helping to lower carbon emissions, removing the equivalent of 21 million cars from the road in 2027 alone
- Expected to result in 34-37 percent less embodied carbon annually
Using cloud technology effectively drives sustainability in your operations by boosting energy efficiency, virtualizing processes, scaling without additional hardware, minimizing e-waste and enabling remote work. Let’s explore how you can leverage cloud’s green benefits in more detail.
5 Green Benefits of Cloud Technology
Migrating from on-premises to cloud-based computing, or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), can dramatically reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions through cloud-driven cooling, power, hardware and utilization efficiencies. Here’s how cloud technology supports sustainability:
- Energy Efficiency—Cloud-based technology reduces the energy consumed and emissions generated by your company’s technology use. Cloud service providers also leverage advanced cooling systems and power management techniques to help drive greater energy efficiency. Plus, you can ditch underutilized dedicated infrastructure and even share infrastructure with other subscribers for greater utilization and efficiency.
- Virtualization—When deploying cloud computing, your company leverages virtualization technology to consolidate multiple physical servers into virtual machines running on a single physical server. In turn, this lowers the amount of energy needed to power and cool those servers.
- Scalability—Cloud infrastructure and applications untether your business from physical hardware and are delivered on a subscription basis, enabling your business to scale resources up or down quickly and easily based on demand. As a result, you’re no longer overprovisioning and wasting resources, which helps reduce your company’s environmental impact.
- Reduced E-waste—Cloud services minimize on-premises IT infrastructure, supplanting the need for ongoing equipment replacement and disposal as technology becomes obsolete or your business needs change. As a result, using cloud solutions reduces the amount of electronic waste (e-waste) your company produces, shrinking the volume of toxic compounds released into the air and groundwater, such as lead, cadmium and beryllium.
Cloud computing also helps reduce high-tech trash, like phones, laptops and other devices, which can quickly reach end-of-life as technology evolves. Desktop as a Service (DaaS), for example, enables any device to access user desktops and applications via the cloud, so you don’t have to replace user devices to support new functions. - Remote & Hybrid Work—Cloud-based applications enable your team to work and collaborate remotely from home. By reducing the need for commuting and travel, cloud technology helps your company lower carbon emissions associated with transportation and decrease the environmental impact of business travel.
What To Look for in a Green Cloud Service Provider
Not all cloud service providers and green initiatives are created the same. Each has unique characteristics to consider. Look for cloud service providers that embrace sustainability in the following areas:
- Renewable Energy—Using wind, solar and water to power data centers reduces reliance on fossil fuels and decreases greenhouse gas emissions.
- Resource Optimization—Advanced monitoring and management tools can optimize the use of resources such as energy, water and materials to eliminate waste and reduce environmental impact.
- Green Computing—Deploying energy-efficient hardware and optimizing software to reduce resource usage are essential green computing practices.
- Reusing & Recycling—Reusing or repurposing retired hardware, deploying recycled hardware and designing products for reuse and recycling support “circular economy” principles.
Cox Business Cloud Is Your Gateway to Green
Cox Business, powered by RapidScale, offers your business a comprehensive suite of cloud solutions tailored to your business needs while lowering your environmental impact. Our cloud experts help you evaluate and select cloud infrastructure and applications to optimize resources, reduce environmental impact and demonstrate your commitment to social responsibility and sustainability.
