Blog updated on 17th August 2022 by Paul Barns
Businesses are realising that migration to the cloud is offering them greater flexibility and scalability whilst reducing their costs. Not only does cloud have clear benefits for the workplace and business processes, but it is also environmentally friendly.
So how exactly can cloud computing reap positive environmental benefits for your organisation? Let's get to the bottom of this important question.
On-site servers need to be constantly powered by electricity. In fact, a single server can use between 500 to 1,200 watts of electricity per hour. Cloud computing provides an opportunity to dramatically reduces these figures. Cloud computing data centres offer reduced energy consumption due to economies of scale, in addition to the fact that these data centres are carefully managed and continuously optimised to make sure they use energy as efficiently as possible. This not only brings down costs, but also reduces their carbon footprint. To put it simply, cloud computing can save your company on energy costs as well as tackling the wider issue: carbon emissions.
Many cloud data centres are now being powered by renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal, which are far more environmentally friendly than fossil fuel power, emitting few or no greenhouse gases. The importance of moving to such sustainable energy sources is key, as coal power is the single biggest contributor to climate change.
Cloud computing cuts the amount of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) produced from data centres. A survey conducted by Accenture recently revealed that cloud computing has a substantial effect on carbon emissions; companies can lessen their per-user carbon footprint by between 30% and 90% by switching to cloud computing. Measuring and reducing carbon emissions is not an easy task for any business but switching to a cloud ecosystem is a great start.
Cloud-based systems offer improved collaboration, including the immediate sharing of digital documents, or parts of them, on any device, anywhere in the world. Dematerialisation is defined as the replacement of high-carbon physical products with new, virtual equivalents. By shifting to a cloud-based system your business will rely less on hardware, physical machines, and paper and consequently you will use less energy and you will reduce your environmental impact. In turn, and on a more positive note, environmental sustainability leads to improved profits from increased efficiencies, reduced costs, and improved sales.
Storing your important data in-house requires on-premise servers, however if you have a cloud provider you can have fewer machines and less hardware, which translates into lower cooling and space requirements for your operation. This important aspect of the cloud is one of the most overlooked, multifaceted advantages of working within a cloud ecosystem, helping to reduce your costs and become more operationally efficient and profitable.
We believe that our customers should have access to world class cloud solutions that are intuitive, scalable and secure.
We empower customers through the use of Cloud technologies to automate processes, connect ecosystems, analyse performance, and improve future outcomes.
If you would like to find out more about LAKE, please register for one our webinars, or call me now on 0113 273 7788.
by Paul Barns
Blog Contributor
