There’s a lot of greenwashing today where companies claim to offer the most environmentally friendly products and services, but how much of it is true? For example, cloud service providers always talk about how switching to the cloud is an eco-conscious decision that business owners can make, but does it really make all that much of a difference? Read on and let’s find out.
1. Cloud computing DOES reduce energy consumption
The first point of order is energy consumption. On-site servers need to be constantly powered by electricity and depending on your needs, this can amount to a lot of wattage per hour. However, recent research carried out by Northwestern University, found that switching your traditional software applications to the cloud can cut your energy use by up to 87%.
2. The best cloud data centers embrace renewable energy
While you might argue that switching to the cloud may cut your energy usage while simultaneously palming it off onto someone else, thus having the same impact, only elsewhere, you will be pleased to learn that most cloud data centers are powered by renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, geothermal, and wind).
So yes, you are allowing someone else to take care of the power usage, but it will be coming from a far more sustainable source.
3. Paperless, dematerialisation
Dematerialization is defined as the replacement of high-carbon physical hardware with innovative virtual equivalents. One great example is sharing digital documents rather than relying on paper products.
In fact, by switching to the cloud, you can cut your in-house paper use almost entirely. Just think of all that money saved on printed cartridges (and indeed, all that time saved on not having to wait for the printer to be fixed).
When your business relies less on physical machines, you will invariably use less energy and thus reduce your environmental impact significantly. More profit, greater efficiency, reduced costs. Win-win-win.
4. A more efficient allocation of resources
The bigger you grow the more data you will store and thus the greater your in-house requirements for on-premise servers will become. However, by switching to the cloud you can employ fewer machines and less hardware in your establishment, which ultimately equates to lower cooling and spatial requirements for your business to function. You will notice a reduction in costs and you will invariably become far more operationally efficient (a significant—yet overlooked—advantage).
5. Cloud computing lowers greenhouse gas emissions
Just as you will be reducing your energy consumption, switching to cloud-based solutions will significantly reduce your per-user carbon footprint as well. When your data is being powered off-site by reputable Australian cloud providers who make renewable energy a priority, your environmental impact will be lessened. Not bad, eh?
Conclusion
So, in conclusion, cloud-based computing is indeed an environmentally friendly option (not to mention the many other benefits that managed cloud services offer). Every little thing that you can do to reduce your impact on the environment goes a long way.
Not convinced your company can make much of an impact by transitioning to the cloud? Take this African proverb away with you: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.”
