Sustainable software & IT asset management: environmentally conscious approaches
In light of advancing development of new technologies, increasing awareness throughout society and the establishment of far reaching legal regulations, the focus on the topic of sustainability is growing for companies.
The IT sector is taking on an increasingly important role as part of a holistic sustainability strategy. According to a study by Lancaster University in 2020, the information and communication technologies sector was responsible for up to 3.9% of greenhouse gases, which is roughly equivalent to the entire aviation industry, with a forecast of steady and strong growth. The carbon footprint of IT with all its data centers is enormous and is continuously increasing due to the growing use of the cloud and artificial intelligence.
The importance of sustainability in IT is constantly increasing
Sustainability is more than just a trend in society. Legal regulations are increasingly being created that also have an impact on IT. For example, the Supply Chain Act (LKSG), which was introduced in January 2024, regulates the handling of human rights and environmental protection in global supply chains for companies with more than 1,000 employees. This represents an important milestone in anchoring sustainability concepts in companies in the long term.
The LKSG requires disclosure and assurance of compliance with the regulations across the entire global supply chain by 2026 at the latest. In order to implement this, transparency across supply chains and the collection of this data is essential. Software and IT asset management are therefore crucial to creating transparency and providing valuable information for IT compliance.
Software and IT asset management supports companies' sustainability management
However, sustainability comprises three pillars that must be treated equally within a sustainability strategy: Ecological, economic and social sustainability. All of these factors must also be taken into account as part of the sustainable management of IT and daily operations in order to meet the needs of today without jeopardizing future requirements.
Software and IT asset management (SAM & ITAM) can help to create transparency about IT assets (both software and hardware), services, consumption, costs and environmental impact to identify cost benefits and reduce business and compliance risks in the long term. This means that all three pillars of sustainability can be considered.
In this context, KPIs can be used to track the sustainability goals of the company and IT, which are determined with the help of software and IT asset management data. For example, the emissions of devices and software used as well as cloud usage are continuously evaluated to reduce emissions in the long term and optimize costs at the same time. In this context, the utilization of servers and licenses can be checked to ensure that neither budget nor unnecessary electricity is wasted. The integration of sustainable concepts in IT purchasing is crucial to integrate and to monitor the requirements of the sustainability strategy into existing processes. This should ensure, for example, that adjustments are made to cloud usage at short notice to realize savings as quickly as possible.
Sustainability is associated with a variety of challenges and opportunities for SAM & ITAM
Constantly changing regulations, which are implemented in different ways in different countries, represent a major challenge for companies. In addition, there is little experience of best practices to date. The high complexity of companies' infrastructure and the large number of services and IT assets used make these tasks even more difficult. Given the increasing dependence on providers and the high level of uncertainty, a reliable database is the foundation for the sustainable development of software and IT asset management.
Collaboration with other areas and targeted change management are therefore the basis for determining all relevant data from the stakeholders involved and jointly ensuring the effective and efficient use of resources in the future. It is important to involve your own employees as well as partners at customers and service providers at an early stage and to familiarize them with the changes in order to ensure successful, timely implementation and to avoid frustration or uncertainty among stakeholders.
Companies have a competitive advantage if they implement legal regulations at an early stage and ensure transparency regarding supply chains and their emissions. This not only saves more costs and emissions, but the company's reputation also benefits from early implementation. In addition, ensuring compliance with the LKSG regulations is crucial for cooperation with certain companies and industries, as they may already have to or want to demonstrate compliance in their supply chain. Not only must cost monitoring be ensured as part of economic sustainability, but social and ecological factors must also be taken into account. This concerns the working conditions of all those involved along the entire supply chain at a global level, but also the environmental conditions of the preliminary and intermediate products. Reporting and reliable data are crucial for the strategic selection of software products, suitable service providers and suppliers to ensure socially and environmentally compatible IT decisions.
Author: Jessica Loi Müller