Logicalis CEO: Sustainability efforts being accelerated

The Logicalis CEO is driving the firm’s sustainability efforts with a passion to improve not only its own position, but to support and encourage customers to also take further steps to save the planet.

The channel player has been open about setting ambitious carbon-reduction targets, and those efforts are continuing and being accelerated.

Earlier this week, researchers warned that there was a 66% chance that the the world would warm by 1.5C by 2027, much earlier than anticipated.

“It’s not just part of business as usual, it’s not just part of going forward – it’s becoming more and more urgent,” said Bob Bailkoski, CEO of Logicalis.

He has been leading the efforts to drive a focus on sustainability. Since MicroScope last checked in with him on the topic, the message is being spread even wider among its customer base.  

“I’m still really enthusiastic about the reception that we’ve had both internally and externally with the messages that we’ve been giving out. We’ve doubled down on our efforts to turn them into to life to make them a daily part of our activities in the Logicalis Group,” he said.

Internally, the firm has set up detailed plans for each part of the business to reduce carbon emissions over the next couple of years.

“We’ve had a detailed working session with all of my regional leaders and others in the organisation and they come back with their own plans to reduce Scope one and Scope two emissions by 2025 by as much as possible,” he said.

Some of the measures have involved moving offices to a position where they can use renewable energy for power, replacing company cars with electric vehicles and encouraging more sustainable travel options such as train travel.

The other area where the firm views itself playing an important role is externally, advising customers on the steps they can take to improve their own sustainability position.

The firm has launched its digital fabric scorecard, which helps identify areas where improvements could be made in customer businesses.

“As a managed services provider, we’re in a privileged position that we’ve got access to a ton of client data. Historically, managed service providers haven’t really taken advantage of the insights that data can bring,” said Bailkoski

“So, we’re now in a position where we can look at the environments that we’re monitoring for our customers, among other things, like standard metrics on availability of the devices that we’re monitoring for the customers.

“We can also now offer additional insights on how customers can improve the cost base of their environment, how they can improve the security of their environment, and how they can improve the user experience. But critically, we also give customers insights and how they can improve the carbon footprint or the sustainability of their environment,” he added.

Using insights, the firm is now able to advise which assets can be used longer, where remanufactured products could be deployed as well as the security and performance support.

Ultimately, that has a business benefit because the customer views Logicalis as a source of more insights and services, but it is also a wider benefit if it helps more businesses reduce their carbon emissions.

There is a sense of urgency around sustainability, with it clear that time is a factor in trying to limit the long-term damage to the planet. The temperature is rising quicker than anticipated – and as the world heats up, the prospects for the future look bleaker.

“What’s happening is we’re speeding up and trying to make this even more urgent – for us internally and for our customers globally,” said Bailkoski.