Logicalis: Sustainability still a top customer concern
Even with the tougher economic climate, the commitment by customers to greening their business and working with those with a similar mission remains solid
Sustainability is a top concern for chief information officers (CIOs), and continues to be an area where the channel will need to prove its commitment to win business.
Anecdotal tales of tenders being lost because of poor green credentials have emerged over the past 18 months, and proving an ability to take sustainability seriously is still a major requirement from customers.
According to research from Logicalis, the majority of CIOs are investing in sustainability, with money going into environmental initiatives and technologies.
The channel player’s 10th annual CIO report found that 90% of those executives quizzed believed it was important to assess the sustainability credentials of new suppliers.
The Logicalis survey underlined that despite economic uncertainty, the commitment to sustainability has held firm. For many customers, the idea of reducing carbon emissions is twinned with gaining efficiencies across their broader IT infrastructure.
Customers were keen to use sustainability as a means of reducing energy and operational costs, but shared some of the obstacles that were in the way.
Those included meeting their sustainability goals by collating data that was spread across the organisation and measuring digital estates against targets.
Supporting environmental initiatives
Logicalis CEO Bob Bailkoski said the CIO report showed the continued importance of supporting environmental initiatives.
“Investing in sustainability is not only the right thing to do, it’s a commercial imperative for business,” he said. “We know that a reduction in carbon and energy consumption also means lower costs, and with regulations on carbon reporting becoming more stringent, prioritising sustainability now will serve CIOs well later.
“We’re working very closely with our partners to ensure there is carbon accountability on our part in the outcomes we deliver through technology, and through visibility tools like our Digital Fabric Platform, we’re empowering customers themselves to better manage the carbon performance of their IT estate.”
The pressure for CIOs to keep an eye on sustainability is only going to increase, as more firms get closer to meeting net-zero targets.
“CIOs globally continue to face pressure when it comes to prioritising innovation, balancing costs and decreasing carbon output, but these priorities don’t have to compete,” said Toby Alcock, Logicalis chief technology officer. “With access to good data, CIOs should be able to see where to find short and long-term gains, both environmentally and financially.”
As the channel has found, having a strong sustainability message is beneficial for the wider business. He said there were clear benefits because CIOs would be “well-positioned to attract new customers who are looking to allocate their business to more sustainable suppliers”.
“The fact that IT is now involved in sustainability at a strategic level should ensure that any initiatives have the right infrastructure and support to succeed,” said Alcock.
