EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
PAUL MELLON , OPERATIONS DIRECTOR , STELLIUM DATACENTERS
The directives from national and global authorities have been evolving from guidelines to mandatory requirements , and 2024 represents a giant step forward in terms of compliance , transparency and yet more commitment . CIOs are increasingly challenged with what has become known as the three pillars of sustainability : environmental , social and economic . They must weave their way through growing legislation to best position their businesses for :
• Efficiency in terms of using AI / ML / HPC to rationalise use of space , power , cooling and actual future footprint requirements .
• Environmental sustainability to preserve and protect the natural environment over time through appropriate practices and policies , meeting present needs without compromising the availability of resources in the future .
• Social sustainability in terms of commitment to create inclusive societies , reduce inequality and ensure long-term well-being for all people while preserving social cohesion and justice .
• Economic sustainability in practice , aiming to create a balance between economic growth , resource efficiency , social equity and financial stability .
Environmental sustainability for data centres translates into Scope 1 and 2 emissions with Scope 3 emission expected to become mandatory this year – this means laying the groundwork now , putting in place the necessary supplier processes and reporting procedures sooner than later . It ’ s a game changer . It ’ s no longer just about power and water usage efficiency and emissions , but right across the supply chain , including mitigating and offsetting the embodied carbon from data centre buildings construction and even IT equipment – purchasing , moving and disposing of IT all has an environmental cost and has a huge impact on an organisation ’ s carbon footprint .
Moving from on-premise to modern colocation data centres or putting more IT workloads into public or hybrid cloud set ups will reduce much of the CIO ’ s operational headaches in these respects . Many will have renewably sourced power in place , energy efficient cooling , diverse connectivity , sophisticated energy monitoring and reporting platforms . There are further benefits of not remaining in house .
Moving from on-premise to modern colocation data centres or putting more IT workloads into public or hybrid cloud set ups will reduce much of the CIO ’ s operational headaches in these respects .
More easily scaling up or down to keep pace with immediate and future IT capacity requirements , avoiding being constrained while also mitigating the cost of underutilised capacity . Such flexibility , along with the inherent security , resilience , environmental and energy efficient credentials of a Tier 3 colocation or cloud hosting provider , cannot be underestimated .
Even though CIOs will be responsible for auditing and reporting on the wider aspects of their IT ’ s environmental impact , reputable colocation data centre and cloud providers will help relieve them of the burden of Scope 1 and 2 as well as Scope 3 when it becomes mandatory .
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