Sustainable IT and a Reduced Carbon footprint: What we do at EA?
Technology has already helped us in streamlining business processes, have promoted cost savings, have enabled businesses to plan better, use automation to minimize manual tasks, improve customer experiences, enhance employee retention and much more. Technologies have already revolutionized business processes and have done wonders for the businesses, but it all comes with a cost. And if the organizations aren’t mindful about, excess use of energy and technology can easily pile upon the carbon footprint.
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The good news is that the conversation around carbon footprint has already changed. The world is setting effective targets to combat the challenges, several organizations and industries have already started evaluating how they do business, what impact their day today processes have on the environment and what can be done to minimize carbon emission. Several organizations have realized that it’s essential to decrease their carbon footprint and have made it a priority to understand their role in achieving the goals.
But what exactly is the carbon footprint?
Carbon footprint is the addition of emission that’s caused by indirect or direct business activities. Every parameter from manufacturing to supply chain, from commute to devices are included in this figure.
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Organizations have realized that reducing carbon footprint is not only beneficial for the businesses as they help in reducing the operational cost, but making an effort also improves their image among the public and their target customers.
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At Enabled Analytics, being sustainable is one of our goals and there are several steps that we have taken and strategies deployed to ensure we minimize our carbon footprint.
Reduce Energy Use
Energy consumption is one of the major areas that make a larger portion of an organization's carbon footprint. Hence, to optimize our energy consumption, we focus on buying energy efficient equipment that are energy star certified. Our teams also ensure devices are in sleep mode or are unplugged to save energy. Our management also makes use of various tools to monitor and optimize energy consumptions.
Hardware Maintenance
An organization makes use of various devices ranging from laptops, desktops, mobile devices, printers and more. Enabled Analytics is no different. But to ensure we minimize our e-waste, we promote sustainable use of devices among our teams and employees. We always encourage complete usage of devices, as long as they are energy efficient, before they get upgraded. We also promote routine hardware maintenance to extend the life of our devices and to ensure optimum energy consumption.
Moving to Cloud
Cloud is a more efficient option when it comes to reducing carbon emission. It’s more energy efficient as compared to traditional data centers. Advanced technologies used in cloud services can effectively optimize energy and minimize emissions while promoting sustainability. Enabled Analytics has already moved to the cloud in order to be sustainable and reduce energy consumption.
​Supporting Remote Work
Promoting remote work is a great way of reducing commute and resume carbon emission. Remote work also allows organizations to reduce the need of acquiring large offices and also slashes energy consumption. Enabled Analytics follows a flexible employment arrangement that allows employees to work remotely. This has also helped us promote flexibility and inclusivity.
Promoting Sustainability Within
The Organization
At Enabled Analytics, we believe sustainability is not a one person job. It’s a mindset that must be promoted throughout the organization if we aim to generate measurable results. Everyone needs to get involved and everyone needs to take action. Hence, to make the most of our efforts, we also educate and help our employees to adopt greener habits. For example, we promote our employees to reduce less paper, encourage them to carpool, we have installed sensor based lights and air conditioners to ensure energy savings, etc.
Energy Efficient Software & Hardware Solutions
We have realized over time that optimizing software solutions can also do wonders when it comes to reducing energy consumption. Also, manufacturing of hardware consumes energy and has a negative impact on the environment. Hence, whenever it’s possible, our teams try their best to refurbish or repurpose hardware before considering purchasing new hardware.
Partnerships That Promote Same
Values
Going green and reducing our carbon footprint is important to us. Hence, we at Enabled Analytics look forward to partnering with organizations that have the same values as us. This not only helps us maximize the impact of our efforts but also helps us in reaping long-term benefits when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint.
Small Actions, Big Wins
There are several things our employees do on a day to day basis to ensure less carbon emission. And we have learned that small behavioral changes can lead to big wins. For example, switching off cameras during video meetings, properly shutting down their systems by the end of their day, sending links in emails instead of attachment, recycling reusable office resources, taking initiative to get their systems checked from time to time, etc. These measures have really helped us raise awareness and incorporate best practices within the organization.
Rethinking Business Travel
Air travel and travel via car are two major contributors of carbon emission. Hence, at Enabled Analytics, we always encourage our teams and employees to take other modes of travel such as train, buses or other types of modes of transportation to reduce the emission.
Water Conservation
Water conservation is not just great for reducing utility bills, but it’s also great for the environment. And just like several other organizations, we ensure water wastage is bare minimum. From time to time, the taps, pipes and faucets are checked to ensure there are no leaks to ensure water doesn't get wasted.
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The shift in conversations has really allowed businesses to prioritize the reduction of their carbon footprint. But, in order to generate significant and measurable outcomes, everyone needs to weigh in and take ownership of their individual carbon footprint.
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​We have also learnt that our eco-friendly initiatives have also helped us inspire our employees to actively participate in this initiative. Each and every person across various departments does their bit and strives to meet the common goal of reducing carbon footprint.