ESG
Despite having been dragged into the culture wars, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards remain an important consideration for businesses, if for no other reason that they remain an important consideration for investors.
However, our research suggests there are other reasons that tech decision-makers are making buying decisions with sustainability, if not at the top of their priority list, certainly in the top three criteria.
When asked what was driving ESG within their businesses, more than one-third (34 percent) of IT leaders cited a simple motivation to do the right thing. But more (41 percent) had an eye on cost savings (which ties in with a waste-reduction strategy), while matching up to industry best practice was the third most popular driver (31 percent).
This suggests that industry standards matter and are an effective way of encouraging individual organizations to raise the bar.
"We need clearly defined sustainability goals," said a CISO in a business and professional services company.
More interesting is how far down the list of responses both legislation and industry-specific regulations are, suggesting that individual organizations, and individuals, are well ahead of legislators and regulators in the sustainability standards they set.
Sustainability Matters
It's also clear that organizations are taking plenty of measures to reduce their environmental impact. Almost half -- 45 percent -- are assessing all new suppliers and contracts against sustainability criteria, and 40 percent are reviewing and analyzing processes to see how they can be made more sustainable. Almost as many (38 percent) were in the market for new tech to enable them to reduce their operational footprint. Despite an emphasis on reducing costs, waste reduction was seen as a priority by fewer respondents (35 percent).
Twenty percent of the leaders surveyed told us that when choosing suppliers, sustainability matters more than costs. For 30 percent, the two imperatives carried equal weight, but for the remainder, cost was the most important consideration.
The Sustainability Solutions IT Decision-Makers Want
Companies are looking closely at datacenter technology, and also at AI-powered tools to help them analyze data in this complex area.
Other popular solutions included a shift to renewable energy, and water and energy reductions initiatives -- again, measures that could save money -- as well as supply chain optimization. The sheer range of solutions reflects the variety in the types of organizations represented in our research, with shifts to electric and hydrogen vehicles, battery tech and digital twins all making an appearance.
AI technologies are already demonstrating immense potential to reduce the impact of the foundational industries, and consequently, to reduce built carbon emissions and find smarter, less damaging ways of either cooling or heating buildings.
What do buyers, looking for these solutions, want from partners and suppliers? Concise data and transparency, according to some respondents:
- "More focus with providing sustainability data for downstream measurement tracking," COO, Technology
- "Transparency on materials/distribution to contribute to Scope 3 collaboration," CIO, Technology
- "Offer sustainable options when quoting projects," senior IT, Finance
Some answers suggested the desire for a standard or trust mark like B Corp. Others suggested the need for data in a form that was comparable to that of competitors, and some sort of industry standardization.
For the providers of more physical products there was also a need for better product repairability, lifecycle data, disposal cost data and similar. Others required more collaboration, better response to feedback and proof that they are moving in the right direction.
