How a Digital Experience Management Solution Enhances ESG Efforts

Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Payal Kindiger of Riverbed observes how Digital Experience Management can improve your company’s ESG efforts.

Companies have plenty of big-picture motivation to reduce their carbon footprints. A growing number of customers and business partners are insisting on it, weighing companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in deciding who they do business with. Companies must comply with the environmental criteria set by the European Green Deal, the international Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol and other reporting frameworks, which can vary by industry. Corporate boards of directors — and companies’ own employees — also are emphasizing ESG.

Although ESG programs can deliver measurable benefits, what companies haven’t had is real-time visibility into the progress they’re making while integrating environmental practices and IT operations. A key motivating factor in any long-running initiative is the ability to see results. That’s one of the benefits companies incur from a Digital Experience Management (DEM) solution that delivers real-time analytics on sustainability efforts by increasing the energy efficiency of an organization. A DEM solution not only shows both employers and employees how well they’re doing with factors such as device uptime and energy use metrics, it also offers key insights into how they can further improve.

How a Digital Experience Management Solution Enhances ESG Efforts

Tools Provide Visibility into All Devices and Applications

The growth of distributed, cloud-based networks — made even more complex with the evolution of hybrid work models and the Internet of Things (IoT) — can make a full accounting of an enterprise’s energy use difficult to aggregate.

However, a comprehensive, well-designed, sustainable IT DEM solution can automatically detect every device and application on a company’s network and collect granular telemetry on key metrics such as device uptime, energy consumption, electricity costs and estimate associated carbon emissions. These tools help businesses more easily adopt new sustainable IT practices and build on practices that are already in place.

A DEM solution with energy efficiency analytics can break down those metrics by device uptime, geography, business unit, power plans for devices and other factors to give IT operations a more granular view of how devices and applications are being used in relation to their optimal settings. Furthermore, it can also allow teams to customize usage parameters to match specific goals and operational needs.

These accrued insights help IT departments identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary energy use and educate users about conserving energy during times when a device is idle. With built-in automation capabilities, the solution can recommend that a device go to sleep if it sits idle for 10 minutes, for example, or automatically change a device’s power plan so that it goes to sleep after that long or another set period. It can also issue alerts if a device has remained powered up past a certain length of time.

Energy efficiency dashboards within a DEM solution can even provide employers and employees with real-time graphical depictions of progress being made, such as the number of trees saved by carbon emission reductions.

Supporting ESG at Enterprise and Individual Levels

As enterprises implement sustainability into their business practices and goals, they will have greater visibility into the energy consumption of their devices and applications. Real-time visibility and actionable insights can yield reductions in cost, carbon emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, and e-waste that guarantee businesses are meeting compliance regulations and standards. This not only reduces waste but also allows for streamlined operations while giving employees the feedback required to drive further improvements within the IT department and the organization at large.

At an individual or granular level, ESG solutions help companies gain analytics into how long each device or application is operating in order to further reduce runtime and energy consumption. Additionally, ESG solutions allow IT teams to better assess how efficiently their applications are running while providing clear insights into the impact energy consumption efforts are making on the environment. As IT wastefulness and bottlenecks are mitigated, teams can better translate those insights into real-world results that reduce IT’s environmental impact, including resource consumption and waste generation.

Conclusion

Now more than ever, companies need to take seriously the environmental impact of their IT processes. As businesses adopt ESG solutions and standards, they will gain greater visibility into their energy consumption and impact. ESG dashboard solutions provide data-driven insights into the environmental impact of their devices and applications while helping companies understand how to further improve their IT sustainability practices. Identifying the right ESG solution not only provides a better digital experience for employees but ensures that companies are taking a forward-looking business approach that benefits future generations.