How to reduce your company's carbon footprint with Microsoft services

IT and all the technology we use today is one of the areas that has a big impact on the environment, but also one of the areas where the right decisions and changes can make a real difference.

As a step in the right direction, in early 2020 Microsoft unveiled its new major climate initiative with a focus on carbon, water and biodiversity. Their environmental goals are ambitious: the company will be carbon negative by 2030 and by 2050 they will have removed more carbon dioxide from the environment than they have emitted since their inception in 1975. But they don't stop at themselves. They will also help their customers reduce their impact on the environment and invest heavily in environmental innovation.

Microsoft's Sustainability Calculator gives you full control over your company's climate impact.

One of the innovative tools Microsoft has developed to help its customers improve their climate action is the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator. Being able to measure and be aware of your everyday carbon emissions is key to reducing them. Servers, firewalls, clients, mobile devices and all other IT equipment - each of them has an impact on the environment. And now you can find out exactly how much.

Using AI and advanced analytics, the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator gives users of their cloud services a simple and clear overview of your company's total carbon footprint. This includes insights on how to reduce your emissions, useful templates, the ability to create emissions forecasts, and simplified carbon reporting. You can also get concrete advice on how your company can act to minimize its carbon footprint.

One example is the purchase of IT equipment. Let's say you are buying a hundred new laptops for your employees and you want the investment to have as little climate impact as possible. Then you can use the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator to see what impact a particular laptop model would have on the environment compared to another model. Based on this data, you can then decide to invest in the computers with the least impact. A choice that can make a big difference in the long run.

Moving services to the cloud and making big gains for the environment

Another area that can create significant environmental benefits is moving a company's applications from a local data center to the cloud, for example by switching to Microsoft 365. Such a change can reduce a company's carbon footprint by as much as 72-98%. Being able to compare different scenarios makes the effects clear and provides a good basis for making wise decisions for the future. In addition, the climate tools are easy to add to the Microsoft services your company already has, so you can get started quickly.

And the benefits don't stop with IT. You can also get accurate reports on the carbon footprint of your business in other areas.

Get started with Microsoft's Sustainability services too

For us at WeSafe, the environment is also high on the agenda and as a partner of Microsoft we are pleased with their major investment in the climate issue that is so vital for all of us. We have already started helping several of our cloud customers to get started with services that improve their sustainability work. And the demand is high - many are eager to get started and ask how they can get started.

For those customers who are on their way, we are already seeing tangible results. Several of those who have started using Microsoft's climate tool tell us that they get a wow feeling when they see how easy it is to produce extremely detailed reports when all the data is in the cloud. Obtaining the same precise data would be impossible with an on-premises data center or a smaller hosting provider. They are also happy to have full control over the company's carbon footprint, something they often had no idea about before. IT departments can hand over the reports to company management, who can use these insights to make wise decisions for the future and the good of our planet.

Contact us today if you also want to get started implementing Microsoft's carbon footprint reduction services. Together we can make a difference.