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Unified convergence: turning business green

The environment is now firmly on the agenda with growing awareness of green issues. Thus head of product management Dan Cole considers how you can ensure that what's good for business is also beneficial to the environment

Technology has revolutionised business and is fundamental to the way we work. We can no longer work efficiently without the computers, phones, printers and hardware which have all become indispensable to modern business. Yet these technologies contribute to the unprecedented levels of carbon emissions and environmental damage occurring today. The question is how to balance our business needs with the needs of the environment.

Companies are reassessing their business practices to comply with social trends and emerging legislation

The government released its Green Government ICT initiative in August pledging to become carbon neutral by 2020. It follows in the wake of several legislative measures to reduce the UK's environmental impact, including the 2003 Energy White Paper, which requires a 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, as well as the Kyoto protocol.

Growing awareness of environmental issues and increasing legislation means that companies are beginning to recognise the strategic and commercial advantages of a ‘green' approach. They are reassessing their business practices in order to become compliant with social trends and emerging legislation. However, there is confusion about what exactly can be done and, importantly, how to implement strategies that benefit business as well as the environment.

Balanced energy cuts

To date, the focus on minimising carbon emissions has been on reducing unnecessary technology use. Government statistics show that turning off one computer every night saves 235kg of C02 per year. If a company has 1,000 computers and took this action it would be the equivalent of taking 80 cars off the road. Consequently, such actions should be a basic part of any company's activities.

While every effort should be made to reduce unnecessary energy use, and the recent rises in energy costs are helping to drive this initiative, there is a limit to the amount of energy a company can feasibly cut without negatively impacting upon productivity. Businesses need to rethink the application of technology overall, rather than just cutting its use, to create a balance between environmental and business benefits. The Green Government ICT initiative states that technology ‘is a key enabler and it should play a major part in reducing carbon emissions', a view which is increasingly being adopted.

Action plan

To reduce your company's carbon footprint, here are some simple steps to follow:

Turn off computers and any other electrical equipment at night

Print double-sided and use recycled paper wherever possible

Drink from the tap rather than water coolers and bottled water

If you are working in the office, save petrol by walking or using public transport

Recycle any paper you use, either through recycling bins or use it as scrap paper

Take the stairs, not the lift

Do not use air conditioning unless you have to 

Use video conferencing in order to reduce inter-site travel

Educate your employees on new ways to reduce energy use

Build and maintain support for going green by showcasing your successes

Convergence

Unified communications (UC) is one concept that looks set to provide significant environmental and business benefits. UC brings together a number of common business tools, including email, Instant Messaging, Voice over IP (VoIP), desktop and business applications and presence, onto a single, converged platform.

UC allows businesses to not only transform the working environment and reduce energy consumption, but also to equip employees with the technology to work as effectively out of the office as they do in it. It can be used for video and web conferencing so staff can host virtual meetings without clocking up travel miles and the associated carbon emissions.

Recent research by Telstra found that better use of telecoms technology could reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent. The report suggested that remote working could eliminate 3m tonnes of CO2, while high-definition video-conferencing could reduce up to 2.4m tonnes. It is clear that the environmental benefit of reducing travel by incorporating UC into business strategy is huge.

Flexibility

For businesses to successfully develop green strategies, it is vital that they are cost effective and support business growth. One benefit of UC is that it taps into the growing trend for flexible working.

In a recent poll, THUS found that 70 per cent of commuters questioned believed the ability to work flexibly was so important they would turn down a job offer from a company that did not provide it.

In addition, the government is keen to extend flexible working to an additional 4.5m parents. UC can help businesses to secure the best employees by providing them with popular benefits, as well as driving forward the green agenda.

To ensure that businesses gain maximum benefit from developing greener business practices through UC, it is important that individual technologies, such as VoIP, customer communication and CRM (customer relationship marketing), field services, mobile positioning, 3G and mobile working, are gradually introduced.

Turning off one computer every night saves 235kg of C02 a year. If a company has 1,000 computers and takes this action, it would be equivalent to taking 80 cars off the road 

Ongoing support

Service providers and businesses need to work together and take the time to understand the individual needs of customers to ensure they are matched with the correct solution, fully supported and consulted at each step of the implementation.

It is clear that the workplace will change dramatically in the next few years and UC is central to this as it offers the potential to define and achieve significant environmental goals complementary to the organisation's business objectives.

The transition to UC clearly involves physical and organisational adjustment. But, perhaps more challenging is the fact that it requires real and significant changes in attitude and behaviour that can only be achieved by strong leadership and a genuine commitment to cultural change from the top of an organisation.

The result could be significant benefits to both the environment and business. It is this partnership which makes the target that much easier to achieve.

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