Sustainability is a powerful strategy for businesses to build resilience and save costs. This was the key takeaway from the “Meet the Moment — Savings & Sustainability” panel at the NetApp INSIGHT® 2024 conference in Las Vegas. Nicola Acutt, NetApp vice president for ESG and sustainability, and executives of major manufacturing, energy, and motorsports companies agreed that sustainability is more than just a buzzword—it’s a comprehensive approach that can serve as both a shield and a spear to help enterprises thrive.
Sustainability is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a crucial component of modern business strategy. Companies increasingly recognize the need to adopt sustainable practices to attract customers, retain employees, and mitigate risks. In the face of volatility, sustainability can be a game changer for businesses looking to secure a competitive edge. It’s an indispensable tool for managing uncertainty.
“Now, sustainability is not just about the impact that your organization has on the environment. We need to think today about the impact that the environment has on your organization, on your business model, on your supply chain, and on your very value proposition. The right thing to do has become the smart thing to do.”
— Nicola Acutt, vice president for ESG and sustainability, NetApp
Predicting supply chain challenges
A key defensive benefit of sustainability is its ability to predict and mitigate supply chain disruptions. Observability that enables sustainable practices also helps identify risks to supply chains. Comprehensive visibility helps identify anomalies, errors, and bottlenecks, allowing for more efficient resource allocation.
Anticipating new regulations
Governments are tightening environmental regulations, so businesses must adopt sustainable practices to stay compliant, reduce legal risks, and boost their reputation as responsible corporate citizens.
Reducing waste
Sustainability enhances business efficiency by eliminating operational inefficiencies and using automation to streamline workflows, reduce errors, and boost productivity.
Driving innovation and differentiation
Sustainability fosters innovation, encouraging creative solutions that differentiate businesses, attract eco-conscious customers, boost revenue, and enhance brand loyalty and reputation.
Building enduring resilience
As a long-term strategy, sustainability builds resilience by future-proofing businesses against climate and energy changes, using renewable energy for stable, cost-effective power, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and mitigating the impact of energy price fluctuations.
NetApp’s innovative solutions help businesses operate more sustainably. Here are some key strategies employed by NetApp customers to achieve sustainability goals:
Addressing waste and underutilization
An intelligent data infrastructure helps address waste and underutilization across the entire stack. With sustainability metrics, companies can assess their carbon footprint and act to reduce emissions. The NetApp® BlueXP™ sustainability dashboard provides reporting and actionable insights.
Tackling dark data
Dark data grows as information is collected, processed, and stored during regular business activities, but not used for any other purpose. It’s often untapped due to a lack of awareness or the means to analyze it, yet it has substantial value for GenAI workloads. Dark data, comprising 68% of unused data, poses a significant sustainability challenge. NetApp’s tools help identify and delete unnecessary data, retaining only essential information, promoting IT sustainability and optimizing storage infrastructure.
Optimizing cloud usage
Migrating data and applications to the cloud can significantly cut CO2 emissions, as cloud workloads are up to 4.1 times more energy-efficient than on premises.[1] NetApp ONTAP® is available natively in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, simplifying data management and enhancing efficiency. Built-in automation and observability capabilities help rightsize resources, further reducing costs and energy use. A happy side effect of cloud optimization is sustainability savings. In reducing cloud spend, organizations dramatically save energy.
Efficient on-premises storage
For data that remains in the data center, NetApp provides the most efficient storage solutions. With decades of storage engineering experience, NetApp offers the most effective storage efficiency guarantee in the industry. These advanced technologies maximize storage capacity and reduce energy consumption.
Adopting sustainable practices boosts resilience, drives innovation, and saves costs. Intelligent data infrastructure solutions support sustainable operations by reducing waste, optimizing cloud usage, and enhancing storage efficiency—aligning sustainability with savings.
[1] Accenture, “How moving onto the AWS cloud reduces carbon emissions,” July 2024.
Piet Sawvel is a storyteller who elevates NetApp cloud solutions, flash storage, and sustainability initiatives. For more than 20 years, he’s led digital marketing efforts and crafted customer-focused narratives for IBM and NetApp. A Colorado native, he’s enticed by feral singletrack, untracked powder, and natural hot springs.