Is it possible to demystify the cloud for optimal decarbonization?

When a company embarks on the transition to a greener model, constant data collection and analysis play an essential role.
Without reliable data, any form of optimization remains impossible!
Today, it’s imperative for every company to rethink the way it operates in order to reduce its environmental impact. To initiate this change, it is essential to minimize digital energy consumption, by promoting energy-saving practices and tools. One way for a company to reduce its carbon footprint is to move away from local serversto the cloud.
Indeed, server resources are often under-utilized, reaching only 15% to 40% of their capacity.
Why is this?
Under-utilized capacities and a consequent storage of useless or obsolete data.
By turning to the cloud, a company can reduce its carbon footprint by 30 to 90%. But how can a company effectively reduce its digital impact, and what steps should it take to adapt its use of the cloud to transform it into a genuine decarbonization tool?

Location: an essential criterion for greener accommodation

Most companies choose a server close to their location without considering the direct link between the power grid used and CO2 emissions.
Yet it’s crucial to remember that data centers, cloud service providers and even governments don’t all use the same energy sources.
As a first step, it’s vital to look for cloud providers who provide transparent information and analysis on the amount of CO2 emitted by their data centers, favoring “location-based reporting” over “market-based reporting”.
This will enable companies to make more informed and environmentally-friendly choices, while analyzing the opportunities offered by renewable energies, energy credits and power purchase agreements.
Secondly, using tools such asElectricity Maps to visualize and understand data on electricity production and carbon emissions in different countries can prove useful.
By paying close attention to this data, companies can enhance their energy sobriety while reducing costs.
Finally, multi-cloud providers, who don’t have their own data centers, can be an interesting option.
While this doesn’t eliminate CO2, it does provide neutral advice on cloud hosting options, infrastructure pooling, and scaling resources on demand (“scaling”).
These approaches enable you to choose a cloud that is both more environmentally-friendly and more economical.

Optimize deployment efficiency and promote auditing

Another way to further reduce emissions in the cloud is tooptimize resource utilization through greater efficiency in the data processing flow.
Developers can work on optimizing their code using, for example, monitoring tools that identify the most resource-intensive processes, enabling them to modify them to perform the same task more efficiently.
These tools can also measure loading times, identify bottlenecks and accept optimization recommendations.
This in turn enables companies to build faster applications while reducing their carbon footprint. At the same time, the choice of server density and size is essential.
Instead of running applications directly on virtual machines in the cloud, higher levels of density can be achieved through appropriately sized, dynamic container solutions.
This approach guarantees the right amount of resources for production and development environments, while reducing electricity consumption (and bills). To quote a provider in Switzerland, Infomaniak has created an ethical SaaS platform that offsets all its greenhouse gas emissions by 200%.
Infomaniak has been working to reduce this carbon footprint since 2007.
Find out more about Infomaniak, discover their ecological philosophy.

So, is it possible to improve your practices in the digital and IT sector?