Sustainability Takes Center Stage for Many Businesses in India to be Perceived as Trustworthy, Reveals IDC Data
In a recent conversation with CXOToday, Rishu Sharma, Associate Research Director, Cloud and Artificial intelligence (AI), IDC India shared in depth insights around why Sustainability is critical in India’s Data Center space. She also discusses about IDC India’s recent ‘Data Center Sustainability’ report, and its key findings to discuss how hyperscalers are prioritising sustainability and including ESG as part of their corporate strategy.
1. Please give us a brief overview of IDC India’s recent Data Center Sustainability report.
The report focuses on the predominant datacenter sustainability trends in the India market. The report focuses on various practices being adopted by organizations to align their business objectives with sustainability goals.
2. Why are green initiatives and sustainability so important in today’s digitally savvy world?
The digital-first enterprises of today are prioritizing sustainable business strategies as among the top focus areas to thrive in 2022 and beyond. The asks from customers, investors and regulators are getting firmer, forcing enterprises to include ESG as part of their corporate strategy. Sustainability is among the top factors to develop market trust for Indian enterprises. Per IDC’s FERS survey, 2021, over 67% of respondents in India place sustainability as one of the top factors for their organizations to be perceived as trustworthy in the marketplace.
3. Why is sustainability critical for India’s Datacenter space? What can be done to make data centers more environment friendly and sustainable?
There are multiple facets that is making sustainability important for the datacenters. First is power and resources. The increase in the demand for datacenter services puts stress on the utilization of depletable energy sources for power consumption. Therefore, the usage transition from depletable sources to renewable energy is gaining momentum. Next is the Climate change. Extreme weather patterns have adverse effects on datacenters and that is pushing sustainability to the forefront. Another factor is the economics. Adopting sustainability measures enables enterprises to ensure long-term cost efficiency benefits. Sustainability and green energy consumption have become a core agenda in the datacenter landscape in India. Enterprises and datacenter operators are beginning to integrate green measures in their datacenter operational processes, including design, materials, construction, energy consumption, and waste management
4. According to you and this report, what would be the megatrends in India’s data center sustainability?
There is a transition toward using renewable sources of energy to meet the power consumption needs, prioritizing sustainability and climate responsibility. To drive datacenter process efficiencies, such as PUE, supply chain efficiency, waste management, and so forth, datacenter operators in India are adopting innovative technologies to meet these objectives. The adoption of innovative technologies and solutions, such as rainwater harvesting, close-coupled cooling, and use of fuel cells for storing energy to improve energy efficiency, is also picking up pace.
