A new report published by management consultancy Analysys Mason has found that switching to cloud-based enterprise network services can cut related carbon emissions by up to 96%.
The report is one of the first of its kind to calculate potential emissions savings achieved by replacing physical enterprise network and security hardware boxes with cloud-based services, specifically Cloudflare’s services.
The study primarily examines the emissions of an organisation under Scope 2, which encompasses the emissions that result from the production of energy the company purchases and uses. It found that the greatest reduction in energy, and therefore emissions, comes from consolidating services together, which improves carbon efficiency by increasing the utilisation of servers that are providing multiple functions.
On-premises devices are often designed to host multiple workloads and consume power constantly, but are only used for part of the day and part of the week. Cloud infrastructure is shared by millions of customers, often all over the world. As a result, cloud providers can achieve economies of scale that result in less downtime, less waste, and lower emissions.
“The best way to reduce your IT infrastructure’s carbon footprint is easy: move to the cloud,” said Matthew Prince, CEO and co-founder of Cloudflare. “At Cloudflare, we’ve built one of the world’s most efficient networks, getting the most out of every watt of energy and every one of our servers. That’s why, with Cloudflare, companies can help hit their sustainability goals without sacrificing security, speed, performance, or innovation.”
One thing to note from the study is that it did not include Cloudflare’s renewable energy or offset purchases in its findings, suggesting that the emission savings could be even more significant.
The cloud computing platform has also recently announced plans to join the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and set science-based carbon reduction targets across its facilities, operations, and supply chain. Once approved, the cloud provider will work over the next 24 months with SBTi to develop and validate its short- and long-term reduction targets.
You can read the full report here.
About Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a global content delivery network (CDN) and web security company. It provides a suite of services that help websites and applications improve their performance, security, and reliability.
Cloudflare’s services are used by millions of websites and applications, including some of the largest and most popular websites in the world, such as Google, Wikipedia, and Amazon.
About Analysys Mason
Analysys Mason is a management consultancy that specialises in the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) sector. It was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in London, with offices around the world.
The company provides a wide range of services to its clients, including strategy consulting, market research, and economic analysis. It has a strong track record of helping clients to make informed decisions about their businesses and to achieve their strategic goals.
