How is Your IT Organization Enabling Corporate Sustainability Strategies?

Have you heard of sustainability? You probably have. But have you linked your IT organization’s strategies, activities, and goals into corporate sustainability strategies and targets? It’s great if your IT organization has already aligned its IT strategies and objectives with corporate sustainability needs and ambitions. But if it hasn’t and you want to know what it should perhaps be doing, this blog offers a quick introduction to sustainability, why it matters to IT service management (ITSM) pros, and how your IT organization should be assisting the business in meeting the needs of corporate sustainability strategies.

This blog offers a quick introduction to sustainability, why it matters to #ITSM pros, and how your IT organization should be assisting the business in meeting the needs of corporate sustainability strategies. Click To Tweet

Sustainability has many forms

Like me, if you’ve been in IT a long time, you’ll remember the “green IT” trend from way back. Sustainability is different, though, because, unlike green IT, its focus starts at a business level rather than the IT organization being more environmentally friendly and perhaps reducing costs in the process.

The terminology your organization employs might differ too. While the ITIL® 4: Sustainability in Digital and IT publication defines sustainability as:

‘A business approach focused on creating long-term value for society and other stakeholders, by addressing the risks and opportunities associated with economic, environmental, and social developments.’

There are two three-letter-acronyms commonly used to cover the needs of sustainability (and more):

1. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) – a corporate approach that includes social goals alongside the more traditional pursuit of profit maximization.
2. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) – “… how organizations ensure that they operate in a sustainable way; how they behave towards their employees and customers; how they select partners and suppliers; and the impact of their activities on the environment and the communities of their ecosystems” according to the ITIL 4 Sustainability in Digital and IT publication.

What is your IT org doing to meet corporate #sustainability ambitions and needs? Now is the time to plan for sustainability as a minimum says @joe_the_IT_Guy #ITSM Click To Tweet

Why organizations are focusing on sustainability

On the one hand, enabling sustainability is “the right thing to do” – to benefit the world we and our children (and their children) will live in – with corporate sustainability strategies and goals designed to change business practices for the better. In particular, in tackling global issues such as:

• Water cleanliness
• Atmosphere damage
• Fossil fuel dependency
• Species extinction

Importantly, before it’s too late for the environmental damage caused during the last century to be remedied (or at least curtailed).

'In hard-nosed business terms, sustainability is about more than creating a better world – because socially-responsible behavior brings benefits.' - @joe_the_IT_Guy #ITSM Click To Tweet

However, in hard-nosed business terms, sustainability is about more than creating a better world – because socially-responsible behavior brings benefits. For example:

“The World Bank and Bank of America found that businesses with better environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria produced three times higher returns than their peers and that organizations with ESG principles in their strategy can drive profitable growth that positively impacts the world, mitigates risks, and attracts the best talent.”

Source: AXELOS, “ITIL 4: Sustainability in Digital and IT” (2021)

The upside of corporate sustainability strategies

So sustainability is good business, not just businesses doing good, and a variety of benefits can come from a corporate sustainability focus and investment. These benefits include:

• Increased sales because of the improved public perception and reputation for your organization and its brand(s), with informed customers increasingly concerned about the sourcing and delivery of the products and services they buy.
• Reduced operational and sales costs because sustainability initiatives find better ways of delivering products and services.
• Improved employee recruitment and retention, with current and future employees making judgments based on their personal values, similar to customers, when deciding where to work.
• Increased investment, with individuals and investment companies championing sustainability through ethical investment strategies and decisions.

Sustainability is good business, not just businesses doing good, & a variety of benefits can come from a corporate sustainability focus & investment. Here @joe_the_IT_guy takes a look. #ITSM Click To Tweet

Additionally, it might be that the need for corporate sustainability might no longer be a corporate benefits-based decision. For example, if your organization operates in a regulated industry, it will likely already be subject to sustainability-related regulatory requirements. Additional government legislation is expected over time too.

The impact of corporate sustainability on IT strategies

Sustainability and related compliance requirements cover the lifecycle of product and service delivery. This, therefore, involves the sustainability positioning of the corporate IT organization and any third-party technology suppliers – such that your IT organization can’t avoid the need to align with business sustainability strategies and goals at some point.

'The question isn’t if you will need to focus on sustainability. Instead, it’s whether your IT org starts the change at its own pace or if it will eventually be forced into compliance' - @joe_the_IT_guy #ITSM #sustainability Click To Tweet

For most ITSM pros, sustainability is inevitable. Your organization will make sustainability a strategic focus and goal. Your IT organization will then need to play its part by embedding sustainability principles into IT operations and IT service delivery to ensure that the corporate-level goals are met. The question isn’t if you will need to focus on sustainability. Instead, it’s whether your IT organization starts the change at its own pace or if it will eventually be forced into compliance with the extra stress and costs this will incur.

So, what is your IT organization doing to meet corporate sustainability ambitions and needs? It’s likely not an “if” but a “when” situation – so now is the time to plan for sustainability as a minimum.