How we slashed our largest customers’ emissions with the cloud

By Danielle Price, CFO and Head of Sustainability

We’re all about better ways of doing business. Whether that’s overhauling your operating model or removing risk from your operations. The right technology can have a positive impact on efficiency, transparency, your people – and the planet.

ESG is moving up the corporate agenda, and it’s a big item on ours, too. Which is why it’s a good time to focus on the environmental benefits of switching to the cloud. Even if you’re aware of the positive impact, you may be surprised by how easy it is for firms to unlock them.

Keep reading for some emissions savings statistics from Duco customers that could make you green with envy.

Is the cloud really greener?

Let’s face it, everyone wants to claim they have strong sustainability credentials. ‘Greenwashing’ is a real thing, so it’s worth putting the claims around cloud sustainability under the microscope.

Is it really better? In short, yes. But here’s why.

First up, switching to the cloud isn’t as simple as letting someone else’s computers do all the work instead of yours. Cloud providers have a business imperative to provide the most efficient computing power possible.

So they optimise – and it’s fair to say that massive cloud providers like AWS, Google and Microsoft have way more resources to invest in their data centre technology than even the biggest financial institutions on the planet. It’s their whole business, after all.

Also, major cloud providers pay close attention to their climate impact. Running and cooling servers requires a lot of energy. Many of them are already running largely on green energy. If your data centre isn’t, then switching instantly cuts your carbon footprint on data-related tasks.

Finally, by transitioning to the cloud you’re sharing computing power with others. So those resources are being utilised to a much greater extent than if each firm has their own data centre running extra computers that are only online in case processing demand increases.

Now let’s take a look at what the data says.

Cutting our customers’ emissions by changing hosting

We moved from a private cloud hosting provider to AWS hosting. This gave us access to the most energy efficient technology, powered largely by renewable energy.

Climate impact was one of the key factors in our decision to move, so we measured emissions across our customers before and after the migration. 

That’s not a plan, or a target. That’s happened.

And it’s in line with research showing the expected energy savings and carbon footprint reduction of migrating from on-premise technology to the cloud.

But there’s more…

You’re on the road to net zero

By being a Duco customer you’ll benefit from Amazon’s net zero plan. This will cut another 80% off your emissions from data-related work, for a total of 96% lower emissions compared to on-premises technology (we’ll get to that in the next section).

And, of course, we have our own net zero target as well, which will eliminate that last 4% of emissions. So, if you’re on Duco, you’ll continue to see your emissions from data processes fall just by being a customer! Which leaves you free to focus on other ways to make savings…

Change your legacy – and your climate impact

The previous two sections detail ways that we’ve helped, and will continue to help, our customers cut their emissions without them having to take any ESG initiatives themselves.

But there is a way that you can do even more to help save the planet, and that’s by ensuring that you are leveraging your cloud resources to the max.

The less you have to rely on legacy on-premise technology, the more you can reduce your carbon footprint. Our customers consolidate their legacy processes onto the Duco platform, allowing them to decommission their legacy systems and remove the load on their data centres. The more widely you can implement cloud solutions like Duco, the greater the benefit for the planet.

What’s even better is that this is on top of all the other benefits of the Duco platform, such as reduction in manual work, efficiency gains, cost reduction, increased transparency and faster time-to-market. You don’t have to choose between a leaner, smarter, better business and a more environmentally responsible one.

A better business, a happier planet

The choice is clear: Duco is the only data automation choice for ESG conscious firms. We’ll continue to monitor both our emissions and those of our customers to ensure that we’re protecting the planet and leaving a better legacy for future generations.

Find out more here.