The business benefits of adopting a cloud computing strategy include greater affordability with easier to manage costs, robust security, better back up and disaster recovery options, along with reliability and flexibility to create a solution which works best in a unique set of circumstances.
However, an additional benefit that is often overlooked is the positive environmental impact associated with the cloud.
Think of a typical server room in your average multi-office organisation which hasn’t yet embraced a virtual infrastructure solution. Those rooms are large and they are noisy and they need to be kept cold. Indeed, with these traditional set ups, the associated hardware not only takes up a large amount of physical space, but it also requires a heavy amount of energy to provide it with power and to keep the system running at an optimum temperature.
On the other hand, once a business has migrated to the cloud, there is less requirement for such cumbersome hardware at the individual business level. Whilst businesses may choose to retain some sort of on-premise appliance, in general terms pursuing a cloud strategy results in there being less hardware on site, which equates to less space being used up, less cooling, lower energy consumption and, as a consequence, cost savings for the business.
When a business uses cloud computing rather than a completely on-premise solution, it has been found to cut their energy use by 30 – 60% for larger, established firms. For smaller organisations, the saving can be as high as 60 – 90%. These savings add up and can have a major impact over the lifetime of a business, reducing e-waste, energy consumption and carbon emissions significantly.
Cloud computing also offers significant benefits in terms of scalability. The flexibility of the cloud means that its use can be scaled up and down easily depending on the requirements of a business. The cloud allows for efficient use of IT resources in line with business demands and activity. This is in stark contrast with set-ups where there is no cloud element and where there is almost always resource being paid for which isn’t being utilised.
Our own bespoke hybrid cloud solution, Viia, is designed by NVT Group to offer companies of any size, in any industry, a host of benefits. Viia is a reliable, secure, affordable and scalable virtual technology infrastructure solution, which is provided as a service.
That means you get all the benefits of the cloud, including high performance computing and easier to manage costs, as well us unparalleled security and flexibility. However, Viia is different to other clouds because it is built using Open Source software and industry standard hardware, plus it integrates easily with your existing virtualisation technologies. This approach to cloud has already been adopted by some of the world’s biggest corporations and is widely accepted as best practice. At last, with Viia, businesses of any size can now enjoy the same benefits.
Cloud computing with Viia presents businesses with the power to significantly reduce their impact on the environment by minimising their energy consumption and carbon footprint to help them move towards a greener future. The SMART 2020 report by The Climate Group (a global e-sustainability initiative) estimates that by 2020, IT enabled energy efficiency solutions such as Viia, will provide a global cost saving of approximately worth £515.6 billion.
It has been suggested that for every metric ton of CO2 we generate in the process of providing a cloud solution, we save around 20 metric tons from being released by our clients. As we encourage businesses to take up tenancy in the Viia cloud, we are proud to be contributing to a reduction in the environmental impact of IT in firms across the UK.
Get in touch with us today to discuss Viia and how it can help your business become greener.