Sustainable IT Practices: London’s IT Support Industry Leading The Green Movement

Technology is booming. With businesses across the city attempting to implement more and more of this technology, London’s IT support sector is in increasingly high demand.

For those who work in the industry, this book presents an exciting opportunity for growth. But as the man in the spider suit once said: “With great IT knowledge comes great responsibility” (or something along those lines).

Modern tech is a blessing that offers its users incredible convenience and problem-solving power, though it is too often forgotten that there are costs involved. The most alarming of these costs is the way in which technology practices are slowly but surely spoiling the natural world in which we live.

With this in mind, the capital’s IT support industry is now responsible for more than just helping clients get to grips with their tech. It is responsible for leading the way with eco-friendly, sustainable IT practices, both in terms of helping other businesses and running their own operations.

How are they doing this, exactly? Let’s find out.

E-Waste Management

In the early days of the technological revolution, electronic waste management – that is the responsible disposal of unwanted electronic equipment – was very much an afterthought. However, with greater attention now being drawn to environmental issues, many businesses have made it a company practice to dispose of electronics in an eco-friendly way.

The challenge is now to make it a more ubiquitous policy, and that is where the IT support industry is playing its part. For a lot of organizations – especially smaller ones – it’s not always a case of not caring about sustainable practices, but rather a lack of knowledge or understanding on how to implement them in an efficient or cost-effective way. London’s IT support companies are able to educate businesses where there may be blindspots, and provide them with clear waste disposal solutions.

This includes advising on how to effectively dispose of different types of hardware and recommending suitable, safe e-waste recycling facilities. Security is obviously an important consideration when it comes to waste disposal, as organizations fear sensitive company data falling into the wrong hands. London’s IT companies make this a priority in their own e-waste disposal and are therefore able to assist others in doing the same.

Reducing Carbon Footprint

A happy accident of the pandemic, remote work, and work-from-home arrangements have experienced an explosion of growth in the last few years. The benefits of this shift in working culture (to both employees and employers) are well-publicized. But it has also brought about an environmental blessing that deserves some attention, that being a reduction in carbon footprints.

With many professionals now able to work remotely, there has inevitably been a decrease in one of the biggest contributors to individual carbon emissions: travel. Specifically daily commuting by vehicle, though the change has also reduced the amount of work-related flights that professionals need to take.

London’s IT support industry is enabling this revolution across the city in two notable ways. Firstly by offering clients – where possible – remote technical support, meaning on-site visits aren’t so necessary, and engineers/support staff aren’t required to travel so much. And secondly, by helping organizations take steps to become more remote themselves. Switching to a remote way of working typically requires businesses to adopt new software, hardware, and security measures, as well as be educated on how to use each of these things. The city’s experienced IT support operations are able to provide technical assistance for all remote-working needs, and in turn, help decrease the client’s carbon footprint.

Renewable Energy

As convenient as they make our lives, the uncomfortable reality is that computers and other such IT hardware are a drain on traditional energy resources. Especially when they are used in volume on a 24/7 basis, as is the case for many organizations.

Acknowledging this problem, some IT support companies within London are looking for renewable sources of energy to help power their operations. In most cases, it’s not realistic to be running an entire building (including all its hungry computers) entirely off solar energy, though the installation of solar panels can help reduce the amount of power used from standard energy suppliers.

For London’s IT support providers, making sustainable energy choices goes beyond simply how to power the company HQ. In many cases, they are also choosing IT services that run their data centers with the help of renewable energy. What’s more, they’re advising clients on adopting renewable energy methods and services into their own business operations.

Energy-Efficient Solutions

Switching to greener energy sources is one of the most eco-friendly moves an organization can make, but just as impactful (and arguably easier) is to focus on saving energy. Ensuring that energy doesn’t get needlessly wasted is often as simple as powering down or switching off, yet many workplaces fail to take such measures.

London’s IT support professionals are all too aware of this problem and are therefore using their expertise to make the workplace – of clients, and their own – a more energy-efficient place. While they can’t make others turn off their machines at the end of the workday, they are able to optimize system settings and create power management strategies to help reduce energy consumption throughout the day. Additionally, they’re also installing and recommending energy-efficient hardware, as well as suggesting and setting up various IT services that help save power. Virtual technologies and cloud services are prime examples of this; according to Microsoft, cloud computing is a whopping 93% more energy-efficient than on-premise data centers.

The IT Industry – A Greener Future?

Making significant improvements to all of the aforementioned environmental issues will likely require a concerted societal and global effort. When (or whether?) that happens, remains to be seen.

In London and the UK, the green movement has long been about watering your own patch of grass and doing your individual part. By integrating green initiatives into their operations and services, that is what London’s IT support businesses have been attempting to achieve. And in doing so, there is hope that they’ll influence other industries to make more eco-friendly decisions moving forward.

Michael Collins, director of London-based IT support provider Sphere IT, acknowledges that when it comes to sustainable IT, he and his industry peers have a responsibility:

“Of course, we want to offer the best possible IT support service to our clients. One that enables them to have smooth operation of systems, and achieve all their business goals. But as IT experts we are also keen to set an example and raise awareness of how traditional technology practices are taxing the world in which we live.

“No one is expected to be a superhero when it comes to the green movement – for most businesses in London, simply making a few small, inexpensive changes to their IT systems can drastically reduce their environmental impact. Many either aren’t aware or don’t know how to make such changes, and that’s where we believe we can help.”