How To Reduce Your Environmental Impact Through IT

Julie Starr • Jun 10, 2020

The bigger the company, the more likely it is to have a high energy consumption from it’s IT infrastructure. You might think that this is a necessary evil of modern technology but, if you are a business looking to reduce its carbon footprint, then there are a number of things you can do to lessen your impact on the environment.

Upgrade Your Hardware

If you’re still using old-style CRT monitors and archaic printers, then they are not very energy efficient and are using far more power than they need to. They cost more to run and more to leave on standby, plus, they aren’t very efficient and in today’s workplace, are probably slowing down your employees.

Upgrading to the latest hardware will increase productivity and save energy as modern computers and peripherals use a lot less power to run.

If you aren’t sure what changes you need to make, get in touch with your IT support partner , they will be able to advise you on the most appropriate new equipment and also arrange for the existing equipment to be recycled or disposed of legally and safely. You can be confident that it won’t simply end up in a landfill if there are components that can be recycled.

Set Your Office IT To Power Down At Night

How many times have you worked late, and as you left the office, spotted monitors still powered on or PCs left on standby rather than being switched off? It’s a common sight in workplaces all over the world. You might think that because they are on standby, they aren’t using much power. While the amount of power is minimal, multiply it by the hundreds of machines in your office and it soon starts to add up.

If you work in a large company, that could be hundreds of pieces of equipment left on every single night.

Have your IT team, or IT support company set a rule that turns off all hardware at a certain time in the evening. Over the course of the year, that can save you a small fortune in energy costs. You don’t have to worry about suddenly losing power if you’re still working, the system will know that your computer is still active and your work will be safe.

Opt For Digital Storage Solutions – There are more reasons now to go paperless than ever before, and one of these is to do with your storage. Not everyone has the ability to store all of their files in-house, and so they end up renting storage units to store documents that, for the most part, will never get seen again. It’s a good idea to buy your company custom USB drives. Not only is it safer to store everything digitally onto a USB drive, it just makes it easier to access the relevant files you need. That way, you don’t need to waste time, money, or resources sifting through mountains of documents to find what you’re looking for.

Move To The Cloud

There are many benefits to moving to cloud computing. You save money on servers and infrastructure, as well as space and power needed to run it. You will also need an on-site IT resource to run and monitor it.

People often focus on financial savings on hardware and staffing costs. Cloud computing is also much better for the environment.

A study on the environmental impact of cloud computing was conducted by Microsoft entitled ‘The Carbon Benefits of Cloud Computing: A Study on the Microsoft Cloud’. The study showed that cloud computing (Microsoft’s) had 98% lower carbon emissions than traditional on-site data centers.

The popularity of cloud computing has also led to a process called dematerialization. This is the replacement of physical (and high-carbon) items with virtual data. All in all, there are a lot fewer pieces of hardware and physical media produced.

This virtualized storage can also make the paperless office one step closer. The ease of accessing and storing files makes it much less likely that people will print out and physically store information.

Cloud data providers have come to realize that businesses want to reduce their carbon footprint , so they are starting to power their data centers from energy retrieved from renewable sources such as wind, hydropower, geothermal and solar.

Annually, cloud computing can save billions of dollars and reduce emissions by millions of tons. It really is a win-win.

Implement A Remote Working Policy

Employees spend a long time commuting back and forth to work every day. Unless they walk, cycle or use an electric vehicle, then they are going to be using transport that has an impact on the environment. The average employee, working Monday – Friday spends between 4.5 – 10.7 hours per week commuting .

There are many advantages to working at home from both a productivity and wellbeing standpoint, but you’ll also be reducing the carbon travel footprint of your employees. In a survey by Regus, 91% of people said that they were more productive when they worked from home .

You do not have to go fully remote, but even allowing employees to work from home one of two days per week will have a massive impact on the environment.

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Here’s Why Happiness Should Be Your Business Ethos

By Julie Starr • 06 May, 2024

Building a business can be full of stress, uncertainty and pretty ugly moments whilst you’re in the trenches. Although you can’t avoid some pressured moments, you can choose to take the happy high road when it comes to all aspects of your business. Cultivating an ethos that is based on happiness will help to keep you grounded during those trying times. It will also help to attract the right employees and customers in your business realm so that you are always crossing paths with people who think in the same way as you. When it comes to employee satisfaction , you should always try to keep them as happy as possible, as they are truly what makes your business go round. Happiness isn’t a linear scale, but it can certainly help to give your business the edge over your competitors as it will be a more appealing and positive establishment overall. If you’re unsure how to weave happiness into the ethos of your business, here are a handful of ideas to help you get started. You’ll Retain Your Team for Longer When you make a conscious effort to cultivate a happy and positive working environment for your employees, they are much more likely to stick around. Employee retention is vital if you’re hoping to create a happy and cohesive workplace for your team. Moreover, you will also reduce unnecessary costs by having to retrain new employees on a regular basis. It’s important to hold onto the hard-working staff members you have as they will be an asset to your team for many years to come. Your Employees Will Be More Passionate When your employees are working in a truly happy and thriving environment they will be much more passionate about what they do. The last thing you want is a team of people who are lackluster about the tasks at hand, and they need a regular shove in order to boost their motivation. Building a positive and supportive environment means that your workers feel more comfortable talking about their issues and sharing their creative ideas. Nurturing your employees and encouraging them to take action in every job role they undertake will help them to carve out their own place in your company so that they can feel as though they’re making a real impact. This is a mindful way to approach the management of your team as it always keeps their emotions and person goals in mind too. You’ll Be Committed to Continuous Improvement When you’re striving towards a happy state of mind throughout your business, your work will never truly be done. To some people this may seem like you’re carrying out a thankless task, but it actually means you’re dedicated to continuous improvement for the future. One of the most effective ways you can do this is look into options such as enterprise service management . With an integrated system which combines digital services and IT systems your employees will have everything they need in a simplified format. Instead of long and complicated processes, you can have smooth and positive automated processes which reduce employee errors and frustration. Having a simple and smooth system for your employees to use will ultimately make them happier and more content as they carry out their daily roles. Your Clients Will Sense the Positive Ethos Clients and customers need to be assured that their hard earned money is never going to waste. Buying from an honest, upbeat and positive business is what many people prioritize so this is why you should consider making it part of your business ethos. You would be surprised at how quickly your clients sense this sort of joyful way of approaching a business. You’ll Start to Think More About the Environment When you make a conscious effort to bring more happiness and positivity into your workplace, you will start to think more about other things that matter. Whether you’re focusing on the mental health of your employees, or you’re approaching your business in a more sustainable manner, this sort of business ethos is bound to be a healthier place to work all round. Your Brand Will Build a Good Reputation Consumers can spot a positive brand from a mile away, which can work wonders for your profits and sales. Although it’s not always about the numbers, it can give you a sense of comfort that your hard work to promote positivity at work isn’t going unrecognized. Not only will people want to buy from you as you have strong ethics and excellent attitudes, but top talent will also want to work for you too. Nowadays, people can be more picky about where they choose to work, especially if a certain workplace isn’t offering the right type of support or positive ethos. Building a good brand reputation is possible as long as you are being authentic throughout the process. You Will Feel Less Stressed When you’re a business owner, it can be very difficult to manage stress , especially when you have so much on your plate at a time. However, if you regularly instill a happy and positive ethos into your business workplace, this is going to have an impact on your mood too. It’s not only your clients and employees who deserve to feel happy and positive; you deserve to reap some of the rewards you have created yourself. Instilling this happy business ethos means that you are much likely to adopt this way of thinking for yourself too. Turning your business into a happy, centered and calm place to be won’t happen overnight, but it is possible when you have the future in mind. When your brand chooses happiness over conflict, stress and upset you will have a happier set of customers and employees altogether. It’s clear to see why your business might improve when you adopt the ethos of happiness, from more passionate employees to a better brand reputation. As you start to implement these culture changes in your workplace, hopefully all of your hard work starts to shine through in multiple ways.

Things to Consider When Creating a New Product

By Julie Starr • 04 May, 2024

If you're thinking about creating a new product for your business there's a lot you need to keep at the forefront of your thoughts. When you have a new idea it can be exciting and you want to jump right in and test whether or not it will bring in some much-needed capital into your business. However, before you forge your head you need to put some brakes on your ideas. This is because you're going to need to go through a few steps to make sure that you are not wasting your time. Here's a look at the things you should do when you want to create a new product. Do Market Research Market research is the first thing you're going to need to do. No matter how great the idea you may have, if there is no demand for it then you're wasting your time and your business capital. You want to do market research to see whether people will be willing to buy your product. Once you have validated that there are customers for it you can move on to the next step. Unique Selling Proposition In the next stage of the entire process, you're going to look at the unique selling propositions of your product. How is it different from what is already out there? Why should someone buy it as opposed to another product? You have to make sure that you have some kind of innovative features that are superior in quality that will catch your customers' eyes and get them to reach into their wallets. Product Design and Development The next thing you're going to do is to make sure that you put a design and developmental system in place. This is the only way that you're going to end up with a high-quality product to put on the market. You may have to get other people to assist you or select the employees that are skilled to help create the product. If you have to do the creation of a product that requires a lab, you can use lab facilities that are located in your area. In some cases, you might have to get manufacturing help from outside of the country but with all the communication technology available this should be a breeze. Do a Cost Analysis You're going to need to do a cost analysis of the product that you are creating. You don't want to have to empty your company's piggy bank to create a product. You need to make sure that you are going to make enough of a profit based on what you will be spending to actually create the product in the first place. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot. It's up to you to make sure that you're going to get back every penny that you are spending and then some. The type of products that you are creating should create a sense of excitement in your existing customer base. You do a survey and find out if excitement is bubbling up in them to see a new product. This can gauge how successful it will be.