Intelligent CIO North America Issue 20 | Page 82

FINAL WORD

Balancing reliability and sustainability in the data center space

For Schneider Electric , sustainability has been a priority for many years and the company was recently ranked as the world ’ s most sustainable in 2021 by Corporate Knights Global 100 Index . Now , as sustainability rises to the top of the agenda for many more organizations , Schneider Electric is playing its part in helping customers and partners to achieve their own green objectives .
Here , Greater Boston-based Pankaj Sharma , Executive Vice President – Secure Power Division , Schneider Electric , discusses why sustainability is top priority for today ’ s businesses and consumers , and offers his insights into how data center organizations can conquer the age-old challenge of delivering uptime and operational reliability in a sustainable way .

The critical issue of climate change is driving strategic discussions within board rooms as sustainability has become a major factor in business decisionmaking over the last year – particularly in light of COP26 . As one of the industries which contributes most to carbon emissions , the onus is on data center teams to make smarter , greener decisions when investing in new technologies .

The IT industry as a whole must play its part by making strategic eco-friendly decisions which serve to benefit the planet rather than threaten it .
Intelligent CIO spoke to Pankaj Sharma , Executive Vice President – Secure Power Division , Schneider Electric , to find out more about how the climate crisis impacts the sector – and vice versa – as well as how data center teams can make bold steps on the path to a more sustainable future and the importance of sustainability for Schneider Electric as a business .
How has increased consumer awareness and demand for sustainability impacted organizations ?
In the last few years , the appreciation , or awareness of sustainability has gone up substantially , especially within the data center industry . There are , of course , organizations which have been talking about sustainability for a long time . At Schneider Electric , for example , we ’ ve had the Sustainability Index for almost a
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