Book Image

Sustainable IT Playbook for Technology Leaders

By : Niklas Sundberg
Book Image

Sustainable IT Playbook for Technology Leaders

By: Niklas Sundberg

Overview of this book

We are at a critical point in human history. Humanity is under threat, but all is not lost. We can take action! But how? Sustainable IT Playbook for Technology Leaders will show you how. It will walk you through the construction and implementation of a sustainable IT strategy and enable you to do your bit for the future of mankind. The book is split into three parts. Part I details the “why” and the clear and present danger that humanity faces today: the climate crisis. How did we get here, what are the immediate threats, what are the planetary boundaries that we need to peel back to safe levels, and what impact does IT have on society at large? Part II will focus on the "what.” It examines the nitty-gritty details of what we can do to unlock significant returns on sustainable investments toward a more sustainable future. Part III, the final part of the book, focuses on the “how.” How do you turn your ideas into action? What do you need to do to establish your baseline and your direction of travel towards your objective? This part provides tangible case studies and explains how you can start your journey today to begin delivering global and impactful objectives. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to plan, implement, and communicate a sustainable IT strategy and set yourself apart as a progressive technology leader.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Why Is Sustainable IT Important?
4
Part 2: What Are Sustainable IT Practices?
12
Part 3: How Do You Accelerate Sustainable IT?

Setting your direction of travel toward a sustainable future

A strategy is about execution, no matter what you try to accomplish. Now that we have a sustainable IT strategy, we must define the most challenging parameters – who and when. Who will execute the strategy, and what capabilities do you need, such as people, processes, and technology? When should you execute the different components of the strategy to move from your current state to your target state?

Creating a short-term, mid-term, and long-term plan and slotting your key initiatives into respective buckets is an excellent place to start. Figure 11.11, Figure 11.12, and Figure 11.13 illustrate each workstream sustainability in IT, sustainability by IT, and IT for society with examples for each key focus area. Given that your industry and environment will look different, these examples should be viewed as inspiration, not direct advice. Establishing your GHG emissions baseline should give you a good overview of...