How outsourced disaster recovery can play a role in achieving sustainability commitments

Sustainability is an issue that all organisations are grappling with and regardless of ever-changing technology landscapes and economic cycles, it has become a constant that needs to be reckoned with. Whether through government regulation, the demands of customers or investor pressure, no organisation is exempt from its direct or indirect impact.

According to the United Nations Environment Program, the technology industry accounts for 2-3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It could be argued that it has had an easier ride than other industries to date in terms of accountability, when compared with more obvious carbon emitters such as the energy sector and aviation industries that have been the subject of intense focus. This situation is now changing. 

Increasingly, the technology sector is being held to account for its carbon emissions. In response, technology and organisations have made substantial efforts to address the two key emission calcifications over which they have most control: scope one - emissions the organisation is directly responsible for, and scope two - indirect emissions, such as electricity. Many have cut their carbon emissions substantially, allowing them to successfully comply with sustainability directives, as they stand. However, there’s a looming issue that is set to make compliance a much greater challenge. 

The challenge of scope three carbon emissions compliance

We’re now starting to see the impact of scope three carbon emissions be felt in the technology sector. That is, all other emissions associated with an organisation’s activities, including its supply chain. While scope three emissions aren’t yet legally enforceable in the US or the UK, they are being widely adopted by large organisations, as legislation is inevitable and there’s a widespread desire to get ahead of the issue. Increasingly the impact of scope three emissions is filtering down to SMEs and SMBs. 

Although Disaster Recovery (DR) and backup are only a relatively small part of the overall technology landscape, they are nonetheless important, given that all aspects of IT operations are covered by scope three emissions compliance. Beyond the need to factor them into compliance, many organisations are beginning to realise that in fact DR and backup can actually help them realise their scope three commitments through outsourcing. 

Outsourcing disaster recovery managed services 

Organisations at the forefront of sustainability are increasingly recognising the value of outsourcing  the DR and backup function to an MSP, which is a very smart and cost effective way to help achieve compliance, because it eliminates the need for data backup via a second site. These sites are costly to operate, don’t always utilise the latest power efficient hardware, and are responsible for significant carbon emissions. Adopting an outsourced approach means scope three compliance is a lot more achievable and manageable. 

Some might question whether outsourcing is simply offloading the problem, but that’s not the case. That’s because MSP DR solutions achieve economies of scale by servicing multiple organisations via a shared facility, making them carbon efficient for customers. This approach makes a lot of sense. 

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is now firmly on the C-level agenda and given the rate at which its scope three component is permeating, it’s very likely we’ll see more organisations adopt outsourced DR services in the near term. Both current and future business for MSPs depends on helping customers and partners achieve ESG compliance. This is an issue that affects everyone and it’s not going away.

Considerations when looking for an MSP

When looking for an MSP capable of delivering a robust DR and backup solution that satisfies ESG and scope three requirements, organisations should place equal value on the technology credentials of the provider. It’s essential to work with a partner who can offer a backup platform that was built from the ground-up with true immutability in mind. Assured Data Protection are experts in the provision of services to a wide variety of organisations across the private and public sectors. Working closely with data security specialists Rubrik, Assured guarantee the rapid restore of data and operations, ensuring the highest levels of DR capability, with the ability to defeat ransomware and other cyber-attacks, which remain an ever-present threat and offer this service in a sustainable way that can help organisations ensure their scope three compliance.