What to consider when looking for a green cloud storage provider

Data storage has become an essential component in any business today. With such importance, business organisations are striving to contract data storage services that deliver the required results and help reach their sustainability goals. Selecting a cloud storage provider involves considering a number of factors, among them cost and flexibility. In addition to these factors, business organisations are increasingly considering their sustainability commitment. As more organisations become conscious of their environmental impact, they are looking for green cloud storage providers. Cloud storage offers several benefits, including flexible storage capacity, data security, and cost savings in terms of energy consumption.

As an environmentally conscious business, here are some factors to consider to ensure that you select a green cloud storage provider.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

The cloud storage provider should have a documented plan to become zero-carbon or carbon-negative and regularly track effectiveness metrics such as power usage. This ensures that the provider is committed to reducing their environmental impact. 

Use of Renewable Energy

Some cloud storage providers use renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. The provider should contract with power generation utilities to supply eco-friendly power sources, either through owning and managing renewable energy sources or obtaining them through contracts with renewable energy providers.

Eco-Friendly Data Center Buildings

Cloud data centres should be designed to conform to energy-efficient building construction specifications. Older buildings can also be retrofitted and upgraded to improve their energy efficiency.

HVAC Management

To optimise operational conditions, vendors should monitor equipment, employee work areas, and data storage hardware. They should also use technology to monitor environmental conditions, including energy usage, temperature, humidity, and heat load, and comply with the regulations.

Infrastructure Energy Efficiency

Cloud vendors should assess the eco-friendliness of their utility providers and ensure they have access to low-cost energy and reliable infrastructure sources to maximise energy efficiency.

Support for Green Standards and Mandates

One example of a significant green initiative is the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, which aims to make European data centres climate-neutral by 2030. The pact has been signed by several cloud and data centre providers. By signing the agreement, these providers have committed to using 100% renewable energy to power their data centres and reduce carbon emissions significantly. Another initiative is the Renewable Energy 100 (RE100) campaign, a global initiative led by the Climate Group in partnership with CDP or VMware Zero Carbon Committed Program. These campaigns aim to accelerate the transition to more sustainable operations. Several cloud providers have joined these campaigns and committed to using 100% renewable energy and modern technologies to significantly reduce carbon dioxide.

When evaluating cloud storage providers, consider their green policies and initiatives. By selecting a green cloud storage provider, your organisation is not only reducing its environmental impact but also benefiting from cost savings and secure data storage.