Page 11 - Issue 4 2023

INFRASTRUCTURE

NaaS pulling the levers towards

sustainable success

By Mandy Duncan, Aruba Country Manager South Africa

hile digital transformation has undoubtably helped businesses gain a
competitive edge, increase profitability and enrich customer experiences
Wacross the globe, we cannot ignore technology’s contribution towards
the world’s carbon footprint. As climate change continues to dominate conversations
amongst businesses and consumers alike, we need to commit to reducing technology’s
environmental impact.
After all, if the global IT industry were a country, it would be the fifth biggest
emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Within South Africa, only around 5% of
electronic waste (e-waste) generated every year is recycled and reused within the
digital economy.
Tackling this environmental crisis requires a collaborative effort across the entire
technology ecosystem, from vendors to consumers themselves. From a channel
perspective, partners must now play a crucial role in helping their customers navigate
sustainability challenges.
But what exactly does a sustainable IT-as-a-service offer look like? Network-as- Mandy Duncan
a-Service (NaaS) is a great place to start. Recent research from Aruba has shown a
clear appetite for this new network consumption model amongst end-users within
South Africa. Already recognised by potential customers as a key enabler of financial IT equipment in a safe and
flexibility and business agility, here’s how NaaS can also pull those all-important environmentally responsible way. In fact,
sustainability levers. 77% of businesses view ITAD assistance
and e-waste services as an essential
Optimising energy consumption element of a NaaS offer according to
NaaS provides end-customers with innovative and sustainable networks that they can IDC.
‘rent’ from the experts on a subscription basis. By partnering with an experienced By factoring asset decommissioning
NaaS vendor, channel companies can combine their unique understanding of their strategies into their NaaS offering,
customer’s business, with the vendor’s depth and breadth of product and solution channel partners can enable customers
knowledge to provide a network configuration that optimises energy consumption. to participate in the circular economy,
To further reduce the customer’s carbon footprint, modern network vendors like ensuring the lifecycle of products is
Aruba also help deliver greener IT by sourcing electricity from renewables and utilising extended for as long as possible and
Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML)-based models to bring down power reducing waste to a minimum.
consumption. On top of this, with digital
Of course, a solid and sustainable NaaS offering should be underpinned by an transformation pressures rising, purse
environmental approach to networking across the entire IT supply chain. Channel strings on IT budgets tightening, and
partners need to reassure their customers they are working with certified sustainable technology lifecycles shortening,
vendors to ensure climate-conscious initiatives are embedded at the very top of organisations can add value back to
the value chain. NaaS players such as HPE GreenLake for Aruba are already working their business through this model
towards their climate goals, with HPE seeing a 53% reduction in operational of consumption. Upcycling and
greenhouse emissions from 2016 levels and a 30x increase in the energy performance remarketing idle equipment can give
of its product portfolio, from its 2016 baseline. functional assets a second useful
life, and in turn provide money
Reusing hardware back to the business for customers.
Today’s NaaS offerings are increasingly accompanied by IT asset disposal (ITAD) Choosing pre-owned equipment where
services, a practice built around reusing, recycling or disposing of unwanted appropriate can help to expand budget

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