Sustainability and SAP data management: A crucial link

In today’s age, many enterprises are focusing on reducing their carbon footprint and working towards a more sustainable future. However, a recent report commissioned by IT infrastructure and services company NTT data reveals that many organisations may be overlooking an essential component of their sustainability strategy: data management.

The research suggests that a whopping 67% of organisations are unaware of the environmental consequences of their data storage strategies. Despite this, 75% of C-suite executives view sustainability as a top concern, highlighting a significant disconnect.

For SAP customers, this is a call to action. If you are using SAP or related platforms, understanding and effectively managing your data is more than just an IT or storage issue. It’s a critical component of your broader sustainability and corporate responsibility objectives.

Why is data management a sustainability issue?

Storing data has a direct environmental impact. To give a clearer perspective, storing 1TB of data in the cloud annually can produce an astounding 2 tons of CO2. This statistic alone showcases the significant carbon footprint of seemingly intangible data.

NTT’s report, “The unseen environmental cost of data”, indicates that up to 60% of stored data is unused. Holding on to redundant data increases energy consumption, leads to more servers being deployed, and inadvertently heightens carbon emissions. This unused data, apart from inflating operational costs, is indirectly contributing to environmental degradation.

By 2025, as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) becomes mandatory, organisations will need to refine their data strategies both to optimise storage and to comply with reporting requirements. Falling behind in tracking and reducing carbon emissions linked to data could result in skyrocketing costs.

How we can help SAP customers

Our SAP data management services are designed to align your operations with sustainable best practices. Here’s a detailed look:

Data profiling and cleanup: We’ll help you identify and remove “useless and unwanted” data, reducing the amount of superfluous data storage.

SAP data archiving: We specialise in implementing data archiving strategies using SAP ILM and OpenText solutions. These tools help in storing historical data securely and efficiently, ensuring your active databases remain lean and high-performing, while also reducing storage costs.

Manage on-going growth: Recognising that data management isn’t a static task, our services incorporate ongoing monitoring and adjustment, ensuring that your SAP operations remain lean, efficient, and sustainable.

Decommissioning legacy systems: Legacy systems, despite their previous utility, now often present a double challenge: they tend to consume more power and take up more space than their modern counterparts. We help you transition from these systems, moving essential data to more modern platforms. This shift not only optimises your IT infrastructure but also significantly contributes to your organisation’s sustainability goals.

Our work has had tangible impacts. One of our notable success stories is with Croda International. With our approach, they achieved an reduction in the data footprint of their SAP systems by over 80%.

Get started with a complementary data assessment