Environment
Growing our business by shrinking our footprint
For an information-led organisation like ours environmental management is not just about responsibility, it's about efficiency.
We were one of the first UK businesses to sign up to the carbon reduction commitment. We share best practice by working closely with the Carbon Trust and as members of the Prince's Mayday network.
We operate two main and two back-up data centres at 4 separate locations. By the end of 2010 all of our sites and operations will conform to the ISO14001 environmental standard. Our biggest site already does.
It doesn't end there. We're committed to continually minimising our energy consumption.
In data centres a lot of the focus is on temperature control. We've installed low consumption equipment. And we've raised our safe operating temperatures by 1 - 2 degrees to avoid expending unnecessary energy on cooling systems. We're now looking at recycling heat and renewable energy sources.
Getting people to work well together is a continual challenge for a large, multi-site operation. We know it can be more efficient for colleagues to meet face-to-face, but we also want to minimise our transport costs. We track our travel habits and give travel users feedback on the amount of carbon they use depending on the type of travel.
So how do you help people collaborate effectively and still go green?
Technology can be part of the answer. We've installed telepresence equipment at our primary sites. It's working well. Colleagues are finding they can interact, travel time is reduced and we're saving fuel. And our virtualised citrix environment allows us to work remotely, reducing travel whilst enhancing resilience.