Microsoft Carbon Optimisation
There is no doubt that any action involving technology and power has an impact on carbon emissions. When relying on the products and delivery of services of providers outside of our realm of control, we have only a limited amount of power over the level of emissions our actions cause, directly or indirectly.
The area we have some level of control is usage.
The world is predominantly capitalist and relies upon traffic, commerce and trade and therefore we have a degree of choice with whom we transact, at a micro and macro level.
We also have a shared responsibility to do what we can towards being least impactful, individually, locally, regionally and internationally, on contributing adversely to the scientifically proven damage we (all) are causing to the planet’s climate.
In the era of cloud computing, what can we do to understand and act upon information available to reduce our impact?
Microsoft has a number of native tools available that analyse, report and make recommendations for improving, or at least limiting the amount of carbon emissions created as a result of our cloud consumption.
At an enterprise tenant level is Microsoft’s Sustainability Manager:
This is a chargeable service, starting at approximately $4,000 per Azure tenant, per month. This service provides comprehensive, integrated and automated sustainability management for organisations at any stage of their sustainability journey and enables organisations to more efficiently record, report and reduce their emissions and water or waste impact.
At an Azure enrolment level is Emissions Impact Dashboard:
This is surfaced using a pre-built Power BI dashboard and provides information regarding Azure cloud emissions data by subscription, resource group, service and location in relation to scopes 1, 2 and 3.
Scope 1 emissions:
Are from sources an organisation owns or controls directly — for example fuel used in a company vehicle fleet (if not electrically-powered).
Scope 2 emissions:
Are those a company causes indirectly from energy it purchases and uses. For example, the emissions caused when generating electricity used in company premises.
Scope 3 emissions:
Are not produced by a company itself or activities from assets they own, but those it’s indirectly responsible for through its supply or value chain. For example, the products a company buys, uses and disposes of from suppliers.
https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/what-are-scope-1-2-3-carbon-emissions
This is a reporting tool, based on historic usage, and does not provide recommendations for directly improving (or reducing) carbon emissions.
The Emissions Impact Dashboard is complemented by Microsoft Azure emissions insights (preview):
This is built on Microsoft Fabric (and therefore carries a pre-requisite for Fabric to be deployed within an organisation) and provides advanced sustainability analytics and reporting.
The final tool currently available is Azure carbon optimisation:
This is available as a free-of-charge service within the Azure portal and is designed to aid IT professionals and developers to make emissions optimisation decisions using emissions insights and recommendations.
The service analyses historic data by subscription, resource group, service and location, in the same vein as the Emissions Impact Dashboard, but will also provide recommendations for reducing carbon emissions by using alternative resources which are more efficient — for example, changing a VM-type.
Also included in the recommendations is the cost implications of change and dovetails well within the sphere of FinOps and specifically, GreenOps.
Each service is interoperable and not necessarily exclusive and provides the opportunity, free-of-charge as well as paid-for, for organisations to begin to take responsibility at a micro level to help contribute to a positive macro-level impact on carbon emissions.
Version 1’s dedicated Microsoft cost optimisation and licensing experts, are equipped to help customers analyse and assess the business and use case for each Microsoft offering.
If you have any questions on Microsoft licensing, cost or carbon optimisation techniques, feel free to contact us and start optimising.
Have you read about Version 1’s Carbon Emissions Calculator? Migration Carbon Emission Savings Calculator — Version 1
About the Author:
William Nelson is a Sales Specialist/License Management Practice as part of the SAM & Licence Management Team at Version 1.
