As the digital world becomes increasingly swamped with data, it poses a significant environmental and security risk, presenting unique challenges for organisations seeking to achieve their sustainability goals, writes Matthew Hurford, managing director and vice president, ANZ, at NetApp.
Data is often called the “oil of the digital era”, a valuable resource driving innovation and economic growth in Australia’s digital-first landscape. However, according to global market intelligence firm IDC, just 32 per cent of data available to enterprises is ever put to work.
IDC’s research indicates the remaining 68 per cent is not used. Most of it is siloed across different teams, in conflicting formats, or being “zombie projects” that serve no purpose beyond what they were created for.
This has led to the concept of “data minimalisation”. It is thought to be a means to tackle data bloat and inherent environmental costs. It also addresses security risks associated with lax data retention practices.
Working towards a greener future
Reducing the environmental impact of data storage has become a challenge for organisations looking to achieve sustainability credentials. Managing environmental impacts is increasingly key to KPIs and board-level commitments to environmental, social and governance (ESG).
Data minimalism has emerged as a systematic and effective strategy to tackle inefficient and wasteful data accumulation. Organisations are cutting costs and making significant strides towards meeting sustainability goals by adopting data minimalism as the cornerstone of a data strategy.
Adopting practices to cut data wastage and streamline storage can help organisations achieve the following benefits:
- Comprehensive visibility: A thorough understanding of the volume, nature and location of data helps organisations manage it effectively. Visibility across on-premises and cloud environments is essential.
- Categorisation and prioritisation: Once organisations have achieved data visibility, the next step is categorising and prioritising it. Distinguishing between necessary and unnecessary data is key to meeting governance and sustainability standards.
- Cloud migration and optimisation: Cloud-based solutions enable organisations to effectively explore data migration and tiering opportunities. Cloud providers often prioritise energy-efficient infrastructure architectures, offering scalability and flexibility while cutting the carbon footprint of data storage.
- Data compression and deduplication: Organisations can boost storage efficiency by using these techniques. This allows IT teams to remove redundant copies and compress data, drastically reducing their footprint and allowing consolidation of storage infrastructure.
A pathway to net-zero
NetApp conducted a recent study of tech executives across Australia and New Zealand. The company found that 62 per cent of those executives are developing cloud systems specifically with sustainability goals in mind. Despite Australia’s net-zero ambitions, this result is lower than our Asia-Pacific neighbours, who prominently feature sustainability in their cloud strategies.
According to IDC, spending on sustainability initiatives promoting big data and analytics adoption in Australia and New Zealand is expected to reach more than $13 billion by 2026. There are significant data storage costs across on-premises and the cloud. That’s before accounting for the increasing importance of environmentally sustainable outcomes. This means effective data management must be top of mind for organisations.
It is clear sustainability initiatives are a priority for the Federal Government. The creation of the Net Zero Authority will assist in Australia’s clean energy transition and hitting net-zero emissions by 2050.
The government has also acknowledged the environmental cost of data storage. A new tax break for SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises) was announced in the 2023-2024 Federal Budget for the electrification of cooling and heating systems, including data centres.
Amid current economic uncertainty and the ongoing energy crisis, there is an unprecedented opportunity to overhaul data management strategies and build a greener future. Using data minimalism approaches, organisations across Australia and New Zealand can continue to establish and develop a digital presence and innovate while placing sustainability at the core of their approach.