The sustainable Cloud from Fundaments

What is sustainability?

Tom: “Sustainability is a broad concept, of course, but it essentially covers everything people and organizations do to leave the smallest possible ecological footprint. In the business world, for example, it is often associated with corporate social responsibility.”

Jeroen: “Whether the Cloud consumes a lot or a little energy depends on the application. Cloud computing is inherently a major power consumer, but it doesn't necessarily mean an application uses more power just because it's in the Cloud. I actually think it's more efficient this way.”

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How do sustainability and the Cloud come together?

Jeroen: “In my opinion, it’s all about efficiency. Deploying server equipment in such a way that it is utilized to the maximum. Furthermore, the Cloud is easily scalable, and users can simply scale up with their provider. This provider then uses virtualization: a technique to divide a server into compartments. Efficiency is therefore a major driver. In the past, a server was dedicated to one client; if that client canceled, the server was useless to us because a new client would require different specifications. With virtualized resources, that is much easier because the client makes a usage request and simply wants a VM. We can now reuse servers where that was previously impossible.”

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What motivates companies to choose a sustainable Cloud?

Tom: “Companies look at profitability, of course, and by using Cloud solutions, they save money: they no longer need to maintain their own data center or run their own servers. It’s also about brand image. If you commit to the environment as a company, you can promote that. Customers value this, and investors are also more likely to approach you. Additionally, there is increasingly more environmental legislation and regulation. For example, our data centers must comply with the European Energy Efficiency Directive.”

Jeroen: “Yes, this means we have configured every server in our server park to continuously monitor load and the corresponding energy usage. This way, energy and demand are always optimally aligned. These environments are becoming ‘smarter’ to keep up with user peaks.”

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What does VMware Zero Carbon Committed mean in this context?

Tom: “Zero Carbon Committed is a VMware initiative. They want to minimize the emissions of VMware products. We have joined this initiative, which allows us to leverage VMware’s expertise. The ultimate goal is to provide our services in a climate-neutral way. To participate, we had to demonstrate several things to VMware. For instance, we had to show that we only use data centers that run on green energy and that we hold an ISO 14001 certificate.”

Jeroen: “Yes, this 14001 certification often focuses on offices: is waste separated, and how is lighting managed? However, we also apply this to our data centers, as they are our primary energy consumers.”

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How is Fundaments becoming even more sustainable?

Jeroen: “We purchase the servers we deploy in the data center. You can choose how long to use the equipment. Our optimal usage period is 5 years, but we are looking into whether we can extend that by a year to ensure efficient use.”

Tom: “Our vehicle fleet is fully electric, and we have an environmental management system where we strive to improve every year. We also have an environmental week at the company: for example, we once cleaned up the park next to our building with all our colleagues. Additionally, we have waste separation and try to use as little paper as possible.

Curious about trends in sustainability and the Cloud? Watch Jeroen and Tom’s talk show here:

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