Your business strategy versus your OEM's

February 27, 2020 4 minute read

In Aliter’s webinar, “The Business CAse for Circular IT: An Alternative to your OEM’s strategy”, we looked at IT investment and strategy, and discussed linear vs circular IT. Many organisations take a linear approach – following what is easiest and most cost effective, replacing their IT hardware every 3-5 years. A decision largely influenced by OEMs.

These OEMs typically have different priorities than sustainably-minded organisations, a disconnect can lead to budgeting, operational and sustainability challenges, and cause productivity and innovation to plummet.

We ran a poll during the webinar to see if we truly understood the challenges our customers were facing. And sure enough, the results suggest that most:

  • Are being asked to reduce budgets and capital expenditure;
  • while witnessing increased momentum of new network product releases.

As our APAC Sales Director Sean Doyle puts it, this presents a dilemma. “In many cases capex is used to buy new hardware to reduce maintenance costs. However, in most companies now, capital is not easy to come by and we see other more innovative projects hampered by the need to always reduce your maintenance bill.”

Poll results from our recent webinar suggest a dilemma.

MOVING TOWARDS A GREENER FUTURE – PRIORITISING SDGS IN YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY

It’s a dilemma we see more widely reflected beyond our poll, particularly since the introduction of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015.

But it’s far from all bad! Increasingly, companies are incorporating one or more of the SDGs into their strategic plans and CSR reports – taking definitive steps towards a greener business future!

PWC’s 2018 report on SDG Reporting reflects this shift well – highlighting that 72% of companies surveyed include some of the goals in their annual corporate or sustainability report; while 50% identified priority SDGs. And of those companies, 54% carry the goals through to their business strategy. Plus, while the goals don’t exactly feature on every CEO’s agenda (yet!), it’s remarkable to note that in just a few years, almost 20% of “CEO or Chair statements in annual reports” also mention the SDGs.

Some companies are even gearing their entire business models towards the SDGs, like Unilever , which also strongly advocates for Goal 17 – Partnerships for the Goals. Imagine, if more businesses partner together, we can revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development, and strengthen the means of implementation.

Every organization is influenced by, or has influence on meeting the SDGs.

Do you prioritise any of the SDGs in your business strategy?

Among other SDGs, Aliter focuses on Goal 13, Climate Action. (Image by Jasmin Sessler from Pixabay.)

WHICH SDGS DOES ALITER NETWORKS FOCUS ON?

Aliter likes to think of its clients as partners in the pursuit of sustainable development. We also partner with CEDaCI (European Initiative for Green IT for Data Centers), so that’s Goal 17. But frankly, our business approach focuses on nearly all of the SDGs in one way or another, owing to various community projects and charity initiatives like our work with Thaki.org.

And of course, by facilitating the reuse of IT, we really target the below goals:

By offering our refurbished IT solutions, we’re helping our clients work towards these goals too.

As we shared in our webinar, we believe it really is possible to create a strategy that’s good for people, planet and profit, while meeting IT business needs. We encourage a shift away from following your OEM’s strategy, and instead, the uptake of reused network and IT equipment.

“Aliter is committed to making a difference with IT. And developing your business strategy to include a focus on sustainability, and reusing IT, is better for people, planet and profit,” says Aliter Chief Happiness Officer Odette van Zijdveld.

“Often, we work with CIOs, Network Managers and Business Strategists and Developers, who have a hand in planning for their company’s future.”

“Together, we learn about their business imperatives, and the challenges and opportunities that exist when it comes to IT and network requirements. Then we set to work to find a better solution!”

We are committed to making a difference with IT.