Microsoft Recognizes Critical Role of Software in Understanding, Managing and Reducing Companies’ Impact on the Environment

Microsoft discusses how companies are turning to business management software to unlock the “convenient truth” that can drive their environmental initiatives.

MUNICH, Germany — Nov. 7, 2006 — Source: Microsoft PressPass - Today at Convergence 2006 EMEA, Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions at Microsoft Corp., discussed how European businesses are looking to supply chain management and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software as key tools for achieving environmental initiatives in their companies. As part of his speech, Nadella revealed the results of a survey conducted in Europe by AMR Research* that showed an increase in IT spending to reduce environmental impact. The key points from the study show the following:

• Environmental sustainability initiatives are a top issue for most if not all companies surveyed, commanding 16 percent of IT budgets in 2004 and growing to 21 percent of IT budgets in 2007 — 31 percent growth for the period. There is some discrepancy between what IT managers and what the managers of specific lines of business think they are investing in, underscoring a lack of cohesiveness in the initiatives across organizations.

• Key technology tools to advance these initiatives are supply chain management, ERP, compliance management, financials and operations.

• Due to the increasing requirements of regulatory compliance, most initiatives in this area have been the result of reactive needs as opposed to a proactive approach to the issue.

• Environmental dashboards were considered useful by 92 percent of respondents, with 77 percent determined to develop one in the near future.

“It makes sense for companies to do this,” Nadella said. “If you want to track energy, waste and emissions, and engage in sustainable practices, then you need to harness back-end processes to increase productivity and make this happen. This is a strategy we are pursuing with Microsoft Dynamics™.”

During his keynote address Nadella demonstrated prototypes of a roles-based environmental dashboard that companies can use to track their environmental initiatives. Microsoft also announced that it will create a Microsoft Dynamics Snap add-in to enable customers to implement an environmental dashboard on top of Microsoft® SharePoint® Products and Technologies and Microsoft Dynamics. The company will also create an online community where people can participate in a discussion about the best steps for achieving environmental sustainability.

“In theory, all enterprise applications should be an important source of data for such activities, but companies have tended to use best-of-breed or even manual systems to date,” said Nigel Montgomery, director of European Research at AMR Research. “Microsoft is the first of the large enterprise applications vendors to overtly focus on a proactive approach to environmental control.”

By being proactive and approaching environmental initiatives from a global perspective, Microsoft Dynamics customers can move beyond simply enabling compliance. They can answer the moral imperative of being good corporate citizens while strengthening their businesses by recognizing hidden efficiencies and thus uncovering the economic benefits of sound environmental sustainability practices.

Read the full item on PressPass.