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Is 2021 the watershed year for the channel's sustainability efforts?

With Microsoft, Apple and HP already making decisive commitments to sustainability so far this year, CRN asks whether we are looking at a turning point in the channel's adoption of the green agenda

Sustainability is among many topics that got pushed down company agendas with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Prior to March 2020, it was a topic gaining traction at all levels of the channel, buoyed by the likes of Microsoft's lofty carbon goals and Dell's ‘Moonshot Goals' for 2030. But when COVID hit, the green agenda and circular economy had to take a back seat to more pressing concerns.

However, this year so far the channel has seen a raft of announcements from major vendors, such as Apple and Microsoft declaring that senior executives would see their bonuses affected by how they perform against each respective company's ESG goals. HP too has launched its Amplify Impact initiative which is an extension of its Amplify partner programme which requires a commitment to sustainability and community development from partners who sign up to it.

Following the launch of the CRN Tech Impact Campaign and Awards last week and as the UK prepares to host the UN'S Climate Change Conference later this year, we ask if 2021 is the year the channel gets serious about sustainability.

"It definitely feels like a watershed moment, that this is where the acceleration really begins," said Al Wynn, operations director at Softcat.

"We were having probably one or two conversations with partners per week on this topic this time last year, and now it's one or two per day."

Simon Harbridge, CEO of Stone Group - which also has an IT asset disposition business - said that COVID has shown that businesses and society can successfully adapt to sudden changes and this flexibility also needs to be applied to the increasing challenges presented by climate change.

"The world's facing a bigger global crisis than coronavirus with global warming and it's an even more difficult nut to crack," he mused.

"COVID has been a terrible thing but we've also seen some of the best work, innovation and collaboration generated in responding to it, and we need to have that same sense of urgency with climate change."

Vendor impact

Earlier this year Apple announced that it would use its environmental, social and governance "modifier" to affect executives' pay up or down by up to 10 per cent. It is not the only tech titan to implement such a measure; Microsoft has had a similar policy in place for a number of years but this year announced that progress on sustainability goals would be a factor in determining executives' pay.

Roger Whittle, founder and CEO of Apple reseller Jigsaw24 (pictured), said that Apple has been vocal in its messaging around the circular economy and sustainability and that he expects these messages to eventually permeate its partner programme. The reseller has launched over 100 sustainability initiatives over the past 12 months in order to help tackle the climate emergency.

"It hasn't followed through quite yet, but I believe it will be imminent," he said.

"Most of these big companies, particularly Apple, are saying the right things and I believe they are doing the right thing. And I think that will follow in due course.

"If you're an established Apple partner and you haven't picked up on their push around sustainability, then you've been half asleep."

Stone's Harbridge too believes that these kinds of goals by vendors will encourage channel partners to follow suit and see the benefits both financially and socially from taking part in the circular economy.

"The large global players coming out and making these statements is critical because it will inevitably trickle through their partners as well," he stated.

"We're on a ticking time bomb and I think 2021 has to be the where we all work together to make some serious inroads now because soon it'll be too late."

Andrew Gomarsall, director at ITAD N2S, welcomed these efforts from global vendors but was dismayed that executives need to take a potential hit to the pocket in order to push the green agenda further.

"These announcements are meaningful and will make a difference. I just think it's a sad indictment that we have to motivate people by bonusing them to look at it," he said.

HP has been more proactive in corralling its partners to make sustainability a part of their business. Last month it launched its Amplify Impact programme, which asks partners to sign an oath and also makes HP's sustainability resources available to those partners. The PC and print vendor anticipates that half of its global partners will have signed up to it by 2025.

Softcat's Wynn said the VAR - who is a partner of Microsoft, Apple and HP - has had conversations with HP about Amplify Impact, and expects the messages from these vendors are a gauntlet throwdown to the wider tech industry.

"I think it's wonderful what they're all doing," he said.

"We've got that synergy between our ambitions and their ambitions and it's great that it's been baked in as part of this HP programme. I expect to see a number of other vendors become a bit more vocal, a bit more prominent and a bit more forthcoming with their own propositions."

Stone's Harbridge agreed and said he would "definitely" be signing up to Amplify Impact.

"We've got that sustainability right at the heart of our business and the more we can piggyback and learn off the HP programme and make sure our own initiatives are having as big an impact then that's all the better," he stated.

What comes next?

Canalys recently published a survey that revealed only 30 per cent of channel partners reported that customers are "frequently influenced" by sustainability in their IT investments. These stats, the analyst noted, were due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, adding that climate change will climb back to the top of the agenda as the pandemic wanes.

All commenters for this piece agreed that the IT industry should grab the bull by the horns and help influence customer behaviour towards the circular economy and being mindful of how their IT assets are maintained or disposed of.

"The bit that we need to work on - across the market and the channel - is the focus on getting that circular economy piece truly moving," said Softcat's Wynn.

"A lot of it comes down to awareness being baked in and forming part of the solution; a customer needs to be supported by all of those players - reseller, distributor, vendor - that have a part to play."

Jigsaw24's Whittle added that sustainable IT and green policies are becoming pressing matters for channel firms and their clients and that those who push the green agenda as part of their business model will ultimately reap the rewards of helping the planet.

"Those who adopt early and prepare their businesses and prepare their working models and environments early will certainly be the ones that come out best when carbon levies become more onerous on organisations in the future," he advised.

His colleague at Jigsaw24 Tim Bodill, director of enterprise services, added that government departments are now starting to include sustainable practices as part of their tenders which should push resellers into adapting green policies into their business models.

"It's not hitting us around the face that government tenders are all demanding a high level of sustainability qualifications and credentials, but there are certainly signs of it creeping into discussions," he said.

"It's subtle at the moment, but they are saying ‘Without these credentials, we simply won't be dealing with you anymore or we won't be dealing with you in the future'. That message is getting louder and louder."

N2S' Gomarsall (pictured, left) added that the pandemic has resulted in empty offices full of unused IT equipment that is becoming outdated with every passing day. The COVID crisis has also led business leaders to reconsider their working from home policies that will lead to a lot of this office kit being disposed of in favour of mobile devices.

"There's a lot of supply currently sat in offices doing nothing," he stated.

"Nobody's picking it up, nobody's doing anything with it and are waiting for decisions [from the government about re-opening]. There is so much out there at the moment and it's a great opportunity to talk and plan with end customers and I just don't think the channel is awake to that.

"I don't think we're awake to it at all."