Dimension Data headquarters achieve environmental certification

Dimension Data has received ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems (EMS) certification for its global headquarters, adding to its existing certifications in offices in Europe and Australia. The company is continuing to roll out its EMS, a part of its larger Carbon Management Plan (CMP), to other sites around the world.

The ISO 14001:2004 certification signifies Dimension Data's successful implementation of an effective EMS, and the company's commitment to environmentally-friendly business operations. The certification covers compliance, impact of business activities, as well as products and services.

The ISO 14001 certification represents another milestone in Dimension Data's Sustainability Strategy as it continues to strengthen its own operations, implementing its client-facing Sustainable Solutions Suite.

The audit assessed Dimension Data's policies and documentation; it then examined how well the programme had been integrated across all areas of the business, including HR practices, training, internal and external communication, compliance, facilities management and IT operations. Dimension Data's Sustainable Solutions are a suite of IT solutions and services that help organisations accelerate their sustainability strategy and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while focusing on the reduction of travel, energy and waste.

Anton Jooste, Solutions Executive and Sustainability Executive Sponsor for Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, said: “Business and world leaders are looking to technology to help reduce costs while addressing stakeholder and corporate governance requirements. Dimension Data is equipped to contribute to the world's call for suppliers and vendors to take action, and provide sustainable ICT strategies and solutions that minimise energy usage, reduce travel and decrease waste.”

As part of its EMS, Dimension Data has implemented programmes to virtualise and consolidate its global and regional data centres, resulting in the reduction of over 500 servers globally thus far. In September 2011, Dimension Data's Internet Solutions and Advanced Infrastructure divisions built a new Tier 3 facility that is the first in Africa to deploy free cooling technology, which provides a world-class solution for efficient and reliable autonomous cooling for data centres. The result is that Dimension Data now has one of the most energy-efficient data centres in South Africa, with the highest free cooling continuity for any Tier 3 data centre. This improvement results in a 93% saving on cooling costs and 41% saving on power bills.

“Sustainable initiatives like the free cooling technology demonstrate the tangible results the auditors needed for the purposes of accrediting Dimension Data with the EMS certification,” says Jooste. “This provides a very powerful endorsement for Dimension Data, encouraging employees and clients to support and expand on their increasing environmental focus.”

Dimension Data continues to invest heavily in desktop and room-based videoconferencing facilities, as well as a global network for immersive TelePresence. Not only has this reduced travel, but it has also significantly increased productivity. Many of the company's buildings, like its headquarters, The Campus, incorporate Smart Building technology such as IP-connected building management systems and sensors to switch off lights in unoccupied rooms.

“Through all these actions, and many more, we have reduced our CO2 emissions by 43% over the past year. Travel per full-time employee has been reduced by 59% compared with 2007,” concluded Jooste.

Note to editors:

Dimension Data's Sustainable Solutions provide services to help organisations across the following areas:

* Travel reduction: Unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solutions reduce travel by overcoming the restrictions of geography. Collaborative tools allow dispersed teams to work together effectively, while visual communications make face-to-face meetings successful without the need for expensive, time-consuming journeys. IP telephony and contact centre solutions allow mobile workers and agents to be productive, irrespective of their location.

* Energy efficiency: Virtualisation solutions allow more computing power to be maximised using less hardware, resulting in substantial energy savings in data centres and on the desktop. Traditionally disparate building systems can now work together to significantly reduce energy by leveraging the intelligence of the IP network as the platform, itself designed with highly energy-efficient and secure capabilities

* Waste management: Improving the efficiency of the procurement process through e-procurement solutions not only reduces waste, but also ensures that projects can be up and running more swiftly and with greater control and visibility. E-waste services simplify the complexity and cost of disposing of redundant equipment, ensuring that electronic waste is eliminated in a secure, ethical and environmentally-friendly manner.