Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability puts a spotlight on environmental issues

What you need to know

• Microsoft has announced its Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability.
• It's designed to help companies actualize their sustainability initiatives.
• It's in preview.

Microsoft is intent on helping out companies in need of assistance with executing their sustainability initiatives. As the tech giant barrels forward in its efforts to reduce its environmental impact, it's taking what it knows and giving it to everyone in the form of a cloud package companies can use to track their own initiatives' progress.

The package is designed around helping companies track their carbon footprint and resource usage, as well as giving insights on how best to achieve their environmental goals. Here's how the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability package can help companies, according to its announcement post:

• CIOs will be able to easily report on IT carbon emissions from the cloud, devices and applications as part of their department's environmental footprint. They will then be able to connect their emissions data sources into one view for reporting.
• Companies will be able to offer their customers a sustainability scorecard to track progress against their carbon emission reduction goals, inclusive of scope 1-3 emissions (i.e., emissions from a company's owned sources, emissions from purchased energy and all other emissions).
• Customers will be able to pinpoint specific emission areas and track if they are meeting their emission reduction goals.

Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability isn't just a tracking resource; it provides Software as a Service (SaaS) components that will enable customers to gather insights, speed up data integration, ensure reported figures are accurate, and more. Microsoft says all the aforementioned items are just some scenarios and examples highlighting the utility of its latest cloud package, insinuating that it holds other benefits sustainability-minded companies can benefit from.