What is a Green IT audit and what is it for?

A Green IT audit is an assessment of the environmental footprint of the manufacturing, usage and end-of-life of a company's IT equipment. It also measures the employees' degree of Green IT maturity. The aim is to identify the most polluting equipment, the points that are blocking the Green IT culture, and to propose a personalized action plan for each company.

Why is it important to carry out a Green IT audit?

Carrying out a Green IT audit is important because IT assets represent a significant part of a company's environmental footprint. In addition to IT obesity and additional financial costs, a Green IT audit improves environmental reporting, bringing it into line with regulations and giving the company greater transparency and credibility in its overall approach.

What kind of improvements can be expected from a Green IT audit?

The Green IT action plan reduces the environmental footprint of your IT assets, cuts financial costs by eliminating IT obesity, improves the company's Green IT culture and employees' day-to-day practices, and positions the company as a benchmark in its sector.

How to measure the success of a Green IT audit?

Our Green IT action plan is based on SMART objectives and precise KPI. The success of the action plan is measured concretely in the achievement of the proposed objectives and actions in the action plan. The SMART approach facilitates the distribution and implementation of actions specific to each department.

How long does a Green IT audit take?

The time required to carry out a Green IT audit is between 2 and 4 weeks. It varies according to the nature and complexity of the IT assets. As data collection is the most time-consuming stage, we can help you to gather qualitative and comprehensive data to obtain the most accurate report and recommendations possible.

What is a Green IT strategy and where do I start?

A Green IT strategy involves assessing the footprint, planning and implementing actions to reduce its digital footprint and increase its Green IT maturity. The first step is usually to carry out an environmental audit of its information system to understand the strengths and opportunities for improvement of the existing infrastructure and culture.

How long does it take to implement a Green IT strategy?

The time needed to implement a Green IT strategy varies according to the size of the company, the complexity of the IT infrastructure, the time and resources available, and the culture of the employees. As a general rule, it takes from a few months to a year to define the strategy, implement it and achieve results.

What types of action are included in a Green IT strategy?

Green IT strategies include actions on governance, employee awareness and training, interaction with stakeholders, internal and external communication, and the purchase and management of hardware and software.

How can you measure the success of your Green IT strategy?

The success of a Green IT strategy is measured by the implementation of the proposed actions. Our Green IT strategies are based on SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

What is the Sustainable IT certification?

The Sustainable IT certification identifies and brings together all organizations committed to reducing the impact of digital technology. The certification and its reference framework have been designed to be accessible to all types of organizations (companies, associations, government agencies, local authorities, etc.), whatever their size or sector of activity. With its 2 levels, the Sustainable IT certification enables all organizations to make a commitment. The approach provides you with the tools to progress and progressively reduce the impact of digital technology.

What are the levels of the Sustainable IT certification, and what do they entail?

The certification has two levels. Level 1 requires 300 points out of 1,000. It certifies an organization's initial commitment, with actions already in place and a desire to improve. It is valid for two years. It takes between 3 and 6 months to obtain. Level 2 requires 500 points out of 1,000. This second level, more demanding than the first, involves external auditors on site for several days. It is valid for 3 years. It takes between 7 and 9 months to obtain.

How much does it cost to obtain the Sustainable IT certification?

Level 1 costs around CHF 6,000 per year. The cost of level 2 varies according to the size of the company and the number of sites to be audited by Green IT experts. On average, you should expect to pay between CHF 20,000 and CHF 45,000 for 3 years, or around CHF 10,000 per year. These amounts do not include the cost of our support in preparing the certification audit and the resulting commitment plan. Our rates depend on your Green IT maturity and your objectives.

What are the advantages of obtaining the Sustainable IT certification?

Obtaining the Sustainable IT certification ensures the sustainability of your Green IT strategy. Being audited by external experts encourages continuous improvement. Secondly, the certification gives you credibility both internally and externally. Finally, the certification guarantees that you are working on the most relevant and up-to-date Green IT actions.

How can a company begin the process of obtaining the certification?

Contact us and we will be happy to help. To sum up, the certificationing process is simple. Together, we make an initial assessment of your readiness to obtain the certification, identify how many points out of 1,000 you have, and then start the administrative process to obtain the certification. MIKUJY is with you every step of the way, from initial preparation to support during the audit and implementation of the final action plan.

From assessment to certification: a European banking group

Context

A European banking group with operations in five countries asked MIKUJY to support its first Sustainable IT certification. The CIO had two objectives: align with the upcoming CSRD reporting expectations, and turn scattered Green IT initiatives into a coherent programme that the executive committee could track.

Approach

We ran a structured nine-month programme combining diagnosis, footprint measurement and roadmap execution.

Maturity assessment across 120+ practices, mapped to the Sustainable IT Label criteria.
Carbon and resource footprint covering the group's endpoints, data centres and cloud providers.
Quarterly steering committee with the CIO, sustainability lead and procurement.
Evidence file built progressively to avoid a last-minute rush.

"MIKUJY didn't just deliver a report. They embedded a method that survived after the project ended."

— Group CIO, European banking group

Results

The bank obtained its Sustainable IT certification within nine months, with a clear path to deepen its maturity over the following 18 months. Beyond the certification, two operational shifts stood out: cloud spend dropped by 18% thanks to FinOps and rightsizing actions surfaced during the diagnosis, and the device renewal cycle was extended for a large share of the fleet.

The Sustainable IT programme is now part of the IT operating model, with KPIs reported alongside availability and security in the monthly executive dashboard.

#Case study#Banking#Certification#Sustainable IT

From assessment to certification: a European banking group

Context

Approach

Results

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