 - Sustainability risk management (SRM) is a business strategy that aligns profit goals with internal green computing policies. Such policies seek to decrease negative environmental impact, for example by reducing use of natural resources and decreasing carbon emissions, toxic substances and byproducts. The goal of SRM is to make this alignment efficient enough to sustain and grow a business while still preserving the environment.
SRM is another step in the evolution from traditional IT-centric risk management areas like operations, disaster recovery and security. SRM approaches risk management at a higher level, including production, manufacturing, and management of suppliers or materials. Organizations implementing SRM generally focus on the environmental effects of each process individually and then look for ways to minimize them. One of the chief drivers for SRM adoption is increasing demand for compliance with global and national environmental, trade and privacy regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Although SRM is not specific to IT, IT leaders play a central role in making a company's SRM strategy succeed. In an SRM context, IT leaders are responsible for integrating and distributing data related to sustainability goals. Many IT executives have already begun SRM in their own organizations through green computing practices like reduction of energy usage server virtualization or conducting due diligence for disposal of IT assets through e-cycling.
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03 Sep 2008
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