BT released two tools that track and optimize the energy use and carbon emissions of multicloud networks. The communication service provider's (CSP) digital carbon calculator and carbon network dashboard are the latest efforts toward its goal to help customers avoid 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

Sarwar Kahn, global head of digital sustainability at BT, told SDxCentral the digital carbon calculator is powered by vendor-supplied device data in accordance with ISO14064. BT's software overlays that data with its customer inventory data to provide an estimated carbon footprint of running applications and cloud workloads.

To ensure accuracy of data collection and measurement, Kahn said BT uses “the [greenhouse gas] protocol corporate standard as the framework for data collection and translation into carbon emissions.” And where that strategy “is not possible,” the company utilizes a standardized methodology that takes “into account the in-use emissions by leveraging the typical power consumption from the vendor,” he explained.

The CSP also introduced a carbon network dashboard, which gives a real-time view of network power consumption across distributed or hybrid environments. The dashboard polls devices within an organization's network to collect data that's then overlaid with third-party grid carbon intensity data. Network devices are configured using the simple network management protocol, which allows for the extraction of actual power info from the device, Kahn said.

The BT tools also provide actionable insights for organizations to lower their environmental impacts.

“In the initial instance, the carbon network dashboard provides recommendations for network optimization based on machine learning and historic data,” and it recommends “like for like (vendor) device swap out” if there's an option to save more energy or carbon with an alternative product, Kahn explained. BT eventually plans to include dashboard recommendations for matching network operations to available renewable grid energy, he added.

While the digital carbon calculator is less explicit in its sustainability suggestions, it does show carbon hot spots, which customers are using “to explore options for sustainable digital transformation,” especially in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, he noted.

Initial feedback on the tools has been positive, Kahn said. “Many see this as key to get to grips with their BT and wider ICT emissions and develop a more informed action plan for emissions reductions.” They also appreciate that the data provided by these tools helps demonstrate to executives the environmental benefits of digital transformation and moving to the cloud, he added.

The typical customer reaching for these sustainability services have a net-zero target and action plan in place to reduce their scope 3 emissions from suppliers, especially ICT. These customers are in the midst of digitally transforming, migrating to the cloud, and deploying services like SD-WAN, Kahn said. The industry verticals from which he sees the most demand are financial services, professional services, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing.

“We have also spoken to a number of public sector organizations who are interested. We expect to see increasing demand as customers work towards their net-zero plans and require this type of data,” he added.