For years, sustainability data has largely been associated with reporting activities — calculating emissions, monitoring performance, and preparing disclosures. However, as sustainability becomes increasingly integrated into corporate strategy and influences customer purchasing decisions, the role of this data is changing. Through my work spanning sustainability, technology, and business transformation, I have seen that real progress emerges when dependable data, technical expertise, and business understanding are brought together.
Today, sustainability information is being used to support a broader range of business decisions, including product development and the evaluation of technology solutions by customers. The next challenge is to make this information reliable, transparent, and practical enough to influence decisions before they happen, rather than simply documenting their environmental consequences afterward.
Building a Reliable Sustainability Data Foundation
Cisco’s Sustainability Data Foundation (SDF) was developed to support this transition by creating a more integrated and dependable view of sustainability information throughout the organization. As data becomes more standardized and easier to access, its usefulness extends beyond reporting to planning, decision-making, and execution.
When Cisco initially introduced the work behind the SDF, it was described as an enterprise data platform intended to bring together, analyze, and integrate environmental sustainability information from across the company. That foundation has since supported a range of applications, including reporting, strategic planning, product development, go-to-market activities, and customer engagement.
However, simply accumulating more information is not the ultimate objective. The real value of sustainability data lies in its ability to help teams understand alternatives, assess trade-offs, and make more effective decisions. This makes factors such as data accuracy, transparency, clearly defined boundaries, and visibility into underlying assumptions increasingly important alongside accessibility.
Sustainability Information Becomes Part of Customer Decision-Making
Sustainability is increasingly becoming one of the factors customers consider when assessing technology solutions, alongside traditional criteria such as quality, performance, reliability, and price. This trend is particularly apparent among organizations undertaking major technology and infrastructure investments.
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is contributing to increased electricity demand. At the same time, companies are continuing to pursue efficiency improvements and greater access to clean energy. A significant portion of their environmental footprint, however, can occur beyond their direct operational boundaries. As a result, detailed information about suppliers and products is becoming increasingly valuable. Customers want to evaluate not only what a technology solution delivers, but also the energy consumption, carbon footprint, and lifecycle effects associated with it.
Product carbon footprint information, lifecycle assessments, and circularity metrics are therefore becoming important considerations. Customers are seeking greater visibility into the carbon footprint of products across different stages, including raw materials and manufacturing, transportation, operational use, and end-of-life management.
The focus is also expanding beyond individual products toward the performance of entire systems. This includes examining how infrastructure operates collectively, identifying potentially underused resources, and understanding how operational decisions influence energy and resource consumption. Many customers still manage energy and carbon information through separate systems. Exploring ways to bring these datasets together could help organizations adopt a more unified and streamlined approach to managing their environmental impact.
Preparing for Evolving Customer Expectations
At Cisco, sustainability data provides an opportunity to connect corporate strategy with environmental performance and changing customer requirements. It can give Cisco teams and customers a stronger foundation for assessing decisions related to product development, operations, procurement, circularity, and long-term business planning.
As expectations around sustainability continue to develop, data will play a growing role in how Cisco works with customers and supports stronger business decisions. Sustainability information that is trusted, connected, and ready for practical use can help organizations evaluate technology investments not only against sustainability targets but also against broader business priorities and outcomes.
Ultimately, the success of sustainability data should not be measured simply by the volume of information collected or the number of disclosures produced. Its true value lies in whether it enables Cisco and its customers to make more informed choices and whether those choices contribute to measurable improvements in both environmental performance and business results.
Today, sustainability information is being used to support a broader range of business decisions, including product development and the evaluation of technology solutions by customers. The next challenge is to make this information reliable, transparent, and practical enough to influence decisions before they happen, rather than simply documenting their environmental consequences afterward.
Building a Reliable Sustainability Data Foundation
Cisco’s Sustainability Data Foundation (SDF) was developed to support this transition by creating a more integrated and dependable view of sustainability information throughout the organization. As data becomes more standardized and easier to access, its usefulness extends beyond reporting to planning, decision-making, and execution.
When Cisco initially introduced the work behind the SDF, it was described as an enterprise data platform intended to bring together, analyze, and integrate environmental sustainability information from across the company. That foundation has since supported a range of applications, including reporting, strategic planning, product development, go-to-market activities, and customer engagement.
However, simply accumulating more information is not the ultimate objective. The real value of sustainability data lies in its ability to help teams understand alternatives, assess trade-offs, and make more effective decisions. This makes factors such as data accuracy, transparency, clearly defined boundaries, and visibility into underlying assumptions increasingly important alongside accessibility.
Sustainability Information Becomes Part of Customer Decision-Making
Sustainability is increasingly becoming one of the factors customers consider when assessing technology solutions, alongside traditional criteria such as quality, performance, reliability, and price. This trend is particularly apparent among organizations undertaking major technology and infrastructure investments.
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is contributing to increased electricity demand. At the same time, companies are continuing to pursue efficiency improvements and greater access to clean energy. A significant portion of their environmental footprint, however, can occur beyond their direct operational boundaries. As a result, detailed information about suppliers and products is becoming increasingly valuable. Customers want to evaluate not only what a technology solution delivers, but also the energy consumption, carbon footprint, and lifecycle effects associated with it.
Product carbon footprint information, lifecycle assessments, and circularity metrics are therefore becoming important considerations. Customers are seeking greater visibility into the carbon footprint of products across different stages, including raw materials and manufacturing, transportation, operational use, and end-of-life management.
The focus is also expanding beyond individual products toward the performance of entire systems. This includes examining how infrastructure operates collectively, identifying potentially underused resources, and understanding how operational decisions influence energy and resource consumption. Many customers still manage energy and carbon information through separate systems. Exploring ways to bring these datasets together could help organizations adopt a more unified and streamlined approach to managing their environmental impact.
Preparing for Evolving Customer Expectations
At Cisco, sustainability data provides an opportunity to connect corporate strategy with environmental performance and changing customer requirements. It can give Cisco teams and customers a stronger foundation for assessing decisions related to product development, operations, procurement, circularity, and long-term business planning.
As expectations around sustainability continue to develop, data will play a growing role in how Cisco works with customers and supports stronger business decisions. Sustainability information that is trusted, connected, and ready for practical use can help organizations evaluate technology investments not only against sustainability targets but also against broader business priorities and outcomes.
Ultimately, the success of sustainability data should not be measured simply by the volume of information collected or the number of disclosures produced. Its true value lies in whether it enables Cisco and its customers to make more informed choices and whether those choices contribute to measurable improvements in both environmental performance and business results.