Sustainable IT: How the CSRD regulation is changing companies
With the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), sustainable IT has become a specific reporting obligation: Since the 2024 financial year, the EU has drastically tightened the requirements for sustainability reporting. IT departments must specifically record energy consumption, supply chain emissions, and other factors, and document them in the sustainability report.
Sustainable IT – At a Glance
- Since the 2024 financial year, IT has been a specific reporting area under the CSRD.
- CSRD reporting requires standardized, auditable ESG data, including IT-related metrics such as energy consumption and Scope 3 emissions from the upstream and downstream supply chain.
- Who is affected by the CSRD? Large companies have already been reporting since 2024; further company-size categories will follow in stages through 2028.
- Environmental sustainability in IT is primarily reflected in three areas of action: lifecycle management, energy efficiency, and Scope 3 emissions.
What does sustainable IT mean in the context of CSRD reporting?
With the new CSRD directive, the EU is significantly expanding the existing Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). This also focuses on measures relating to Green IT, which reduce resource consumption, lower emissions, and improve transparency throughout the IT lifecycle.
Gradually, more companies will have to report according to standardized ESRS, including auditable metrics. ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards) are the EU’s uniform reporting standards covering environmental, social, and governance aspects. The reports are a mandatory part of the management report and must be externally audited (“limited assurance”).
The focus is not only on how energy-efficient servers, endpoints, and networks operate, but also on how obsolete devices are handled, supply chain emissions, and social standards.
CSRD: Who is affected and what does this mean for IT?
Originally, it appeared that many small and medium-sized enterprises would also be subject to the reporting obligation. However, the upcoming CSRD reporting requirements were significantly simplified again in 2025, and it can now be said that large companies in particular will have to deal with CSRD
reporting in the future. What does this mean specifically for IT?
If these aspects have been classified as material for the company, IT departments must provide the following data for the CSRD report:
- Total energy consumption (endpoints, servers, network)
- End-of-life of devices (recycling & disposal)
- Scope 3 emissions from hardware procurement (Scope 3 Category 1: Purchased goods and services)
- Compliance with social standards in supply chains (e.g., human rights in hardware manufacturing)
- General IT risks as material sustainability aspects (cybersecurity in the governance context of ESG)
Without structured IT inventory management and automated data management, CSRD reporting becomes manual, error-prone, and audit-risky.
Sustainability in IT: What companies need to consider now
To achieve sustainability targets and meet growing reporting obligations, companies must consider the entire IT landscape. The following three areas of action are particularly relevant to sustainability in IT:
1. Lifecycle management
- Extend device lifespans (3 → 6 years), repair and refurbish instead of buying new, and document disposal processes. DEX analysis enables needs-based lifecycle management using performance, stability, and user feedback data.
2. Energy efficiency
- Power management via UEM, virtualization, monitoring per endpoint, energy-optimized coding, automated updates, and long support cycles. DEX performance scoring provides technical metrics (CPU, RAM, and I/O utilization per endpoint), identifies inefficient systems (overload, underutilization, resource hogs), and enables software optimization → reducing energy consumption through optimized usage.
3. Scope 3 emissions from hardware
- Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions in the upstream and downstream supply chain. For IT hardware, the majority is generated during the production phase (raw material extraction, further processing, assembly). Evaluate suppliers, document CO₂ emissions per asset, and favor certified providers. DEX-driven decisions lead to fewer new purchases and longer refresh cycles.
UEM and DEX tools can provide operational support in all three areas of action:
- baramundi Management Suite (UEM): Centralized asset inventory (by asset ID, type, and purchase date), automated power management policies (sleep/shutdown), virtualization, centralized management of obsolete devices, and data extraction for ESRS reporting (CSV, API)
- baramundi Proactive Hub (DEX): Performance scoring (CPU, RAM, and I/O utilization per endpoint), user feedback (satisfaction, perceived performance), identification of inefficient systems (overload, underutilization, resource hogs), electrical metrics for EPD and ESRS E1 metrics, and continuous telemetry instead of snapshots
Energy efficiency as the key to sustainable IT
One of the central sustainability goals under the CSRD is to reduce energy consumption, and IT can make a significant contribution in this area. However, many companies are faced with the following questions:
- What resources does our IT actually consume?
- Where is there unused potential for savings?
- Which measures can be implemented immediately?
Energy efficiency in IT can often be improved quickly, for example, through targeted device management, centralized updates, or automated sleep modes. This helps reduce electricity consumption over the long term while also saving operating costs.
CSRD reporting: An overview of the new requirements
Since numerous sustainability data points originate in IT systems or are processed there, IT plays a central role in meeting CSRD requirements. The key changes at a glance:
- More companies subject to reporting obligations: Non-listed companies will also be required to report on sustainability.
- More detailed disclosures: e.g., on energy consumption, emissions, resource use, or human rights
- Uniform reporting standards: Introduction of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) as an assessment framework
- External auditing: Sustainability reports will be subject to audit
This means that companies unable to document IT-related sustainability statements will fall behind, both in audits and with stakeholders.
Conclusion: Sustainable IT as a central part of the sustainability strategy
With the CSRD, sustainability is becoming measurable and subject to reporting requirements. This also places greater focus on IT, as it influences energy consumption, resource use, and emissions throughout the entire device lifecycle.
DEX provides the data foundation for making sustainability operational: Instead of delivering point-in-time audits, it continuously provides telemetry data, enabling IT teams not only to react but also to manage proactively. Sustainable IT is therefore not merely a matter of compliance. Measures such as longer usage periods, more energy-efficient operation, or lower-emission procurement can support environmental targets and reduce costs at the same time—provided that the necessary transparency regarding devices, processes, and consumption data is available. Tools such as the baramundi Management Suite provide the data foundation for this.
In this way, IT becomes not only a driver of digitalization but also an important building block of a successful sustainability strategy.
