Akamai Technologies – Peter Swigert – 2014

Goals

Akamai Technologies enlisted Peter Swigert to grow its sustainability programs across its corporate infrastructure and global Cloud Platform.

Solutions

Working closely with Akamai’s Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability, Nicole Peill-Moelter, Swigert focused on three primary projects to support Akamai’s sustainability program.

First, Swigert developed a more accurate estimate of Akamai’s network energy usage by analyzing newly available, real-time power data from servers globally distributed in more than a thousand data centers.

Second, Swigert evaluated software solutions, and streamlined management capabilities for virtualized IT resources.

Third, Swigert analyzed key stakeholder surveys to identify potential gaps in Akamai’s current Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. He identified areas where establishing policies for which Akamai already has existing practices would be beneficial; he identified where Akamai might consider implementing additional programs to help meet the growing expectations of external stakeholders, and he applied a model based on science-driven climate goals that could help Akamai transition from a carbon intensity reduction target to an absolute carbon reduction target.

Potential Impact

Increased visibility into and accuracy of Akamai’s carbon footprint could help the company better prioritize and implement future sustainability projects. Also, the software solutions Swigert evaluated could save more than $250,000 annually in corporate IT energy and resource costs.