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Case Code: ITSY109
Case Length: 21 Pages
Period: 2010-2020
Pub Date: 2020
Teaching Note: Available
Price:Rs.500
Organization : Amazon.com, Inc.,
Industry :Technology & Communications
Countries : United States
Themes: Corporate Responsibility/Social Responsibility/Environmental Sustainability/Sustainable Innovation
 
Business Strategy
Marketing
Finance
Human Resource Management
IT and Systems
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Economics
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Case Studies  

Amazon Web Services` Efforts toward Green Computing

 

ABSTRACT

 
The case “Amazon Web Services’ Efforts toward Green Computing” discusses the efforts made by leading cloud service provider Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon), to adopt green computing practices in its operations. The case starts out by going into the reasons for the high level of carbon emissions attributed to the data centers of many cloud platforms that include a rapid addition of capacity and usage of power from dirty energy sources. The case then provides an overview of the green computing practices undertaken by AWS through power purchase agreements with producers of renewable energy and usage of equipment to boost energy efficiency at its data centers.

Though different Information Technology (IT) companies have taken up many activities to reduce their carbon footprint, it is believed that each one of them, including AWS, has a long way to go to become completely green. While Jeff Bezos (Bezos), Founder and CEO of Amazon, was confident that the green computing measures deployed by AWS were contributing to environmental sustainability to a high extent, non-governmental environmental organizations such as Greenpeace begged to differ. Can Bezos continue showcasing the current green computing measures of AWS to stave off pressure from not only Greenpeace, but also his employees in the long term? Or will he be forced to do more?
 
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Issues

The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:
  • Analyze the current global hardware trends.
  • Explore different green IT initiatives in internal operations, as well as products and services.
  • Discuss the need for top management to pledge enterprise-wide commitment to environmental sustainability.
  • Evaluate different energy efficiency operations to achieve a low carbon economy.
  • Examine the role of external stakeholders in influencing a company’s environmentally sustainable business practices.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT AMAZON WEB SERVICES (AWS)
POSITION OF AWS IN THE PUBLIC CLOUD SPACE
ABOUT GREEN COMPUTING
NEED FOR GREEN COMPUTING IN CLOUD SERVICES
AMAZON’S BID TO BECOME GREEN
AWS’ GREEN COMPUTING PRACTICES
POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS
ENERGY-SAVING SYSTEMS AT THE DATA CENTERS
EFFICIENT WATER MANAGEMENT
CRITICISM OF AWS’s GREEN COMPUTING EFFORTS
THE ROAD AHEAD
EXHIBITS

Keywords

Hardware Trends; Green Computing; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Responsibility; Green IT; Green Technologies; Carbon Footprint; Green Data Center; Green Energy; Energy Star Certification; ‘Waste Water Management; Disposal and Recycling; Energy Utilization; Renewable Energy Credit; and Energy Efficiency

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