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Delphix: Sustainable tech is 'definitely something that consumers want, it's not just clever marketing'

'Every single one of our customers has sustainability objectives in place,' says worldwide field ops president, Steven Chung

Sustainability is moving steadily up the corporate agenda, and it's more than just a box-ticking exercise or paying lip service to green issues, according to Steven Chung, president worldwide field operations at Delphix.

"Every single one of our customers has sustainability objectives in place, whether they operate in the financial services sector or in retail," he said.

"Today, it's more clear than ever that everyone is striving for a better world. For example, in the past, sustainability objectives might have been measured via a set of questions included in RFPs, but now it is starting to filter into decision-making. We expect this to continue, with infrastructure savings and carbon emissions being given equal importance."

Steven Chung

Delphix provides a cloud platform that Chung describes as ‘data automation for DevOps', virtualising data from all sorts of corporate databases and making it easily available to developer teams. In the main, it works with large corporate clients such as big banks and retailers.

Chung maintains that by virtualising data the platform can help customers meet their targets by making their IT more energy efficient, reducing storage needs typically by 50 per cent, with corresponding reductions to power requirements and therefore carbon emissions.

"How can we sack data centres and go completely to the cloud, reduce one's carbon footprint and impact to the environment by having more efficient computing? That's definitely something that consumers want, and it's not just clever marketing. I always say sustainability will be taken seriously if it's positioned as business process improvement with ROI, what's good for the environment is also good for the bottom line."

Which, Jevons Paradox aside, makes a lot of sense. But what about Delphix itself? Is the 12-year-old Silicon Valley start-up walking the green walk?

It's early days, but sustainability is certainly becoming an area of focus, Chung said.

"Corporate sustainability is a fairly new function throughout the wider businesses - our policies and practices are still being developed. However, employees have already been highly engaged and are recycling, working remotely and implementing other environmental best practices."

The company is also building a Corporate Sustainability Board which will be led by a dedicated director who has a postgraduate degree in sustainability and 15 years of experience in that area as it pertains to software, he added.

"At the moment, we are looking to our customer base, partnerships and internal community to understand our priorities in terms of the activities that will drive that programme," Chung explained.

Taking forward moves enforced by the pandemic, Delphix is also increasing the amount of homeworking it allows, and minimising travel whenever possible.

"Whilst we still offer our staff the option to meet in person to conduct business, we also optimise video conferencing whenever possible. In fact, we have reduced our in-person business review meetings by 50 per cent," Chung said.

One initiative already underway at Delphix is a commitment to the 1% Pledge - a global movement founded by Salesforce and Atlassian among others, that encourages companies to donate one per cent of their staff time, product, profit and/or equity to any charity of their choosing.

Others include a drive to reduce plastic and encouraging meat-free and fish-free days.

With sustainability now front of mind and customers interested in metrics, Delphix is working to ensure its staff are cognisant of the issue, Chung said.

"We are training our sales teams to be able to address any questions around sustainability. We are also in the process of incorporating carbon emissions savings into our regular ROI assessment for customers so that they can put figures against what they have achieved with Delphix".

Computing will run the Tech Impact Conference this year, exploring the relationship between tech and the climate - including case studies about the road to net zero, how to go green in your data centre and supply chain, and how to make small changes with a big impact. For those who are passionate about the planet - and those who are more wary - there has never been a better time to get involved.

Delphix: Sustainable tech is 'definitely something that consumers want, it's not just clever marketing'

'Every single one of our customers has sustainability objectives in place,' says worldwide field ops president, Steven Chung

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