Driving toward a more sustainable future

Today is Earth Day! As I reflect on the significance of this milestone, I think of my daughters and the world I want them to inherit. I want my generation to know we've done all we can to preserve the planet when we pass its stewardship to future generations. That goal often inspires meaning behind my work at Microsoft. And I'm inspired to see many other businesses and governments take that same goal to heart.

We all have an opportunity to adopt sustainable business practices. At Microsoft, we consider every day Earth Day, and I'm very proud of Microsoft's commitment to sustainability efforts. Since 2012, our company has been carbon neutral across the world. We've also committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030. However, there's always more Microsoft – and every company around the globe – can do.

In my role leading the Azure Data team at Microsoft, we take the importance of sustainability to heart in the solutions we build. I remember reading John Hsu's insightful article in the Guardian a few years ago. The piece focused on the potential of Big Data in the effort towards a more sustainable future. Today, I'm excited to see the Azure Data team's contributions toward that goal. The Azure services we develop create a unique and powerful opportunity to help our customers achieve their sustainability goals by simplifying how to measure, analyze and make data-driven decisions to improve sustainability performance. As always, we welcome our customers' feedback.

Maintaining a focus on sustainability isn't always easy in business, so we want to do our part to make it easier. Those interested in exploring possibilities for sustainable business practices can download a sustainability eBook that offers background and practical suggestions to help their organization use technology to measure and reduce its environmental impact. 

Working together, we can drive lasting change for a more sustainable future!