IT Ecosystem Sustainability Console for Carbon Footprint Evaluation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current information technology (IT) sustainability strategies lack effective tools and knowledge to evaluate and reduce the overall carbon footprint of IT systems, leading to inefficient resource usage and significant electronic waste, with only 18% of organizations having well-defined sustainability goals and 89% recycling less than 10% of their IT hardware.

Innovation Solution

A method and system for IT ecosystem management and monitoring, including a sustainability application that provides an IT ecosystem monitoring and management console with a sustainability component, enabling communication to perform IT sustainability empowerment operations, which facilitates monitoring, management, and optimization of IT components throughout their lifecycle to reduce environmental impact.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If IT sustainability strategies are implemented without effective evaluation tools, then environmental awareness is improved, but the ability to measure and reduce carbon footprint deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveenvironmental awarenessVSAvoidcarbon footprint evaluation capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary sustainability assessment platform that mediates between IT operations and environmental impact measurement. This platform includes sustainability managers, assessment applications, and communication interfaces that translate IT system data into measurable sustainability metrics, thereby resolving the contradiction between improving environmental awareness and maintaining measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms where sustainability assessments are continuously communicated back to IT operations through the console interface. This feedback loop enables organizations to measure their carbon footprint accurately and take corrective actions, simultaneously improving environmental awareness and measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If comprehensive IT sustainability monitoring is implemented, then sustainability information accuracy is improved, but system complexity deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesustainability information accuracyVSAvoidmonitoring system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the sustainability monitoring system into distinct modular components: sustainability applications running on information handling systems, sustainability managers on server systems, and console interfaces. This segmentation allows comprehensive monitoring while managing complexity through modular architecture, where each component has a specific function and can be independently configured and maintained.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Loss of substance

If IT hardware recycling rates are increased from current 10% levels, then electronic waste reduction is improved, but recycling infrastructure complexity deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveelectronic wasteVSAvoidrecycling infrastructure

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces sustainability managers and assessment applications as intermediaries that coordinate recycling operations. These intermediaries manage the complexity of recycling infrastructure by providing centralized control, tracking, and coordination mechanisms, thereby enabling increased recycling rates without proportionally increasing infrastructure complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Productivity

If sustainability assessment applications are deployed across IT ecosystems, then sustainability management capability is improved, but implementation cost deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesustainability management capabilityVSAvoidimplementation cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent designs sustainability applications with multi-functionality, enabling them to perform various sustainability assessment tasks across different IT systems and organizations. This universality allows a single deployment to serve multiple purposes and multiple users, thereby improving sustainability management capability while reducing per-unit implementation costs through shared infrastructure and standardized processes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS20240095374A1Information Technology Ecosystem Environment for Performing an Information Technology Sustainability Empowerment Operation

Publication Date: 2024.03.21 DELL PROD LP

AI summary

A system, method, and computer-readable medium for performing an information technology (IT) ecosystem management and monitoring operation. The IT ecosystem management and monitoring operation includes providing a sustainability application to an information handling system; obtaining sustainability information regarding the information handling system via the sustainability application; providing an IT ecosystem monitoring and management console, the IT ecosystem monitoring and management console comprising an IT ecosystem sustainability system, the IT ecosystem sustainability system comprising a sustainability component; and, communicating between the sustainability component and the sustainability application to perform an IT sustainability empowerment operation, the communicating providing the sustainability component with the sustainability information regarding the information handling system.