Microsoft's sustainability framework

Align sustainability to business value

Identify what is most important to the operation and profitability of your business in terms of risk and stakeholder values. For example, water is core to a bottling company, energy to a manufacturing company and fair labour practices to a retail company.

When I examine sustainability topics, which are most material to the operations of my company?

Which sustainability practices could help our organisation seize opportunities to mitigate risks?

What do the companies I conduct business with prioritise?

Which sustainability practices will deliver the desired outcomes for those priorities?

What do our stakeholders (customers, employees and communities) value?

Which sustainability practices will deliver desired outcomes aligned to those values, and how do we effectively communicate progress?

Which existing or upcoming regulations do we need to plan for?

Sandvik, a major mining equipment supplier, worked with Microsoft to develop a remote, cloud-based monitoring system that uses AI and data analytics to deliver actionable insight into predictive machine maintenance, operational efficiency and sustainability – crucial issues for Sandvik and its customers.

This solution helps us significantly decrease operational costs and thanks to its transparency and predictiveness, operators increase mine outputs in a sustainable, safer and profitable way.

Esa Mattila, Reliability and Productivity Centre Manager at Sandvik

Build a strong ESG data estate

Consider how you’re using data – including ESG metrics, AI models and data visualisations – to drive insights and inform conversations around the financial risks and opportunities of sustainability practices.

What data collection efforts are already underway? Who is collecting the data, and how is the data stored?

Is data collection and analysis occurring across the organisation, or is it compartmentalised?

Where are the gaps in our data collection?

What systems do we need to fill those gaps?

What are the current or impending regulations for ESG data collection, based on our geographic location or industry?

How can we use the data we collect to unlock insights rather than just adhere to compliance requirements?

Because of the investments we’ve made in IoT and other digital technologies, we’ve greatly enhanced our ability to listen to the heartbeat of the business in real time, every minute, every day. In turn, this increases our ability to keep our promise of delivering snack magic to customers.

Amit Raniga, Director, Majans

Strategise for growth through action

Use clear insights to take strategic and intentional action to propel short- and long-term growth. By identifying your priorities and values, using data to develop clear insights and taking intentional action toward next steps, sustainability can help you create a path to innovation, resiliency, efficiency and profitability.

What do the insights from our data collection reveal about our preparedness for the opportunities and risks most relevant to our business?

What do they reveal about our preparedness to address or respond to customer requests related to sustainability?

What immediate actions must we take to protect against relevant risks to our business?

What longer-term investments must we consider to protect against risk, prepare for impending regulations, seize opportunities and pursue innovations?

Slovenské elektrárne, a leading electricity provider in Slovakia, wanted to gain an edge in the industry by using an efficient weather prediction system. The company used a machine learning solution comprised of Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Databricks to predict forecasts more accurately and efficiently, enabling sales teams to react quickly to market changes in electricity trading.

As a result of this solution, we have estimated financial savings of around 100,000 a year. Our work is also smoother, and employees can use their time more efficiently.

Matúš Medžo, Sales Strategy Manager, Slovenské elektrárne