Axians’ Commitment to Sustainability Is Inherent in the Solutions It Offers

“With our power-saving solutions and new platforms for business applications, we are setting milestones for the continuous improvement of our energy efficiency both in our IT operations and in those we facilitate for others through our data centers and solutions. We must be successful in achieving sustainable operations and combatting climate change because, as we all know, there is no ‘Plan B’ or a failover option for us on this beautiful planet Earth.”
— Vladimir Mlynar, chief operating officer of Axians ICT Austria

Axians is a brand of VINCI Energies, and Axians ICT Austria GmbH focuses on delivering the connections, performance, energy efficiency, and data that enterprises need to fast-track the rollout of new technologies needed to address two pivotal imperatives: digital transformation and the transition to new, more efficient, and renewable forms of energy.

Axians ICT Austria’s data centers provide services according to the latest standards, including a full portfolio of multi- and hybrid-cloud services that incorporate a proactive cybersecurity model. Axians is also the only provider in Austria to offer a one-stop store for SAP-related solutions.  In addition, the company offers highly specialized software for archiving, collaboration, and logistics, as well as bespoke analytics and artificial intelligence offerings.

We recently connected with Vladimir Mlynar, chief operating officer of Axians ICT Austria, to learn more about the company’s commitment to sustainability and the reduction of emissions and some of the projects where he sees new uses of technology furthering global efforts to combat climate change.

“Axians is part of the VINCI group, and the group is taking aggressive action to limit the consequences of climate change by setting ambitious targets,” says Mlynar. “We benefit from that commitment and share those same goals, namely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, compared to 2018, by 2030. We’re also committed to alignment with the 2050 carbon neutrality commitment made by France as part of the Paris Climate Agreement. What makes our experience somewhat different from many IT and technology companies is that VINCI is well known as a construction and energy company, so we see the impact of these commitments in a very immediate and tangible way.”

Mlynar also believes there is a natural synergy between construction, the energy industry, and ICT when it comes to making sustainability gains.

“It’s well know that cloud computing is, in itself a significant asset in the move to a more sustainable approach and lower carbon footprint, and data centers are the primary consumer of energy in the IT sector – using more than 55% of the power assigned to it and 1% of worldwide electricity demand,” he says. “That’s why we felt it was crucially important for us to power our data centers with power generated from 100% renewable and CO₂ neutral sources. But achieving that was but one piece of our plan. We see energy transition and digital transformation as intertwined.”

Mlynar points to several projects recently completed for customers. The first, a smart cities project, drew on Axians’s work with the Connected Worlds company in Holland.

Through the project, Axians deployed a number of sensors that measure air quality among other environmental factors. With the technology, traffic lights in the city can be automatically timed to improve air quality. One way this is done is by timing signal light changes so that trucks traveling through the city have to stop less often.

The second, a smart irrigation project Axians undertook for the city of Florence, Italy, is part of the Horizon European initiative, the European Union’s program to fund research focused on sustainability and efforts to combat climate change. The systems Axians created monitor moisture levels and have already enabled the city to decrease water consumption for irrigation by 30%.

Notably, the Axians cloud service addHelix, a web platform for customers in Austria powered by the VMware stack, enables logistics companies to optimize loads, routes, and the operation of fleets. As a result, they save money and lower emissions at the same time.

“Greater efficiency, lower costs, and lower emissions are not mutually exclusive and often go hand in hand,” says Mlynar. “That’s one of the reasons that it’s fitting that VMware – a technology partner that first delivered all three with virtualization – would spearhead an important call to action like the VMware Zero Carbon Committed program. . . . We must be successful in achieving sustainable operations and combatting climate change because, as we all know, there is no ‘Plan B’ or a failover option for us on this beautiful planet Earth.”