Why ECEM Systems are important?
Enterprise carbon and energy management (ECEM) systems in many respects represent a conglomeration of important software services, likely to become the enterprise’s most strategic tool.
Such systems are in the process of redefining how an organization addresses its impact on the world. They are moving from a position where financial elements tend to rule decision-making to one where societal responsibilities play a significant part of business strategy.
As carbon becomes a new entry on a corporate balance sheet, organizations must scramble to understand the implications. Carbon will become a commodity and a traceable liability, moving it from a position which was difficult to even imagine only several years ago. Systems are being developed while the market is being defined and countries set their goals. The goal posts are moving but no one really knows yet where they will land and who will be keeping score.
Information technology is a multi-billion dollar industry, incorporating a multi-faceted approach to a typical organization’s structure. Information systems exist to track organizational performance, up time and to pull together the overall efficiency of assets, human capital, and product delivery.
Business Environment of the Future Measures Productivity Against Sustainability
Systems are not typically in place to measure ultimate efficiency in terms of carbon exposure, nor real-time energy efficiency and management. This is exactly where enterprise carbon and energy management (ECEM) systems fit into the new enterprise application infrastructure.
In the business environment of the new future, productivity will also be measured against sustainability and while the primary goal of the corporate boardroom may not be environmental management, such an issue will be brought into sharper focus as public opinion and legislation dictates.
Enterprise carbon and energy management (ECEM) systems may currently be the subject of confusion. Many organizations do not yet have a comfortable definition and as such systems are essentially cross denominational. There will undoubtedly be much movement as each organization determines how to construct a unified approach to the issue of sustainability;
- How to bring all departments onto the same page.
- How to treat the new carbon liability to best effect.
Various Stakeholders Interests Will Be Protected with Enterprise Carbon and Energy Management
Different stakeholders within an organization have different motivators and must answer to a variety of stakeholders. Enterprise carbon and energy management systems help to draw together information generated and required by each of those stakeholders.
Such systems will cut across organizational boundaries, perceived barriers or real business process barriers. Finance is the primary stake holder and organizational motivator, with energy efficiency initiatives, and efforts to save money running hand-in-hand.
Where pleasing the customer, assuaging popular opinion, or responding to investor pressure is concerned, achieving results through implementation of enterprise carbon and energy management (ECEM) systems can satisfy business owners, financial executives or risk management officials.
Conservative enterprises are coming to the realization that a do-it-yourself approach is not sufficient and that it is time to invest in a systematic and verifiable approach to the creation and dissemination of carbon emissions and enterprise-wide energy information.
