BNP Paribas 3 Step IT
We are delighted that our joint venture BNP Paribas 3 Step IT has been certified as a Solar Impulse Efficient Solution. The Efficient Solution label seeks to bridge the gap between ecology and economy. These solutions combine protection of the environment with financial viability. Certified solutions are practical and affordable, they provide fixes to problems, and offer opportunities for clean economic growth.
Like 3stepIT, the BNP Paribas 3 Step IT service helps companies to manage technology investments (mainly smartphones, tablets, PCs and laptops). The service adds value through the technology lifecycle, specifically, it helps clients to improve their IT service level, with up to date equipment and to provide IT devices at a lower overall cost.
The Efficient Solution certification process asks for a detailed description of the offering, and then subjects the information given and claims made to inspection by a panel of independent experts. Certification takes about three months to complete, and about two thirds of applications fail.
To quote Bertrand Piccard, the force behind the Solar Impulse Foundation, “We need to embrace clean technologies and efficient solutions, because they are much more than ‘ecological’, they are ‘logical’. They create jobs and generate profit, while also reducing CO2 emissions and preserving natural resources. Even if climate change didn’t exist, they would make sense. Clean growth is much better than the dirty status quo we have today."
Because obsolescent devices are refurbished, rather than dumped, BNP Paribas 3 Step IT’s sustainability focus in turn helps improve the sustainability of our clients’ own IT operations. Re-using obsolescent equipment displaces the manufacture of new product and spreads the original manufacturing carbon footprint across two users. Including manufacture, transport and power costs in the calculation, this reduces the carbon footprint by 36%. There is an effect on electronic waste too: e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream on the planet, and the source of 70% of landfill toxic waste. Re-using IT devices reduces clients’ e-waste contribution by around 48%.
Speaking of this new certification, Chris Stalley, the CEO of BNP Paribas 3 Step IT said: “Our circular economy solution offers IT teams a rare combination of reduced cost, improved service and greater sustainability. This fits Efficient Solution criteria well, and it’s good to have our claims rigorously and independently validated.”
Chris went on to say: “Sustainability is a growing factor in IT planning, with 15% of organisations saying it is a consideration today, and a further 67% say they intend to integrate sustainability into their IT plans within the next two years*. As our branches open we will bring this solution to organisations across Western Europe by mid-late 2020**”.
*3stepIT international market survey of 1000 organisations, carried out in February 2019.**European countries covered by the BNP Paribas 3 Step IT alliance:
- Joint venture in: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- Commercial partnership in: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden.
About the Solar Impulse Foundation
Following the success of the first solar flight around the world, the Solar Impulse Foundation has launched the second phase of its action: selecting #1000solutions that can protect the environment in a profitable way, and bring them to decision makers encouraging them to adopt more ambitious environmental targets and energy policies. Through the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions, Bertrand Piccard wants to gather the actors in the field of clean technologies and shed light on existing efficient solutions to fast-track their implementation. A new innovative and pioneering adventure has begun.
