Cisco Uses Sustainability Data to Shape Customer Technology Decisions

Cisco is transforming how sustainability data influences business decisions, shifting from mere reporting to shaping strategic choices. The company’s Sustainability Data Foundation (SDF) aims to provide a trusted, integrated view of environmental data, making it more accessible and useful for decision-making across product design, customer engagement, and operational planning.

The role of sustainability data is expanding as customers increasingly factor it into their technology purchase decisions. Beyond traditional metrics like cost and performance, customers now demand detailed insights into product carbon footprints, lifecycle assessments, and circularity. This shift is driven by rising electricity demand from technologies like AI and the need to understand the broader environmental impact of infrastructure investments.

Cisco is also working to unify disparate sets of energy and carbon data, helping customers adopt a more integrated approach. The goal is to support better decision-making by providing clear, decision-ready data that connects business strategy with environmental impact. The company emphasizes that the true value of sustainability data lies in its ability to drive measurable improvements in both environmental and business outcomes.