Social Responsibility

SaaSplaza’s Social and Corporate Responsibility

A sense of corporate and social responsibility is way more than lip-service for SaaSplaza. It’s our business model.

Organizations around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the need for—and the benefits of—socially responsible behavior. Going green, connecting with their communities, and more.

In our opinion, the primary objective of social responsibility is to contribute to sustainability.

Basically, in all our projects, we take into consideration ensuring healthy ecosystems, social equity, and good organizational governance, because—in in the long run—all organizations and businesses depend on the health of the world's ecosystems.

SaaSplaza has started to analyze its impact on society and the environment and investigate which factors contribute and to what extend its choices and operations can have a positive influence.

Our initial analysis has identified a number of areas with respect to this responsibility.

  1. Energy savings
  2. Equipment handling
  3. Employee benefits
  4. Contributions to society

Energy Savings

The most visible factor for companies that operate Internet services is the need to use electricity to operate data centers and servers. Energy consumption contributes to global warming and depletes valuable global resources, so this is an area that SaaSplaza considers as the prime candidate for responsible resource management.

SaaSplaza takes and has taken measures to limit power usage, and a significant part of saving power has been achieved as a side-effect of technology innovations:

  • Co-location in low-emission data center
    Saasplaza co-locates its Netherlands servers with KPN, who uses the innovative Kyoto cooling technology for its data center cooling and is in the top 10% of the world's most sustainable companies. In addition, KPN works with the WWF in the international Climate Savers program in which the WWF is working with partners to achieve a better climate.
  • Server Virtualization
    Virtualization significantly reduces the number of servers in a data center, thus decreasing electricity consumption and waste heat. SaaSplaza now achieves a consolidation ratio in the 10:1 to 15:1 range for equipment placed since 2009. This translates to an energy efficiency improvement that’s 5 to 6 better when compared to dedicated physical servers. And virtual servers are our default servers (since 2008).
  • Hardware choice
    Before purchasing any critical hardware components, we verify if vendors have energy-saving programs in place for this equipment. E.g., we selected and prefer the server equipment of vendors such as HP, which has a comprehensive energy saving program and policy as a leading principle in the design of its data center equipment.

 

Equipment Handling

Obsoleted equipment is a rich source of materials such as gold and copper, but also can contain chemicals that are hazardous to the environment. SaaSplaza, with its hardware supplier KPN, makes sure that hardware suppliers adhere to socially responsible plans in the dismantling of obsolete hardware.

Employee Benefits

Microsoft has recently set the tone for flexible and location-independent labor with its concept “the new way of working”. “The new way of working” contributes substantially to a better family-work balance.

Since its inception in 1998 SaaSplaza has followed this philosophy: most employees can schedule and organize their work flexibly, as long as they commit to their targets and end-results.

As can be expected from a Cloud company, remote employees are supported and facilitated by the same Cloud application services that we deliver to our Partners (such as Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint, Dynamics CRM and many more).

Additionally, SaaSplaza provides for a mobility plan in which SaaSplaza ‘s employees are encouraged to use means of transportation that are friendly to the environment (many of our Netherlands employees bike to work).

Contributions to Society

SaaSplaza provides free-of-charge hosting to foundations such as kika.nl and jafrica.nl.

  • KiKa (children with cancer) raises funds that benefit the seven pediatric cancer centers in the Netherlands. The foundation's overall goal: to raise funds for innovative research and other activities of childhood, aimed at reducing pain and struggle, more healing and a higher quality of life in old age.
  • The J'Africa Foundation invests in people in Malawi and in education there. The J'Africa Foundation already supports more than 5 years young adults in Malawi in achieving a diploma.

In addition, SaaSplaza supports free of charge website hosting and email to a number of amateur sports clubs in the Netherlands such as aquapoldro.nl and others.

For more information on SaaSplaza’s social and corporate responsibility, efforts, and programs, just contact us.