IBM has acquired Envizi, a data and analytics software provider for environmental performance management. According to IBM, the purchase builds on its growing investments in AI-powered software—including IBM Maximo asset management solutions, IBM Sterling supply chain solutions and IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite—to help organizations create more resilient and sustainable operations and supply chains.
The acquisition closed on January 11, 2022, and financial details were not disclosed.
Companies are under mounting pressure from regulators, investors, and consumers to progress toward more sustainable and socially responsible business operations—and to demonstrate these measures in a robust and verifiable way.
In announcing the deal, IBM cited a 2021 Forrester report that found that corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability risks tied as the third highest concerns for organizations, as ranked by large corporations. However, IBM pointed out, the various types of data companies need in order to understand and report on sustainability initiatives remains highly fragmented and difficult for all relevant parties to access.
Envizi's software automates the collection and consolidation of more than 500 data types and supports major sustainability reporting frameworks. Its customized dashboards enable companies to analyze, manage, and report on environmental goals, identify efficiency opportunities, and assess sustainability risk.
Envizi's solutions help streamline the management of these tasks as part of broader environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting initiatives, while also providing users with valuable sustainability insights to inform business strategy.
Available as a SaaS solution and running in multi-cloud environments, Envizi serves brands such as Microsoft, Qantas, CBRE, Uber, abrdn, and Celestica, and its software can be applied to activities across a variety of industries.
According to IBM, by using Envizi with its broader AI-powered software, companies will now be able to automate the feedback generated between their corporate environmental initiatives and the operational endpoints being used in daily business operations?a crucial step in making sustainability efforts more scalable. For instance, IBM says, Envizi will integrate with:
- IBM Maximo asset management solutions, which help companies extend the life of their critical assets, reduce environmental impact by providing intelligent asset management, monitoring, predictive maintenance, and reliability in a single platform.
- IBM Sterling supply chain solutions, which help companies gain supply chain visibility, cut waste by right-sizing inventory, reduce the carbon footprint of shipment and logistics, and ensure responsible sourcing with blockchain-based technology for traceability.
- IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite (EIS), which helps companies increase resiliency by assessing and planning for the impact of environmental conditions on their operations, assets, and supply chains. EIS uses advanced AI and weather technology from IBM, the most accurate forecasting provider globally.2
- IBM Turbonomic and Red Hat OpenShift capabilities, which help companies automate decision making when considering where to run enterprise workloads based on optimization of performance, cost and GHG emissions.
It is also expected that Envizi will also help expand IBM Consulting's growing sustainability practice, which is designed to help clients accelerate progress toward their sustainability commitments.
"To drive real progress toward sustainability, companies need the ability to transform data into predictive insights that help them make more intelligent, actionable decisions every day," said Kareem Yusuf, PhD, General Manager, IBM AI Applications. "Envizi's software provides companies with a single source of truth for analyzing and understanding emissions data across the full lan dscape of their business operations and dramatically accelerates IBM's growing arsenal of AI technologies for helping businesses create more sustainable operations and supply chains."
For more information, visit www.ibm.com/sustainability/solutions and https://envizi.com.