the c-suite sustainability imperative 2021

of organizations are already pursuing sustainability initiatives today, many face headwinds because…

While77%

An IDC Infographic, sponsored by ServiceNow

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Environmental, Social, and Governance(ESG) Issues Are Business-CriticalImportance of sustainability increases with size of firm.

n = 305, Source: IDC ServiceNow Sustainability Survey, August 2021


Q. In the next fiscal year, how much will your organization’s IT budget for IT products and services that support/advance your organization’s sustainability initiatives increase/decrease?

Not at all important

Somewhat important

Important

Very important

Extremely important 72%of enterprises worldwide consider sustainability to be a key business priority.

(% of respondents)

72.2%

67.9%

73.8%

While cost implications, brand image, new product innovation, and customer demand are the main drivers for investing in sustainability,

executive mandate is the number 1 driver in North America.

Percentage of firms by industry that intend to spend at least 10% more next year on IT sustainability initiatives:

Q. What are the main drivers for your organization investing in sustainability?

Cost implications (e.g., energy savings)

Brand and image driven

New product innovation

Customer demand

Regulatory requirements

Executive management mandate

Shift in corporate purpose

Investor demand

Board of directors mandate

Employee demand

Partner demand

37.0%

35.1%

34.1%

33.4%

30.5%

29.8%

26.6%

22.0%

21.0%

19.0%

11.5%


Top 3 drivers per region

Executivemanagement

mandate

40.2%

Costimplications(e.g., energy

savings)

37.1%

Newproduct

innovation

31.8%

Brand andimage driven

39.6%


savings)

36.8%

Newproduct

innovation

34.9%

Brand andimage driven

43.3%

Newproduct

innovation

37.3%


savings)

37.3%

North America Western Europe Asia Pacific


O�ering integrated, data-driven reports fromacross ESG, financial, and corporate programs

Having ESG goals as part of a technologyvendor’s Customers Success Framework

Tracking costs and progress fromESG investments

Mapping ESG goals to financial/cultural outcomes

Comparing internal versus externalESG benchmarks

Assessing value from ESG inreporting formats

27.2%

23.9%

15.7%

13.1%

11.8%

8.2%

North America Western Europe Asia Pacific



Investing inSustainability Programs and IT

MIND THE GAP:Sustainable Businesses Want Help

in Overcoming Skills, Reporting,and Operational Gaps

Healthcare and life science

Finance

Education and government

Retail or wholesale

Technology

Manufacturing

Services

Transportation, communication, utilities

Other

37%

34%

25%

23%

23%

22%

14%

10%

24%

Those industries that are more mature in IT sustainability initiatives plan to spend an even bigger proportion on sustainability, indicating that the

more mature the industry, the deeper the spend.

of respondents reported that the CIO plays at least an important role in the delivery of ESG outcomes, if not enabling the entire process.

This demonstrates the need for sustainability advisory and IT tools for measuring and reporting. In fact, to be most impactful, firms would improve their communication ESG outcomes in two ways:

through data and through customer success stories.

of respondents were almost evenly split in saying that the department with the highest share of sustainability spending is either a dedicated sustainability or IT team.

Maturity of sustainability (partially or completely embedded) increases with the size of the organization:

Dedicatedsustainability

team

27.9%

IT

26.9%

Operations

12.1%

Executivemanagement

10.2%

Finance

9.5%

Marketing/sales

7.2%

Humanresources

6.2%

73.8%61.0% 59.3%

Having ESG goals as part

of a technology

vendor’s Customers

Success Framework

O�ering integrated, data-driven reports fromacross ESG,

financial, and corporate programs

Tracking costs and progress

from ESG investments



Comparing internal versus external ESG benchmarks

Tracking costs and progress

from ESG investments



Having ESG goals as part

of a technology

vendor’s Customers

Success Framework

Mapping ESG goals to financial/cultural

outcomes

Q3. What department has the highest share of your organization’s sustainability budget?

Q. What role does your CIO play in the delivery of ESG outcomes?

Q. What are the top 3 operational challenges faced by your organization when attempting to become a sustainable business?

Q. What tactic or practice would be MOST impactful to improve your organization’s ability to communicate ESG outcomes?

Q. If there were a sustainability solution that enabled your organization to integrate and automate related processes, consolidate existing tools, streamline data collection and reporting, and improve

team collaboration and transparency/measurement, would you view this as:


Game changer Highly valuable Valuable

The triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit opportunities motivate investment.

The emphasis on new product innovation worldwide underscores the expected business and competitive value of proactive investment in ESG initiatives.

of firms surveyed said they intend to spend at least the same level on sustainability IT initiatives in the next fiscal year, while

88%

22% will be spendingat least 10%or more.

45% 69% 98%

55%

97%

Lack of sustainabilityexpertise/capabilities

within the organization

Lack of IT tools to report and measure

on impact

The necessary operational technology

isn’t yet invented

Top 3 tactics or practices per region

LOOKING AHEAD

of respondents would like an integrated sustainability solution, with

saying it would be highly valuable or a game changer.

85%99%

Q. How important is overall sustainability (ESG) as a business priority to your organization?

(% of respondents)

(% of industries)

(% share)


53% 44% 2%CIO Role

Major role in enabling collection, measurement, and validation of ESG projects, outcomes, and impact

An important role, consulted with on ESG strategy and implementation

Minor role, is aware of ESG but not a major stakeholder

(% of respondents)

(% of respondents)

(% of respondents)

(% of respondents)

(% of respondents)

29.5%

25.0%27.4%

19.8% 18.9%

31.3%

20.9%17.9%17.4%

North America Asia Pacific Western Europe

30.3%

53.8%

15.9% 16.4%

74.6%

9.0% 13.2%

69.8%

16.0%

32.1%

40.0%

17.0%

10.5%

0.3%

The C-SuiteSustainabilityImperative 2021Driving Toward ESG Impact and Value with the ServiceNow Platform

(% of respondents)

500–999 employees1,000–4,999 employees5,000+ employees

500–999employees

1,000–4,999employees

5,000+employees

Role of CIO in delivery of ESG outcomes

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