by Keith Loven
We recently transferred our whole operation to a cloud-based case management system, having previously relied on a system installed on a server based in our office. After a precautionary overlap period, we turned off our server last week, and I noticed an immediate effect – my office was colder in the mornings! While heat dissipated by the server in the winter probably offset some of the heat requirement for the office building and in this sense was not wasted, in the summer it’s a different story.
A cloud-based system certainly helps the operation of our business, especially now all members of our team work remotely from one another, but is it better for the environment? We’ll certainly be reducing our annual energy consumption here, but in the overall scheme of things have we just moved that energy consumption to some remote server instead?
Assessing the global impact of a development is, of course, very difficult, but “green” inventions – those that can claim to offer environmental benefits – will continue to be important. They can be given priority treatment by the Intellectual Property Office. To speak to us about protecting your environmentally-friendly inventions, call us on 01522 801111.