What is the Microsoft Partner Pledge?

Hardsoft have signed the Microsoft Partner Pledge. But what does this mean?

The Partner Pledge, signed by over 90 companies, focuses on four critical goals, namely: digital skills, diversity, responsible and ethical AI and sustainability. These goals aim to guide Microsoft’s partners and, by extension, the world through the challenges of ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’, as increased interconnectivity, smart automation and other powerfully transformative technologies help to cause positive, widespread change on an international scale.

The aim of those Microsoft Partners who have signed the pledge is to promote its goals, both internally and externally, and to instil the values outlined by the pledge’s critical goals into their own initiatives and projects. This means making sure everyone is provided with the most up-to-date and effective opportunities to gain new, and sharpen their pre-existing skills, as well as making sure the technology industry reflects and supports society in a positive way, allowing for equal opportunity that can result in quicker and more effective industrial change. As well as this the pledge has a focus on sustainability, in particular the reducing of carbon footprints – something that Hardsoft have been working on for a while now – that has, recently, become an even higher priority throughout the technological industry.

Hardsoft are very proud to be a carbon neutral company, something that we are constantly striving to improve both internally and externally. Since reducing carbon emissions to 0% is impossible, we offset the remaining carbon emissions as a last resort. Carbon offsetting is the idea of reducing or removing the emission of carbon dioxide or other harmful greenhouse gases to compensate for emissions made somewhere else. We do this through encouraging our customers to do the same using our ‘Just 3% more makes IT green’ initiative. This doesn’t just help to make Hardsoft greener, but also our clients who pay just 3% more on each device, on order, for us to offset their carbon emissions by investing in different clean energy projects, such as the creation on wind energy in east Brazil.

Not only is this process convenient, only requiring payment at the point of leasing your device, but it is also extremely efficient, effective and transparent – meaning you can track your contribution using the serial number linked to your leased device. The reason that this method is so effective is, not only because of how it benefits the environment, but also because of how it can benefit any company who chooses to use it, as having low carbon emissions is a crucial consideration made by the customer in the modern era.

We also aim to combat the problem caused by scrap technology, as over 50 million metric tons of electronic waste is produced globally each year, with these pieces often being hard to recycle due to lack of demand caused by outdated parts and the toxic chemicals often used is different machines. We do our part in combatting this issue through the collection and recycling of your old devices. This is done by the simple assessment and wiping of all data of each device before sending it off for ethical disassembly, grading and then recycling.

The Microsoft Partner Pledge is a great chance for different businesses to align themselves with a common goal and to look towards the future, making sure that everyone possesses the right skills and opportunities to make the most of the exciting future that lays ahead.