Canalys Names HP, Lenovo, Schneider Electric as Sustainability Champions

HP, Lenovo and Schneider Electric have been named Champions in Canalys’ 2023 Global Sustainable Ecosystems Leadership Matrix.

This latest leadership matrix revealed the three vendors excelling in their efforts to drive sustainable transformations internally and throughout the channel ecosystem. Achieving Champion status is no small feat as vendors continue to work to meet partners’ and customers’ evolving needs and expectations while sustainability rises to the top of corporate agendas, Canalys said. (Canalys and Channel Futures are both owned by Informa.)

Canalys’ Ben Caddy

“A vendor’s position in the leadership matrix is based on channel partner feedback, industry leadership in sustainability and Canalys analyst assessments,” said Ben Caddy, research analyst of sustainability at Canalys. “Champions have demonstrated the highest levels of excellence in driving the channel ecosystem forward in environmental sustainability, specifically while progressing on their own corporate sustainability strategies.”

HP continues to lead the industry with its Amplify Impact program. It launched its program nearly two years ago and has rolled it out to 3,800 partners globally.

Lenovo and Schneider Electric have rapidly developed partner offerings over the last 12 months. All three vendors demonstrated their progress in embedding sustainability throughout their organizations and empowering channel partners to follow suit.

Sustainability Contenders, Scalers, Foundation

Canalys assessed the 14 leading technology vendors globally, selected for their annual revenue and percentage of business conducted through the channel. Besides the three Champions, other vendors ranked as:

Canalys’ Rachel Brindley

“The vendor community has recognized sustainability is integral to corporate agendas – including those of partners, customers and the vendors themselves – for years and decades to come,” said Rachel Brindley, Canalys‘ senior director of channels. “[This year] continues to present macroeconomic challenges for the industry, but it has also seen some of the most extreme weather events ever recorded, making the need for a more sustainable IT sector even clearer. The largest multinational technology vendors cannot afford to fall behind on their environmental commitments — and they must equip channel partners with the knowledge, tools and solutions to achieve their own sustainability goals.”

Revenue Operating Opportunities in Sustainability Clearer

Revenue-generating opportunities in sustainability are only becoming clearer for the vendor community, with channel partners showing a clear demand for sustainability solutions and support through partner programs, Brindley said. Partners are turning to the vendor community and expecting sustainability training, incentivized hardware take-back programs, and low-carbon software or cloud solutions. Moreover, the channel expects vendors to lead by example and deliver transparent sustainability reports, measurable progress in decarbonizing their supply chains, and diverse portfolios of more sustainable and efficient products and solutions. As sustainability remains a critical consideration for vendors’ many stakeholders – including customers, partners, employees and investors – the vendor community cannot afford to be complacent with its progress so far.

“Moving forward, vendors will need to expand sustainability offerings for partners and customers while maintaining reputations as innovative, responsible and climate-cautious companies,” Caddy said. “Now is no time for the Champions to become overconfident in their leadership status, as Contenders compete to win the favor of the growing community of sustainability-focused partners.”