Discover how Cisco and Orange Business are collaborating to drive sustainability and innovation at Cisco Live 2025
In today's world, collaboration between technology companies is essential to drive meaningful change. Cisco and Orange Business have joined forces to not only reduce carbon footprints for their customers, but also to foster innovative solutions. This teamwork is embodied by Orange Business presence at Cisco Live 2025 Amsterdam, where a demonstration highlights their commitment to a more sustainable future.
Recognizing the interdependencies in achieving both companies’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals, and the understanding that a new kind of collaborative partnership is required to help accelerate progress, Cisco and Orange Business have established a strong partnership through a first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This collaboration is built on the pillars of carbon impact, circular economy, eco-design, and go-to-market strategies. Both companies have set ambitious targets: Orange Business aims for a 45% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030* and carbon neutrality by 2040, while Cisco targets net-zero GHG emissions across its value chain by 2040**.
A sustainable framework for a circular journey
The first shared outcome of this MoU is a joint sustainable framework underpinned by the principles of a circular economy. This three-stages approach of “Make, Use, Reuse” aims to guide customers all along their sustainable journey.
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In the Make phase, Orange Business focuses on the design of lowest-impact infrastructures with the highest quality of service, to meet tender requirements and minimize digital carbon impact.
Customers usually include in their supplier’s selection requests of mandatory information about their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reports. Orange Business has developed a tool called ESGenius, which is a chatbot designed to efficiently gather this information from Orange Business and Cisco. This tool allows their sales teams to quickly access public reports, ensuring they have the necessary information to answer customers’ tenders.
The next step involves designing infrastructures and architectures for the customers of Orange Business with the lowest environmental impact while maintaining service quality. Once the best design is validated, sales teams emphasize responsible purchasing. Orange Business ReFresh Finder tool is an internal platform showcasing refurbished equipment availability. These remanufactured items offer the same quality and guarantees as new equipment but at a lower price and environmental impact.
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The Use phase focuses on optimizing energy consumption of installed equipment to reduce GHG emissions from electricity consumption and operational costs for customers.
Once the equipment is installed at the customers' locations, Orange Business provides solutions focusing on energy management. The carbon footprint of enterprise equipment, like routers or access points, is primarily linked to their ongoing energy use. Since customers are responsible for their electricity bills, energy savings have a direct financial impact. Orange Business’ approach involves two main steps: first, measuring the energy consumption of the equipment, and second, reducing that consumption to align with actual usage needs. Orange Business solutions allow our customers to correlate their data of equipment usage with their building management system. The solution establishes rules for powering devices on or off based on real needs. This integrated approach makes it possible to effectively reduce energy consumption across all equipment, ultimately benefiting customers both environmentally and financially.
- The Re-Use stage closes the loop on take-back programs to recover end-of-use equipment, allowing for either refurbishment and reintroduction into the market or responsible recycling, minimizing waste and maximizing resource utilization.
Cisco Live 2025 demonstration : bridging the gap between IT and OT
Following the engagement made by Orange Business and Cisco CEOs at the MWC'24, this sustainable partnership will be showcased during Cisco Live 2025 Amsterdam. This demonstration shows how IT equipment can be transformed into intelligent sensors, bridging the gap between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT).
Key topics of the demonstration include:
- IT Equipment as Sensors: The demonstration will focus on how IT equipment such as servers, routers, and network devices are instrumented to both measure their energy consumption and transmit usage information in real time, turning them into sensors that feed data into a unified platform.
- The Sustainability Data Hub: This solution offers a centralized real-time view of multi-source energy consumption data, enabling data-driven decisions for environmental sustainability. The data collected by V-App’s platform is then used to trigger automated actions such as adjusting lighting, managing HVAC, and controlling WiFi systems based on schedule and real-time usage, which enables optimization and energy savings.
- Live Objects: the demo will showcase how data collected from IT equipment is transmitted to V-App, which can then be integrated with Orange Business’ Live Objects platform, creating a bridge between IT and OT. This integration allows for a holistic approach to energy management, by correlating IT consumption with building management system data (e.g., room occupancy, outdoor temperature).
The demonstration at Cisco Live 2025 Amsterdam illustrates the transformative potential of the Cisco and Orange Business partnership. By bridging the gap between IT and OT, and through their commitment to the circular “Make, Use, Reuse” framework, they are creating innovative solutions for a more sustainable future. This collaboration underscores the commitment of both companies to environmental responsibility and technological innovation.
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Notes to the editor
* Compared to Orange Business GHG emissions from baseline year 2020.
** Cisco has set a goal to reach net-zero GHG emissions across its value chain by 2040 and to reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution, and use of sold Cisco products by 30% by Cisco fiscal year 2030 and compared to Cisco GHG emissions from Cisco’s baseline fiscal year 2019.
Solène is a Partnership Success Manager at Orange Business in France, where she transforms innovative ideas into reality. With over 15 years of experience across multiple sectors, she specializes in strategy, project management, and supply chain optimization. An expert in the sustainability domain, Solène excels at fostering mutually beneficial partnerships that deliver tangible results and create value for all stakeholders, emphasizing responsible digital practices.