Microsoft Sustainability Manager
Companies that are striving for professional ESG reporting, due to new legal environmental regulations and their own sustainability requirements, often use the Microsoft Sustainability Manager solution.
In this blog article, we answer the most frequently asked questions about ESG reporting with the Microsoft Sustainability Manager solution.
What is Microsoft Sustainability Manager?
The Microsoft Sustainability Manager is a software solution that companies can use to document and improve their environmental performance. The Microsoft Sustainability Manager is a platform that combines environmental, social, and governance data from various sources to create meaningful reports.
Microsoft Sustainability Manager enables companies to collect, analyse, and report ESG data, and is also suitable for professional ESG reporting.
Integration of Automated Processes into Microsoft Sustainability Manager
Microsoft Sustainability Manager supports the integration of automated processes to optimise data flow. Through automation, companies can continuously and efficiently collect ESG data, resulting in more accurate and timely ESG reports. It is recommended that the automation is carried out by a Microsoft implementation partner, such as HSO.
Although Microsoft Sustainability Manager can also be used without automation, this option has many disadvantages and does not lead to efficient ESG reporting in the long term.
Managing and identifying ESG risks
The tool provides templates and frameworks for various ESG standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This helps organizations streamline their reporting processes and ensure compliance with multiple regulatory requirements.
With data trail capabilities, Microsoft Sustainability Manager enhances transparency by tracking the entire data lifecycle. This feature helps organizations understand how data moves and changes, ensuring traceability and auditability, which is crucial for managing ESG risks.
The tool includes features for calculating and reporting emissions across different scopes (Scope 1, 2, and 3). This allows organizations to accurately quantify their emissions and comply with various regional and industry-specific reporting standards.
By integrating comprehensive ESG data, the tool helps organizations identify potential risks and opportunities related to sustainability. This includes managing risks associated with non-compliance, operational inefficiencies, and evolving regulatory landscapes.
The integration with Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability provides a holistic view of an organization’s environmental impact. This enables better decision-making by providing insights into carbon, water, and waste management.
Creating custom reports
Microsoft Sustainability Manager enables ESG reports to be customised to meet the individual needs and requirements of organisations. Users can create reports that highlight specific key figures and metrics.
The dashboards in Microsoft Sustainability Manager are pre-built, however, additional dashboards can be integrated according to customer requirements with the support of a Microsoft Partner such as HSO.
Get started with Microsoft Sustainability Manager
Our ESG & Sustainability solution amplifies the capabilities of Microsoft Sustainability Manager through our Data & Analytics (DnA) accelerators. Learn more about HSO's offering below.
Q&A
The Microsoft Sustainability Manager platform offers integrated data quality controls. Security mechanisms and validation steps ensure that the ESG data collected is reliable and accurate.
The Microsoft Sustainability Manager platform enables a comprehensive analysis of environmental data to identify weak points. Companies can use this as a basis to take targeted measures to improve their sustainability performance and operate more sustainably.
Microsoft regularly updates the Microsoft Sustainability Manager software and installs updates.
Yes, the Microsoft solution provides a foundation to support various standards. Microsoft Sustainability Manager is flexible and can support various ESG reporting standards, including GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) and other industry-specific standards.
Microsoft Sustainability Manager solution covers the "E" in ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) - all criteria that affect the environment, including environmental impacts. These include, for example, CO2 emissions, the use of resources or environmental protection.
ESG Reporting: Transparency and proof of your sustainability strategy
Lay the foundation for sustainability reporting obligations from 2024 onwards
