Our purpose

A letter from our CEO

Brian Duffy

CEO

Striving for a sustainable future

Today, our planet and our people are facing unprecedented risks due to climate change and the reality is of deep concern to all of us at SoftwareOne. We recognise the role we play in contributing to a sustainable future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that, should global warming reach 1.5°C in the foreseeable future, it will cause increasing climate hazards and present unavoidable risks to all ecosystems and humans.

As we said in our 2022 Annual Report, we are proud of the progress we have made in our global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme over the last year. It continues to drive positive impacts within SoftwareOne and the communities in which we operate. We are fully committed to reducing our carbon footprint, conserving resources, and promoting sustainable practices throughout our operations.

We have identified a set of material risks and areas for improvement across all areas of ESG, which require collaboration from the many departments in SoftwareOne. We will continue to drive more sustainable outcomes for our clients via technology solutions, while further embedding sustainability in our own operations and across our value chain.

People-centric approach

Since its launch in 2021, our ESG programme has received unwavering support from our Board of Directors which created a new ESG Committee chaired by Isabelle Romy.

To strengthen our ESG framework in 2022, employee-driven committees were created under the three ESG topics. These committees are each chaired by members of the Executive Board; Bernd Schlotter, President of Services, Julia Braun, Chief Human Resources Officer and Frank Rossini, Chief Legal Officer.

Innovative strategy

SoftwareOne has a unique opportunity to leverage our core expertise and market-leading technologies in our approach to our ESG strategy. In 2022, SoftwareOne made significant headway in calculating our carbon footprint to use as a baseline for our strategies on emission reduction and avoidance. We obtained internal support to create a global Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging  strategy and moved forward in incorporating ESG into our third-party risk management strategies.

Partnering for the Future

Addressing ESG challenges requires long-term collaboration and continuous innovation. Effective actions that limit global warming could substantially reduce projected losses and damages in human systems and ecosystems, which is why our call to action goes beyond compliance with regulations. It is about embracing a mindset of innovation and collaboration. In this report, we have set ambitious targets to further reduce our environmental impact, enhance social inclusivity and diversity, and strengthen our overall governance practices. We recognise that it is only though our client partnerships, employee passion and total buy in that together we can make an impact that will benefit our planet and our people.

Brian Duffy, CEO