Sustainable Computing in Financial Systems: Environmental Impacts of Cloud vs. On-Premise Architectures

This article explores the environmental implications of transitioning from traditional on-premise infrastructure to cloud-based architectures in the financial sector. Through comprehensive analysis of carbon footprints, energy consumption patterns, and e-waste production, the article presents quantitative and qualitative assessments of both deployment models. Findings indicate that while cloud environments typically offer significant sustainability advantages through resource sharing and economies of scale, various factors including data center location, implementation strategy, and organizational requirements must be considered for optimal environmental outcomes. The article proposes a framework for financial institutions to evaluate and enhance the sustainability of their IT operations through renewable energy adoption, workload optimization, and responsible hardware lifecycle management