Fujitsu and the Green Transformation: How
7 min read
Fujitsu has brought forward its Net-Zero roadmap for its own operations to 2030, and for the entire value chain to 2040. What sounds like corporate PR is a blueprint for SMEs in the DACH region: Those replacing IT infrastructure in 2026 are implicitly buying into their suppliers’ climate goals and the performance data that will later appear in the CSRD report.
Key Takeaways
- Net-Zero by 2040. Fujitsu has brought forward its target for the entire value chain from 2050 to 2040, validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative.
- 100 percent green electricity by 2030. The company is switching its own electricity supply 20 years earlier than originally planned. This directly impacts customers’ Scope 3 emissions.
- 30 times more efficient since 2007. The performance per watt of PRIMERGY servers has increased thirtyfold since the beginning of its own measurement series. Replacing an eight-year-old server reduces both electricity bills and CSRD data points.
RelatedEnEfG and AI electricity: What data centers need to consider now / CSRD data model 2026: Why SMEs are underestimating their ESG reporting obligations
Definition
What is Scope 3? Scope 3 refers to all indirect greenhouse gas emissions along a company’s value chain that occur outside its own facilities (Scope 1) and purchased electricity (Scope 2). This includes hardware manufacturing, logistics, business travel, and the use phase of sold products. In IT, Scope 3 items often account for 70 to 80 percent of the total footprint.
Why a supplier’s roadmap suddenly matters
Most SME executives have learned in the past two years that the CSRD requires data from their supply chains. What many underestimate is that Scope 3 often accounts for 70 to 80 percent of the CO2 footprint in IT. The direct emissions from your own server room are the smaller lever. The larger items are hidden in hardware manufacturing, cloud electricity, and lifecycle logistics.
Fujitsu’s adjusted roadmap addresses this. The former subsidiary Fujitsu Technology Solutions, now operating under the Fsas Technologies umbrella in Augsburg, is one of the few remaining server manufacturers with mainboard development in Germany. SMEs replacing hardware in 2026 will choose between US suppliers, Asian brands, and a line produced in the region. The regulatory intersection between the EU AI Act, Data Act, NIS2, and CSRD makes this choice more complex than it was in 2022.
The interesting leadership decisions are rarely those found in quarterly reports. They are the ones made by someone in the third week of a refresh project that no one can trace back when the auditor asks three years later where the Scope 3 assumptions came from.
The number that justifies a refresh project
For a mid-sized company with 40 to 60 server nodes, this number means: a refresh cycle pays off not just after eight years, but from the first electricity bill cycle. The combination of older Xeon generations, inefficient power supplies, and cooling overhead generates electricity costs that are three to four times lower in a modern 19-inch rack.
That’s the sober accountant’s view. The more interesting question for a company’s management is: who decides when a refresh becomes a strategic project and when it remains a procurement issue? As long as IT management decides alone, they optimize for stability and avoid risk. Once the CFO and sustainability officer are at the table, the efficiency question automatically comes into play. In practice, the second scenario produces better business cases, but takes longer.
What has really changed since 2023
Fujitsu’s motherboard production in Augsburg was closed in 2020, followed by the server final assembly plant in Augsburg in 2022. What’s left is development in Augsburg and Paderborn, as well as a service network with around 350 employees in the DACH region. Today, productive manufacturing is located in the Czech Republic, Japan, and China. Those looking for “made in Germany” will find it at Fujitsu Engineering, but no longer in final assembly. That’s an honest assessment, not a promise.
This timeline is more relevant than it seems at first glance. A mid-sized company that orders servers today will have them in operation for seven to nine years. This means: the hardware generation procured in a refresh project in 2026 will still be running when the supplier has to achieve its Scope 3 targets. Those who choose suppliers with less ambitious roadmaps will push CO2 data points into their own balance sheet, which will become more expensive than the initial unit price advantage.
What SME IT Should Specifically Review
The temptation in such discussions is to resort to frameworks. The pragmatic approach is different: Don’t check every supplier, but align the three largest by IT spending volume and their roadmap with your own CSRD reporting structure. What matters is not the collection of certificates, but the data quality that the supplier provides per device.
What Breaks
- Procurement based solely on unit price without considering Total Cost of Ownership over seven years.
- Contracts without return clauses for refurbishing or recycling at the end of life.
- CSRD reporting based on general industry estimates instead of supplier data.
- Refresh decisions made solely by the IT manager, without CFO involvement.
What Works
- Supplier selection based on validated SBTi or comparable roadmaps.
- Concrete hardware data sheets with kWh figures per workload profile.
- Take-back agreements with documented refurbishing rates.
- Refresh projects as a joint decision between IT, CFO, and sustainability.
The second column sounds obvious, but it isn’t. In most SMEs we’ve accompanied over the past twelve months, none of these points were fully integrated into procurement. This isn’t an accusation; it’s the reality of a discipline that was considered procurement folklore just three years ago and is now a review criterion.
The Point a COO Makes in the Boardroom
Culture is what happens when stress increases. In a CSRD audit two weeks before the financial statement deadline, you see who in the organization actually delivers data quality and who presents estimates as reliable figures.
The temptation to delegate green transformation to the communications department is high. The problem: Auditors are not interested in press releases, but in the origin of the data. A management team that does not document a supplier roadmap in the 2026 refresh project will have to work with non-reliable estimates in the 2027 or 2028 report. This is not an existential issue; it is a matter of comfort that will translate into effort in two years.
Addressing the issue as a COO responsibility rather than an IT procurement detail gains two things: more consistent CSRD reporting and a line of argumentation towards banks and insurers, who will increasingly ask for these data points in the next refinancing rounds. Neither is spectacular, but both are measurable.
An honest retrospective on the last hardware refresh is more expensive than three strategy workshops. But only the retrospective changes something about the next procurement decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fujitsu’s Net-Zero mean that every server is produced climate-neutrally?
No. Net-Zero refers to the overall corporate carbon footprint, including compensation. For individual devices, there are data sheets with documented kWh figures per workload, which count as primary data in the CSRD reporting structure. Climate neutrality per unit is not achieved by Fujitsu or comparable providers by 2026.
What server locations does Fujitsu still have in Germany?
The final assembly in Augsburg was closed in 2022, and the mainboard production was already discontinued in 2020. Development in Augsburg and Paderborn remains active, as well as a service network with around 350 employees in the DACH region. Production primarily takes place in the Czech Republic, Japan, and China.
How should an 80-employee mid-sized company start with the supplier roadmap review?
Three steps: First, identify the three suppliers with the highest IT expenditure. Then, review their public Net-Zero roadmap. Finally, request data sheets with kWh figures per configuration in the next procurement briefing. This is feasible within four to six weeks and provides the basis for the next CSRD reporting.
Are PRIMERGY servers more expensive for mid-sized companies than hyperscaler cloud?
This cannot be answered in general terms. On-premises solutions continue to be worthwhile for stable, predictable workloads with high data volumes or regulatory data residency requirements. For highly fluctuating loads, cloud is usually cheaper. The energy efficiency question plays a role in both cases, as Scope 3 counts regardless of the operating model.
What happens if a supplier fails to achieve its climate targets?
For the mid-sized company customer, this primarily means that the Scope 3 assumptions must be adjusted, which can result in corrections during the ongoing reporting cycle. Contractual penalties are rare, but ESG ratings and refinancing conditions increasingly react to supply chain shortcomings. Diversifying procurement reduces concentration risk.
Source title image: Pexels / RDNE Stock project (px:8783541)
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