CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe), the primary European trade association representing cloud infrastructure providers, supports the proposal to bring servers and data storage products within the legal framework of the EU Ecodesign Directive, and the Commission’s work to define the appropriate scope of the draft Regulation.
CISPE members are committed to implementing all energy and non-energy Ecodesign requirements but caution the Commission against the potentially unintended effect of the information disclosure requirement for Original Device Manufacturer Direct (ODM Direct) in the current draft Regulation.
Market forces in the Original Device Manufacturer Direct (ODM Direct) segment are already driving cutting-edge Ecodesign innovations in customised servers. They offer superior performance and functionality at equal or higher energy efficiency to similar mass-produced servers and data storage products. This is the result of many years of innovation efforts and R&D investments to improve ODM products.
Forcing cloud infrastructure providers to publicly disclose certain technical characteristics of their custom-made server design puts at risk the R&D investments of innovation-driven cloud infrastructure providers, without contributing to any of the goals of the legislation.
Specifically, the information disclosure proposals in paragraphs 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 of Annex II to the draft Regulation threaten to substantially undermine the progress achieved in terms of performance and functionality at equal or higher energy efficiency rates, by decreasing the competitive incentives that drive cloud infrastructure providers to innovate in server and data storage efficiency.
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