ESG at Alludo
Environmental, Social, and Governmental concerns are core to our mission and purpose.
Alludo is a global organization built on authenticity, transparency, inclusivity, and creating value for our stakeholders, employees, partners, customers, and community. As part of that core commitment, ESG is not a separate department or initiative at Alludo, but rather infused throughout our entire organization and daily operations.
At Alludo, we’re taking on the ambitious task of reimagining what work looks and feels like. This sweeping initiative has included a comprehensive rebranding, which has given us the chance to be thoughtful and intentional about how we show up in the world. That’s why this is the perfect time to evaluate—and elevate—how ESG aligns with what we do.
As a company with a global presence, we are very conscious of the consequences of the climate crisis. Accountability is one of Alludo’s core pillars. We believe that every individual, every department, and every company has a deep responsibility to monitor and mitigate carbon footprint and environmental impact. It's not enough to plant trees once a year or encourage people to avoid printing emails. It’s not enough for one department to push for sustainability efforts. It takes every one of us being accountable, every day.
We’ve taken strides to work toward improved sustainability at the individual level, the customer level, and the overall company level. We know there is a long way to go, and we’re committed to doing the work.
Here are a few initiatives we’ve undertaken to make positive progress to impact sustainability:
Alludo is a remote-first company and gives its employees the choice of working from one of our offices or remotely. As a result, 95% of our employees have chosen to work remotely. This is a change from previous years and means that the vast majority of our employees no longer commute to an office. This saves in time expenditure, removes the associated fuel/energy costs of travel, cuts down on traffic, and ultimately reduces carbon emissions. Research indicates that “if everybody able to work from home worldwide did so for one day a week, then global emissions could fall by 24 million metric tonnes of CO2 a year.” We are aiming much higher by making it possible to work from home permanently.
We’ve heard so many encouraging anecdotes to support the positive environmental impact resulting from our remote-first policy.
"I used to have to sit in traffic for one to two hours each way. I can’t imagine what that cost the environment, let alone my wallet. No more."
"Instead of once per week, I maybe have to fill my tank once per month now."
"I’m proud to work for a company that cares about both its employees and the environment. It’s a big deal to be able to eliminate commutes and unnecessary travel."
Our remote-first policy goes beyond empowering our employees to do their work from anywhere. We also reduced in-person meetings and evaluate when it actually makes sense that a meeting takes place. Plus, when work-related travel is warranted, we encourage employees to take the train (instead of the car or the plane) when possible.
Our core product offerings are aligned with our commitment to sustainability, not just within our company but globally. Our technology centers on digital workplace solutions that help companies reduce their carbon footprint far beyond just the ability to work remotely.
Specifically, our digital workspace solutions with Parallels RAS (Remote Application Server) and Parallels Awingu help companies achieve sustainability goals by enabling effective use of existing hardware instead of requiring new device purchases. This saves on both financial investment and environmental impact. The manufacturing process of new hardware is environmentally costly, and repurposing means fewer new machines—and less infrastructure headed for electronic waste piles.
Additionally, with these solutions companies can also use workloads efficiently whether their infrastructure is hosted in the cloud, on-premises or in a hybrid environment. By leveraging the cloud, organizations can become more energy-efficient, reducing their carbon footprint and improving their sustainability performance in multiple areas, such as energy consumption, lighting, and cooling systems. According to a study by the International Data Corporation (IDC), if more companies adopt cloud computing by 2024, they could collectively avoid emitting up to 629 million metric tons of carbon. In addition, the same study suggests that prioritizing sustainability in data center design could eliminate up to 1.6 million metric tons of emissions by 2024. By efficiently using the cloud or a hybrid set up with sustainability in mind, our customers can contribute to a greener future.
Plus, with Parallels Desktop for Mac, Parallels RAS and Parallels Awingu, employees can run several operating systems (e.g., Windows, MacOS, Linux, Chrome OS) on a single device. This eliminates the need for multiple devices to be accessible to support different operating systems.
Alludo is also kicking off a series of internal communications initiatives to support environmental awareness and sustainability within the organization. By educating and establishing initiatives at the individual, team, and corporate level, our collective carbon footprint and environmental impact can be reduced, with a focus on the well-being of ourselves and our planet.
This is just a partial list of environmental activities—and it’s also only the beginning. As we reimagine and build the future of work—for us, for our customers, and for the planet—we are committed to incorporating sustainability at every turn.
The future of work is about whole-person wellbeing and freedom, giving time to work and space to ideas. It lets go of the prescriptive schedules and micromanagement that are hallmarks of a legacy work landscape. In this new world of work, mental, physical, and emotional health are at the forefront. People are encouraged to come as they are and work where, how, and when it works best for them. They’re encouraged to embrace their unique skill sets, work within their individual challenges, and fit work into their full lives (not the other way around).
As part of our rebrand, we established work better/live better beliefs:
Unapologetic Authenticity is the root of performance.
Grit is more valuable than perfection.
Simplicity is essential.
Curiosity unleashes innovation.
Accountability lets us go further, faster.
True Freedom means working better and living better.
We base decisions on these beliefs and recognize one employee per month who embodies one of our beliefs.
Of course, our commitment to social issues extends beyond our established beliefs. It must be infused in what we do every day. Here are a few ways we promote and embrace social issues at Alludo:
It is our policy and practice to offer equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, age, religion, national origin, sex, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetics, or any other protected characteristic.
At Alludo, we are creating and supporting an inclusive and diverse workforce. We operate with the belief that embracing diversity is not only the right thing for our employees and our community, it’s also smart business. We have been on record citing statistics indicating that companies with higher levels of diversity outperform their less diverse counterparts.
We also believe it’s important to embrace diversity and promote inclusion in all its forms—gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and neurodiversity. Members of our executive leadership team have become established thought leaders on the topic of multiple forms of diversity (Examples ChiefExecutive, Diginomica, SmartCompany)
Alludo is a rare example of a tech company with such strong representation of women in the workforce, and within leadership in particular. We’re thrilled to report that we are above industry standard for percentage of women in our workforce: With a female workforce making up 33% overall, our CEO is a woman, 43% of our ELT and 34% of our people managers are women.
We’re also breaking ground when it comes to destigmatizing neurodiversity. Neurodiversity is diversity, and Alludo is emerging as a vocal advocate for embracing neurodiversity among our workforce, including among our ELT.
During Q4 2022, Alludo established its first Employee Resource Group (ERG) - Alludo Women’s ERG, called AWE. AWE aims to raise employees' awareness of women's rights and support representation of people who identify as women in all areas of our organization. Open to employees of all genders and gender identities (allies welcome!), the purpose of AWE is to create a safe space for women, raise awareness of societal issues faced by women, and support Alludo’s business initiatives. Although AWE is an employee-led group, AWE works with all parts of the company to achieve its goals and help Alludo company succeed.
Alludo also recently introduced an ERG dedicated to neurodivergent employees and allies. ELT members have spoken openly about their own neurodivergence, and we want to empower people to speak up about their experiences and what helps them feel safe, welcomed, and supported at Alludo.
We offer all employees two days off each year to volunteer and support a cause close to their heart. We have been thrilled to see so many volunteers around the world who have supported their communities throughout the year.
We believe that true wellness must include consideration of mental health. With that in mind, Alludo is introducing Wellness Days to all employees in 2023. Scheduled across the company on a Friday once per quarter, Alludo Wellness Days will offer four extended weekends over the year. In addition to these dedicated days off, we encourage people to prioritize their mental health and wellness as needed throughout the year.
Part of reimagining the future of work means that, whenever possible, our employees should work when, where, and how they do their best work—embracing flexibility and authentic, whole-person wellness along the way.
Alludo is committed to upholding the strongest principles of business ethics and corporate governance.
At Alludo, we believe that companies don’t fail because one person on the team makes a mistake. Companies fail when leaders make bad decisions, ethics go unchecked, and results are unmeasured. Strong corporate governance builds strong businesses.
Accountability is one of our work better/live better beliefs, and it applies to all of us. No exceptions.
Employees are required to complete trainings on code of conduct, security, anti-corruption, export control, harassment, and other topics regularly.
Reports of violations at any level are dealt with swiftly, thoroughly, and appropriately.
In 2023 and moving forward, we plan to be more communicative, accountable and transparent about our ESG efforts. To do so, we will create clear and measurable goals to track our progress and share with our employees, customers and stakeholders.