Beyond cyber protection: Why ESG leadership matters for MSPs

Cyber protection, management and automation of IT deployments is fundamentally an exercise in responsibility and trust. That is especially true in the age of AI, where innovation moves fast and the consequences of failure can be severe. Organizations today need confidence that their IT providers are not only technically capable, but also reliable, transparent and accountable. Entrusting a partner with your infrastructure is the ultimate trust exercise.

For managed service providers (MSPs), this trust must extend seamlessly to their own customers. Partnering with Acronis strengthens that chain of trust by enabling MSPs to protect, manage and automate their cyber protection operations with greater efficiency — all while aligning with the growing ESG expectations of today’s buyers.

The Acronis ESG Report 2025 shows how the company embeds sustainability into its operations, product design, and organizational culture to achieve the goal to protect, manage and automate all small and medium IT deployments. It also marks an important milestone: The completion of Acronis’ first double materiality assessment (DMA), sharpening focus on the ESG topics that drive long-term value creation and societal impact. The DMA identified five priority topics — protection of consumer privacy, business conduct, security-related impacts on communities, responsible use of AI and climate change — ensuring that Acronis’ ESG focus areas are aligned not only with regulatory expectations but also with the real operational risks and opportunities facing MSPs and their customers.

Environmental responsibility is increasingly becoming a factor in technology procurement. In 2025, Acronis advanced its approach by matching 70% of its electricity consumption with recognized renewable energy certificates across Europe, North America and other markets. This step improves transparency around energy sourcing and supports a gradual shift toward lower-carbon operations.

For MSPs, this progress translates into a stronger story for customers increasingly concerned about carbon impact. Acronis’ improvements enhance the sustainability of the cyber protection services MSPs provide — supporting ESG scoring, regulatory compliance and the expectations of environmentally conscious buyers.

Transparency is the new baseline for credible ESG practices. In 2025, Acronis strengthened its greenhouse gas accounting methodologies with support from external sustainability experts, resulting in clearer, more reliable climate reporting. Total emissions across Scopes 1–3 declined by 40% year over year, with Scope 3 — which represents the vast majority of emissions — decreasing by 41%.

A key infrastructure project in 2025 was the migration of workloads from a Frankfurt data center scheduled for demolition. Acronis moved more than 100 petabytes of customer data to a facility with stronger energy-efficiency characteristics as well as ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certifications. Acronis prioritized hardware reuse and decommissioned assets through certified recycling vendors. For MSPs serving enterprise and regulated clients, infrastructure decisions like this matter: They reinforce the resilience, governance standards and documented controls that underpin both operational continuity and customer trust.

Sustainability at Acronis goes beyond electricity and emissions — it’s reflected in the daily habits and behaviors across its global offices. In offices worldwide, Acronis expanded recycling facilities and waste reduction initiatives. In Bulgaria, smart waste-sorting bins installed in the Sofia office identified that approximately 29% of waste was reducible, brought avoidable single-use items to employees’ attention and delivered cost savings along with measurable carbon reductions.

Certified green buildings also played a role in Acronis improving environmental sustainability. Offices in Bulgaria and Germany operate in LEED Gold-certified buildings, while the Singapore office is located in a facility with a Green Mark operational rating. In Turkey, the Technopark Istanbul building that hosts the Acronis team was recognized in 2025 as the country’s most energy-efficient commercial service building. Community action reinforced these efforts, with 18 cleanup events across 11 regions and 1,780 trees planted in Europe.

Social impact is also a core part of Acronis’ ESG approach. Through the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program, Acronis and its partners expanded community support in 2025 — delivering three school construction projects supporting 1,280+ children, running eight IT skills programs and 40 cyber safety workshops that engaged 2,500+ participants. This partner-powered work helps strengthen digital resilience where it’s needed most.

These details enrich the story our partners can tell customers: That the cyber protection services they provide are backed by a vendor that lives its values every day — not just in strategy documents, but in real operational behaviors.

Strong governance includes equitable leadership, and Acronis continued to make measurable progress in 2025. Women held 18.2% of C-suite roles, up from 16.7% the previous year, reflecting ongoing investment in leadership development and succession planning. In 2025, the Women in Tech Mentorship Program evolved into a High Potential Mentorship Program open to all employees, broadening access to development opportunities. The program connected 41 mentees with senior leaders to strengthen leadership capabilities and expand professional networks. Employee-led groups such as #CyberWomen and #CyberPride hosted over 30 events worldwide, fostering community and dialogue. Acronis also published research “FOMO at work: The opportunity gap between men and women in tech,” examining gender opportunity gaps across the technology sector.

Acronis’ focus on continuous learning signals a strong commitment to long-term innovation. In 2025, the company delivered more than 85 structured training sessions and expanded third-party training access across the organization, reaching 70% of employees.

Beyond internal development, Acronis MSP Academy trained more than 4,000 partner employees per quarter in 2025, supporting learners across 162 countries and seven languages. On average, partners earned three to four certifications per learner, doubling certification rates compared to the previous year. Through structured technical and business enablement tracks, digital badges and ongoing webinars, the Academy strengthens partner capabilities and contributes to a more skilled, resilient global MSP ecosystem.

To further support collaboration and shared growth, Acronis also invests in structured partner community initiatives, including the Partner Ambassadors Program and the Partner Advisory Council. These forums create ongoing feedback channels, peer exchange and co-innovation opportunities, helping partners scale capabilities while contributing to a more resilient global cyber protection community.

As Acronis accelerates AI integration across its products and internal operations, it does so under structured governance and clear usage policies. In 2025, more than 80% of employees used AI tools regularly, with AI-assisted development helping engineers accelerate delivery and generate nearly two million lines of AI-supported code. AI is also embedded in internal productivity workflows, improving efficiency across sales, support and operations. Importantly, this expansion is supported by formal AI governance frameworks, AI usage policy, defined system ownership and employee training to ensure responsible use. For MSPs, this provides confidence that AI-powered cyber protection is not only innovative, but transparently managed, secure and aligned with long-term accountability expectations.

The 2025 Acronis ESG Report demonstrates how the company is addressing environmental responsibility and equity in leadership as interconnected priorities even while aggressively ramping up AI-related activities. Renewable energy adoption and emissions transparency sit naturally alongside diversity initiatives, training programs, and responsible AI efforts.

All of that together reflects an approach to sustainable development that prioritizes credibility, data quality and long-term impact over short-term claims. With its ESG efforts, Acronis demonstrated in 2025 why it remains a trustworthy company that acts responsibly every day.

For MSPs, this integrated ESG commitment becomes a powerful differentiator. It enables them to deliver cyber protection services built on a foundation of trust, sustainability, ethical governance and continuous learning — all of which resonate deeply with modern customers.

The full 2025 Acronis ESG Report provides detailed data, methodology and context across environmental, social and governance topics.