Resources

Extreme Networks Fabric – An Engineers View…

I’ve spent 15 years working in an NHS trust as a network engineer. NHS networks are complex, they are constantly changing and new services are continually being provisioned. Fabric is one of those technologies that can genuinely and tangibly make the life of a network engineer infinitely less stressful!

Consider a real-world example involving a piece of mobile medical equipment in a hospital. This equipment needs to be plugged into different wall ports around the site, requiring all potential ports to be configured with the correct VLAN and that VLAN to be egressed to the access layer. To complicate matters, if the port needs to be repurposed for a different device, the VLAN configuration must be changed again.

Traditionally, this process demands multiple manual changes by an engineer to ensure the end user can continue working seamlessly. It’s a repeated manual process, it’s time consuming and it’s inherently susceptible to misconfiguration and subsequent network issues.

Here’s where fabric architecture shines… With fabric, this entire process can be automated using policy-based services. The fabric can instantly recognize the medical equipment and automatically egress the VLAN through the network, providing that device with the specific services it needs. When the device is removed, the VLAN is also removed, and if it’s no longer needed on the access layer switch, it will be pruned back to the core, service provisioning that is both secure and elastic.

Medical devices, IOT, Shadow IT, BYOD – lots of buzz words that make a network engineer’s life immeasurably stressful. Fabric is one of those rare technologies that can bring order to chaos, can provide peace of mind that different device groups can be provisioned across a large network, dynamically, seamlessly and securely. Any technology that removes the need to manually configure new services across a large-scale network, in a world where the vast majority of network outages are caused by configuration changes, is a winner in my book…

Carbon Reduction Plan Guidance

Notes for Completion

Where an In-Scope Organisation has determined that the measure applies to the procurement, suppliers wishing to bid for that contract are required at the selection stage to submit a Carbon Reduction Plan which details their organisational carbon footprint and confirms their commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050. 

Carbon Reduction Plans are to be completed by the bidding supplier^[1] and must meet the reporting requirements set out in supporting guidance, and include the supplier’s current carbon footprint and its commitment to reducing emissions to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050.

The CRP should be specific to the bidding entity, or, provided certain criteria are met, may cover the bidding entity and its parent organisation. In order to ensure the CRP remains relevant, a Carbon Reduction Plan covering the bidding entity and its parent organisation is only permissible where the detailed requirements of the CRP are met in full, as set out in the Technical Standard^[2] and Guidance, and all of the following criteria are met: 

●      the bidding entity is wholly owned by the parent 

●      the commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 for UK operations is set out in the CRP for the parent and is supported and adopted by the bidding entity, demonstrated by the inclusion in the CRP of a statement that this will apply to the bidding entity

●      the environmental measures set out are stated to be able to be applied by the bidding entity when performing the relevant contract

●      the CRP is published on the bidding entity’s website    

Bidding entities must take steps to ensure they have their own CRP as soon as reasonably practicable and should note that the ability to rely on a parent organisation’s Carbon Reduction Plan may only be a temporary measure to satisfy this particular condition of participation. 

The Carbon Reduction Plan should be updated regularly (at least annually) and published and clearly signposted on the supplier’s UK website. It should be approved by a director (or equivalent senior leadership) within the supplier’s organisation to demonstrate a clear commitment to emissions reduction at the highest level. Suppliers may wish to adopt the key objectives of the Carbon Reduction Plan within their strategic plans. 

A template for the Carbon Reduction Plan is set out below. Please complete and publish your Carbon Reduction Plan in accordance with the reporting standard published alongside this PPN.

Carbon Reduction Plan Template

Supplier name: ……………Generative Technologies lTD…………………………………………………….

Publication date: ………………01/01/2026…………....................................................

Commitment to achieving Net Zero

[Generative Technologies Ltd is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050.

Baseline Emissions Footprint

Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.

Baseline Year: 2025

Additional Details relating to the Baseline Emissions calculations.

Generative Technologies do not directly incur emissions as a business but we continue to monitor upstream supply chain emissions where possible.

Baseline year emissions: 0

EMISSIONS

TOTAL (tCO₂e)

Scope 1

0

Scope 2

0

Scope 3 (Included Sources)

Sources include equipment manufacturers and distributors although no reasonable way to calculate upstream emissions caused by our trading activity

Total Emissions

0

Current Emissions Reporting

Reporting Year: 2026

EMISSIONS

TOTAL (tCO₂e)

Scope 1

0

Scope 2

0

Scope 3 (Included Sources)

Sources include equipment manufacturers and distributors although no reasonable way to calculate upstream emissions caused by our trading activity

Total Emissions

0

Emissions reduction targets

In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction targets.

We project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next five years to 0 tCO₂e by 2050. This is a reduction of 0%

Carbon Reduction Projects

Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives

The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented since the 2025 baseline. The carbon emission reduction achieved by these schemes equate to 0 tCO₂e, a 0%ge reduction against the 2050 baseline and the measures will be in effect when performing the contract

Future carbon reduction initiatives

In the future we hope to implement further measures such as:

Our carbon footprint as a business is very low, we are entirely remote working and do not own company vehicles, the only emissions we incur are via engineering visits conducted in personally owned vehicles. In order to further reduce emissions Generative Technologies will continually assess the most carbon efficient method of travel for our employees and potentially invest in Electric vehicle schemes if appropriate.

Declaration and Sign Off

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 006 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard^[3] and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting^[4].

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard^[5].

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).

Signed on behalf of the Supplier:

…Peter Orsi……………………………………………………………….

Date: ……01/01/2025………………….……….

G ^[1]            Bidding supplier or ‘bidding entity’ means the organisation with whom the contracting authority will enter into a contract if it is successful.

^[2]            Technical Standard can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/991625/PPN_0621_Technical_standard_for_the_Completion_of_Carbon_Reduction_Plans__2_.pdf

^[3]          https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard

^[4]          https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting

^[5]          https://ghgprotocol.org/standards/scope-3-standard