Software as a Service (SaaS) has become an increasingly popular means of delivering enterprise applications, including many supply chain solutions. Traditionally, the SaaS value proposition has come primarily from reducing the administrative overhead and costs involved in installing, deploying and supporting stand-alone software. SaaS also allows organizations to convert fixed costs for software at the time of purchase to an operating expense sufficient to cover a pool of on-demand licenses large enough to accommodate peak usage rather than a capital expense acquiring a license for each user's machine.

A new perspective, highlighted in a white paper from Technology Evaluation Centers, illuminates these advantages from a "green" perspective. With no hardware to purchase or software to run, the energy required to power that hardware and execute that software is eliminated or significantly reduced, depending on client-side resource consumption. Later in the lifecycle, this also means no obsolete hardware to decommission, nor any need to arrange for appropriate recycling or disposal. If SaaS is viewed correctly as a form of "service outsourcing," it also eliminates headcount required for typical IT efforts related to installation, deployment and maintenance (or alternatively allows redeployment of IT staff to higher-value tasks.) This, too, reduces the overall local energy footprint.

The TEC white paper explains how SaaS can boost an organization's social responsibility and environmental friendliness while simultaneously reducing its carbon footprint.

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