The Environmental Benefits of SaaS
Guest post by Patrick Jobin of StoragePipe
When talking about the benefits of SaaS, the conversation usually revolves around TCO savings, improved security & convenience, or new features & capabilities.
But there is another major SaaS benefit that often gets overlooked.
The recent Gulf oil spill has raised renewed awareness for the environment. People are now thinking harder about how their actions impact the world around them. For businesses, this discussion also extends into the IT department.
As processor technologies improve, servers continue consume more power within a smaller physical space. It’s even gotten to the point where companies now need to renovate half-empty data centers just to accommodate the power needs of their infrastructure.
At the same time, these servers are just sitting there, underutilized. Most servers will only ever use a small percentage of their total processing capability… while hard drives are only filed to partial capacity.
Part of his is due to “server creep”. Every time your company wants to add a new system, they need to buy a new server. And these servers need to be up and running constantly, even when nobody is using them.
That’s a lot of wasted energy.
Because specialized SaaS providers are constantly serving thousands of customers on 24/seven schedule, they are in a much better position to improve the efficiency of their systems while eliminating waste.
Also, since SaaS eliminates the need for new equipment, you can keep your old equipment longer instead of sending them off to landfills.
If your company is looking for ways to become more environmentally responsible and energy–smart, you may want to consider using SaaS as a means of minimizing your environmental footprint. (And the cost savings are a nice touch, too.)
