Most manufacturers are well-aware of the bottom-line benefits that can be derived from reducing energy consumption on the plant floor and in distribution networks. But what about the data center, servers, storage devices, and the air conditioning they require that consume energy 24 hours per day, seven days per week?
A provider of green products and services has conducted a study showing that manufacturers opting for enterprise applications implemented through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model can measurably cut energy consumption and related costs.
The study, by Greenspace, a Northbrook, IL, provider of green purchasing, building operations, and maintenance products and services, indicates that, on average, companies opting for SaaS-based enterprise applications, such as those from NetSuite Inc., save more than $10,000 per year. (The Greenspace study was conducted in conjunction with NetSuite.) Greenspace, which looked specifically at users of NetSuite’s SaaS-based ERP and CRM applications, evaluated energy savings using its proprietary EcoMetrics scorecard, which measures the cost savings, efficiency, and environmental benefits of various green products and services. The organization says the use of SaaS-based enterprise applications, which rely on data centers that are shared by many customers, decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for servers and support equipment, such as server room air conditioning.
While the SaaS-related cost savings identified by the Greenspace study are relatively small, particularly compared with savings that manufacturers can realize by improving plant floor or transportation efficiencies, they will present one more argument for manufacturers to consider SaaS products.