Using Software as a Service (SaaS) significantly reduces support costs for hardware and software. Managing Cloud principles explain that in a SaaS model, the cloud service provider is responsible for maintaining the application, underlying infrastructure, operating systems, patching, upgrades, and troubleshooting.
Because the provider manages these components, organizations no longer need to maintain in-house teams to support servers, storage, networking, or application updates. This reduces operational overhead related to system administration, maintenance contracts, and technical support. SaaS also eliminates the need for hardware refresh cycles and reduces the complexity of managing multiple software versions.
The other options are less accurate. Licensing costs may still exist under subscription models, vendor lock-in does not inherently reduce costs, and energy efficiency is more closely related to infrastructure optimization. Therefore, the most direct and consistent cost reduction provided by SaaS is the reduction of hardware and software support costs.
