Businesses have long toyed with subscription-based models to access and deliver their services and products. Internet-enabled technologies have helped businesses to manage operations, and bring scalable solutions and tangible products to end users, both B2B and B2C, in increasingly flexible patterns.
When these disparate services are delivered via cloud on subscription-based models, they are often described as Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) or Anything as a Service. XaaS has necessitated a paradigm shift among C-level executives.
In this article, let us take a look at what XaaS is, and what CXOs need to know about it in 2019 and beyond. We expect decision-makers to adopt a two-pronged approach, in which they use XaaS to run their businesses, and also deliver their own products and services via XaaS to their markets.
Understanding the growth of Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS)
While the as-a-service model started with SaaS, it quickly branched out beyond Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service as well. XaaS is a simpler way to describe technologies that are delivered over the internet to businesses. XaaS’s nomenclature does not lie simply in its convenience of verbal use.
Many solutions that were previously delivered onsite can now be delivered over the cloud. It is these technologies that are collectively called as XaaS. It must be noted that it is increasingly common to deliver tangible services and products on an as-a-service model as well.
Evolution of XaaS and its future
In the last couple of years, Google, Amazon, Citrix, and others have made Database Platform as a Service (dbPaaS), Function as a Service (FaaS), and Containers as a Service (CaaS) very popular. These specialized solutions have helped enterprises to access technologies that were virtually inaccessible. We are moving towards a situation where anything can be delivered as a service. In the past few years, we have seen these solutions offered by enterprising companies:
Here are some important services that we expect to gain traction in 2019:
What are the benefits of XaaS?
As-a-service models provide users with scalability and the promise of maintenance. Here are some clear benefits of choosing XaaS:
Let us take a look at two use cases to see how XaaS helped them.
Use Case 1
A cocktail of cloud services help marketing agency to focus on creative projects
Problem: A marketing agency faced difficulties sustaining its projects due to paucities in enterprise IT.
Solution: It chose to purchase CRM and HRMS subscriptions on the SaaS model, while Storage as a service (STaaS) helped it to safeguard important files related to projects. Security as a service (SECaaS) helped it to assure its clients that all data would remain confidential. To manage its marketing projects and deliver better services to its clients, the company picked solutions from Video as a Service (VaaS), AI as a Service (AIaaS), and Proof of Concept as a Service (PoCaaS).
Results: The agency was able to manage its projects in an agile manner, and focus on its own creativity rather than on technology.
Use Case 2
Restaurant enters a difficult market, wins customers’ hearts
Problem: A newly launched restaurant found it difficult to manage its operations and grow its customer base in a difficult market. Adopting a XaaS approach helped it to tackle its operational efficiency while nurturing its existing and new diners.
Solution: The restaurant began with a limited subscription to an HRaaS (human resources as a service). To receive payments and make inventory purchases more streamlined, the restaurant sought help to integrate Payments as a Service (PaaS) with its ERP’s API. To help build better relationships with its customers, the restaurant invested in a CRM delivered via SaaS. AI as a service (AIaaS) helped the restaurant to take orders via chatbots on social media, giving a competitive edge.
Results: Within no time, it was able to function on par with advanced startups and project a professional image, helping it to become one of the most popular restaurants in the neighborhood.
How decision makers should approach XaaS in 2019
Moving beyond the cloud
XaaS is moving beyond cloud, and has already encompassed brick-and-mortar services as well. Tangible services such as plumbing, transportation, security, consultation, training, and just about anything one can imagine can now be delivered with the assistance of Internet. For example, Uber and Lyft offer Transportation as a Service (TaaS) to business users, via their applications.
Going forward, we expect to see a culmination of cloud and non-cloud tangible services delivered via as-a-service subscription models. Decision makers will need to ride the XaaS wave to streamline their own internal operations, while also using it to nurture client and customer relationships.
