The continued growth and popularity of cloud computing in recent years has led to a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms, abbreviations, and tech terms. Many of these acronyms end in aaS, which stands for “as a service.” There’s PaaS (platform as a service), DaaS (desktop as a service), and DRaaS (disaster recovery as a service). It’s been applied to a seemingly endless array of endpoints and offerings, including everything from banking and retail to video games and jet engines. (Yes, that’s real.)
As more companies embrace cloud-based environments that allow them to future-proof their business and provide accessibility to an increasingly mobile workforce, it only makes sense that they are also looking to combine various cloud platforms. And that has led to the creation of XaaS, or Everything as a Service.
Here, we’ll outline what XaaS is, how it can benefit your business, and why an experienced cloud solution company like Verdant TCS can help design a proactive and secure solution that is specifically tailored for your business processes and needs.
ALL RIGHT, SO WHAT EXACTLY IS EVERYTHING AS A SERVICE OR XAAS?
By its very definition, XaaS is an all-encompassing term for a collection of services, products, tools, and technologies related to cloud computing.
While you also may see it referred to as Anything as a Service or Experience as a Service, XaaS is not necessarily limited to digital products. XaaS is being used to enhance consumer experiences in areas related to food delivery, healthcare, real estate, and more.
Since you can remotely access these services over the internet as opposed to needing to travel to a physical location or requiring an on-premises server, XaaS is expanding in popularity. In 2018, a Deloitte survey reported that XaaS solutions made up more than half of the enterprise IT at most large companies (71% of large companies, to be exact).
IMARC, a market research firm, estimates that the global XaaS market will grow by 25% over the next five years.
That level of popularity and demand should make it easier and more cost-effective for businesses looking to either start or build upon their cloud strategy and the diversity of examples of XaaS tools will increase.
IMARC, a market research firm, estimates that the global XaaS market will grow by 25% over the next five years.
YOUR COMPANY CAN ENJOY MANY BENEFITS WITH XAAS
While your specific business processes, needs, and requirements will alter the final look of your cloud solution, here are some of the benefits of XaaS that you can expect to enjoy.
- Flexibility: Choose only the features and functions that you want or need for your business to optimize your investment.
- Scalability: You can take advantage of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and automation to build and add to your XaaS model as your business grows.
- Efficiency: You can use the cloud to streamline operations and free up your IT staff to focus on innovation rather than day-to-day maintenance and operations.
- Cost savings: Rather than investing in physical hardware and IT infrastructure, you can leverage the cloud to invest in other projects. Pay-as-you-go models also are available for many services and may be more cost effective.
- Agility: You can adapt and upgrade your solution as quickly as technology changes so that you’re always using the latest version.
- Accessibility: If your employees are working remotely or at home, or your business has multiple locations, everyone can still have access to the same technology so that collaboration and information is consistently streamlined.
- Disaster recovery: You will be able to quickly respond, recover critical data, and reduce downtime if you experience an unforeseen business disruption, data breach, or hack.
No matter what size your company is, the XaaS model can help foster innovation and move your business into the future.
THERE ARE MANY OPTIONS TO CONSIDER WITH YOUR XAAS SOLUTION
As the name suggests, Everything as a Service can include any number of technologies and offerings, but here are a handful of the most-common examples of solutions that may be used with XaaS and are applicable to your business:
- Software as a Service (SaaS): In this model, you can access software on almost any device if there is an internet connection or web browser available. Some examples you may have heard of include Netflix, Office365, and Salesforce CRM.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): Here, you use the cloud to access a platform that develops, runs, and manages key aspects of your business without needing to develop or maintain physical infrastructure. Examples include Sitecore from Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Elastic Beanstalk, and Google Cloud services.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Manage and provision your computing infrastructure over the internet using cloud providers like Cisco Meraki, CrowdStrike, JumpCloud, Azure, and AWS rather than using physical servers or data centers.
- Desktop as a Service (DaaS): Your employees can use virtual desktops that are delivered through a service provider and can be licensed on a per-user subscription. Providers include JumpCloud, Amazon, VMware, and Citrix.
- IT as a Service (ITaaS): Rather than strictly a cloud services delivery model like the previous examples, ITaaS also can use a physical provider to offer IT services to your business that can be scaled depending on your needs.
Another benefit of the XaaS model is that many of these services can be used with public, private, or hybrid cloud models. This allows you to plan a digital transformation that moves at a pace that you are comfortable with.
VERDANT TCS CAN HELP YOUR CLOUD-RELATED EFFORTS
The cloud can seem like a complex topic before you even factor in as-a-service models like XaaS. You may have concerns about potential issues related to downtime, bandwidth, cybersecurity, and more. That’s why an experienced managed services provider or MSP – sorry, one more acronym – like Verdant TCS can help.
We founded Verdant TCS to help you plan, implement, monitor, and support the right cloud roadmap for your business. Our team of professional problem solvers would be more than happy to work with you to find an efficient and intelligent cloud solution that will reduce costs and help your business plan for the future.
For learn how Verdant TCS can help your business enjoy the benefits of cloud computing services, please call 616-210-1760 or fill out this short form.
References
Accelerating agility with XaaS. (2018). Deloitte. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/4557_accelerating-agility-with-XaaS/DI_accelerating-agility_with-XaaS.pdf
IMARC. (n.d.). Anything-as-a-Service Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026. Retrieved from: https://www.imarcgroup.com/anything-as-a-service-market