What Is Anything/Everything as a Service (XaaS)? Definition and Key Trends

XaaS is defined as the delivery of everything or anything as a service. Today, a large number of solutions, technologies, and tools are digitally delivered by vendors to clients as a service. This delivery typically takes place over a network, such as the internet, instead of being provided physically or onsite to a company.

Table of Contents

• What Is Anything/Everything as a Service (XaaS)?
• Future of Everything as a Service: 10 Key Trends for 2021

What Is Anything/Everything as a Service (XaaS)?

XaaS is the delivery of everything or anything as a service. Today, a large number of solutions, technologies, and tools are digitally delivered by vendors to clients as a service. This delivery typically takes place over a network, such as the internet, instead of being provided physically or onsite to a company.

Anything as a service encompasses a number of solutions in the cloud and remote computing domains. These solutions typically include an IT function that has been transformed to fit a service model for digital consumption by enterprises. Many service providers offer flexible consumption and payment models instead of traditional purchases or license models that require fixed, upfront payment regardless of usage volume.

The rise of XaaS has been phenomenal in the last decade with the arrival of: 

• SaaS providers such as Microsoft Office 365, Google Apps, and Salesforce.
• PaaS vendors for application development and testing such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apache Stratos, and Google App Engine.
• IaaS solutions for deployment, configuration, and remote management of virtual machines such as Google Compute Engine, Microsoft Azure, and AWS Elastic Compute Cloud.
• XaaS also encompasses solutions such as storage as a service and database as a service.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has become a global staple, and as a result, XaaS has gained immense popularity. As the frequency of cybersecurity attacks increases, solutions such as malware as a service leverage public cloud platforms to help enterprises protect themselves against cyberattacks. Communications as a service, disaster recovery as a service, and network as a service have also gained prominence during the pandemic.

Also Read: What Is Private Cloud Storage? Definition, Types, Examples, and Best Practices

Examples of XaaS

As the name implies, there are many examples of XaaS. A large number of IT products and services are delivered through a XaaS model, including cloud computing solutions such as:

• Software as a service (SaaS)
• Platform as a service (PaaS)
• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

Cloud Computing Service Categories
Source: SearchCloudComputingOpens a new window

Other examples of XaaS solutions include: 

• Disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS)
• Network as a service (NaaS)
• Communications as a service (CaaS)
• Storage as a service (STaaS)
• Database as a service (DBaaS)
• Monitoring as a service (MaaS)
• Desktop as a service (DaaS) 

Apart from these, XaaS also includes emerging trends such as marketing as a service, data lake as a service, and healthcare as a service.  

Also Read: What Is Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)? Definition, Key Components, Best Practices, and Providers

Benefits of XaaS

Let’s glance at the various benefits XaaS offers today’s business.

• Improved expense models and ease of deployment: The two main reasons for increasing demand for anything as a service are improved expense models and ease of deployment, both of which are factors that can influence business continuity during difficult times such as COVID-19. 
• Speedy remote implementation: As remote work gains an increasingly solid foothold in global corporate strategy, speedy remote implementation of new business processes and applications, and moving IT resources away from remote system management toward more valuable projects are the needs of the hour, and XaaS is best suited to fulfill these needs.
• Minimized costs: Companies find XaaS appealing because it allows them to minimize costs by directly purchasing business services from providers through a subscription-based model. What’s more, XaaS also allows direct delivery of these services to employee endpoints using only a username and password—a separate installation by the IT team is not required.
• Easy implementation: XaaS providers have used cloud delivery platforms to revolutionize how businesses purchase software products and services. Before XaaS, companies had to: 

• Acquire and pay for individual solutions such as servers, cybersecurity solutions, and other infrastructure
• Have them installed onsite by a technician or specialist
• Commission a team of experts to link up existing infrastructure with the new arrivals to create networks

This long process had to be followed so that everything can work together. Conversely, enterprises today simply choose the solution they need, buy it, have it delivered digitally, and pay per usage. Thanks to the advent of XaaS, former capital expenses turn into operating expenses.

• Quick and cost-effective adoption: Especially in these uncertain market conditions created by the pandemic, XaaS models enable corporations to swiftly adapt to dynamic industry trends through quick and cost-effective adoption of the latest business solutions. 
• Flexibility: Multitenant approaches enable cloud service vendors to provide flexibility to clients, while resource pooling and speedy & elastic support allow management teams to simply adopt new services or decommission existing ones as per their business requirements.
• Access to the latest technologies: With XaaS, organizations can access the latest technologies quickly and automate the scaling-up or scaling-down of their infrastructure as and when required.
• Streamlined IT operations: In the initial days of the pandemic, when companies started rapidly shifting to a WFH model, most available IT resources, regardless of specialization, were dedicated to adapting enterprise network infrastructure to suit remote working. As such, higher-value projects fell by the wayside. However, the XaaS delivery model has helped many companies worldwide streamline IT operations again and enable resources to regain focus on innovation.
• Digital transformation: The benefits of XaaS are manifold for IT. Last year, several organizations leveraged XaaS to transform themselves digitally and boost their IT agility. A report by Deloitte states that more than 7 out of every ten companies have adopted XaaS for over 50% of their IT needs. With XaaS, more users gain access to the latest technologies, thus fostering innovation.
• Reduction in the need for resources: Apart from cost-cutting and simplified deployments, companies have also developed a preference for the XaaS model because it enables them to decommission cumbersome onsite IT infrastructure such as hard drives, servers, and network switches. This, of course, translates to lower overheads due to a reduction in the need for power, cooling, equipment space, IT staffing, and troubleshooting.

Also Read: Private vs. Public Cloud: 10 Key Comparisons

Potential disadvantages of XaaS

As with everything, anything as a service comes with potential drawbacks as well. 

• Unreliable: Sometimes, the internet can break down on the server-side, client-side, or somewhere in between, and if this happens, certain critical processes may come to a complete standstill. Of course, there are safeguards in place to prevent such instances on the server-side, with most XaaS providers offering robust SLAs and having redundant infrastructure ready in place, specifically for such adverse events.
• Not scalable: Apart from this, smaller XaaS providers may sometimes fail to scale up according to user demand, leading to latency, data storage, bandwidth, and information retrieval. 
• Prone to discontinuity: Another possibility is the XaaS vendor being acquired, discontinuing its services, or altering its roadmap, thus impacting client operations. Finally, visibility into complex IT operations can be hampered through the use of XaaS solutions.

Future of Everything as a Service: 10 Key Trends for 2021

Due to the meteoric rise of remote work environments and the rapid adoption of cloud computing in 2021, organizations are increasingly seeing XaaS as a viable option to address current difficulties in doing business. Even companies that were unsure of adopting XaaS before the emergence of the pandemic due to concerns of compliance, security, and business governance are coming around, especially as they witness vendors address these concerns rapidly and efficiently across industries.

XaaS Upcoming Trends

Research by IMARC projects a valuation of $344.3 billion for the global XaaS market by 2024, expanding at a high CAGR of 24% from 2019 to 2024. Businesses are increasingly adopting cloud-based services, scalable storage services, and other remotely deployable solutions to ease their operations in remote environments, which is a key factor in strengthening the XaaS market’s rise globally.

Enterprises are increasingly seeing XaaS as a game-changer. XaaS-centric business models have the potential to reach a broader customer base, encourage the delivery of client-focused products and services, enable efficient exploration of new markets, and ease profit-making activities. Here are ten key trends of XaaS to watch out for.

Also Read: Cloud vs. On-premise Comparison: Key Differences and Similarities

1. Increased flexibility during uncertain times

The emergence of COVID-19 led many enterprises to become flexible overnight. As work structures changed drastically in a very short period, the need for enhanced IT agility, scalability, flexibility, and speed, as well as fewer downtimes, became more apparent than ever before. Businesses also felt the need for higher returns on investment and improved productivity levels, as profitability took a hit.

Luckily, as many companies found out, XaaS models provided all these advantages and more. Simply put, enterprises began to realize the value proposition of XaaS during this period of disruption, instability, and uncertainty.

In the dynamic business landscape of 2021, it is even more essential for companies to fulfill their rapidly evolving business needs efficiently. Especially in these trying times, no organization can afford to have a rigid and cumbersome IT setup that would hamper its efficiency, agility, and ultimately, profitability.

Up-to-date, pay-as-you-go solutions offered through XaaS models give enterprises the flexibility they need to scale their IT capabilities, operations, and associated budgets rapidly and on-demand, without the risk of a vendor lock-in situation. Despite the uncertainty that is prevalent in all industries today, XaaS can tremendously improve the operational efficiencies of companies and minimize their overhead costs.

2. Reduced time frame for innovation

Traditionally, the planning stage in any organization is followed by a lengthy implementation stage, especially for more complex endeavors. However, with anything/everything as a service, the need for these complicated implementation efforts and lengthy timelines has all but disappeared.

Thanks to XaaS, organizations no longer need to purchase and deploy new hardware or software for their upcoming business plans. For efforts such as application development, developers need not wait for approval, budget, acquisition, and deployment of the latest tools and technologies before they can start working. They just need to tap into XaaS solutions to begin development efforts almost instantaneously.

XaaS solutions are designed in a way that allows them to be easily adapted to most companies’ existing infrastructure. In other words, XaaS products and services can be modified according to a new environment and deployed swiftly, enabling clients to access advanced network resources as and when required and bringing timelines down from months to days. This, of course, allows innovators to begin work within a week or even less, helps minimize time-to-market, and revolutionizes customer experience.

Also Read: What Is Cloud Computing? Definition, Benefits, Types, and Trends

3. Easy access to cutting-edge technology

Technology is a defining staple of modern workplaces. Any company that fails to keep up with the latest tech trends risks its profitability and continuity. However, not every enterprise has the liquidity required for a complete overhaul of its existing infrastructure and swift implementation of the latest technological business solutions, especially repeatedly as technology evolves continuously. As such, smaller companies may often experience a lag in the adoption of disruptive technologies.

However, XaaS solutions enable companies of all sizes to access high-level services that would otherwise be too expensive to implement from scratch. XaaS models allow companies to pay based on the number of users and duration of use, leading to a high cost reduction. No matter how big or small a company is, it can adopt the latest technologies through the cloud without investing capital on onsite IT infrastructure.

4. Empowered companies

Many businesses that are availing XaaS solutions have seen an uptick in the size of their client ecosystem simply because they can innovate faster and come up with products and services that appeal to a greater variety of clients.

Enterprises adopting XaaS also benefit from the swift scaling up or down of all IT infrastructure, enabling them to push their offerings to more audiences without the fear of running out of bandwidth.

5. Improved disaster recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a sharp increase in the risk of cyberattacks, making redundancy and disaster recovery infrastructure more important than ever before for all businesses, regardless of the industry. Many XaaS vendors provide backup and business continuity solutions to all clients by default, allowing management teams access to robust disaster recovery and cybersecurity measures without the latter having to take any specific efforts for these benefits.

Also Read: What Is Cloud Computing Security? Definition, Risks, and Security Best Practices

6. Enhanced company financials

As every business owner and high-level manager knows, technology spend is one of the biggest budget items, and with good cause, especially in 2021, where everything happens remotely. IT is the beating heart of many, if not all enterprises across the globe. However, just because IT is vital, it doesn’t mean that it has to be expensive.

Many companies that adopted XaaS solutions have managed to achieve notable savings in costs, as they no longer have to park capital in different hardware, software, and specialized human resources. Enterprises that adopted XaaS have even begun upgrading and customizing their technological environments to accommodate swift changes in the needs of their employees, vendors, and customers, as such, boosting profitability while reducing financial overheads.

7. Amplified big data operations

With a majority of consumer activities having shifted online, the phrase ‘data is the new oil’ has never rung more true than during the pandemic, and XaaS solutions perfectly complement big data operations. As customer bases across industries generate ever-increasing amounts of data, gaining valuable insights into how their products and services are used is one of the most compelling reasons for organizations to adopt XaaS.

With XaaS, a company’s data handling and processing capabilities are no longer constrained by the assets they own. Rather, they can scale their asset requirements up or down according to how demand for their services rises or falls.

8. Efficient policymaking

When policymakers in a company factor XaaS into their decision-making procedures, they may find it easier to draft new and dynamic policies that define key strategic objectives with easier implementation timelines, such as decreased time-to-market, reduced costs, swift app development, and so on. When companies adopt XaaS, they often find that predicting the business outcomes of policies becomes more straightforward.

Also Read: Top 10 Cloud Computing Service Provider Companies in 2021

9. Improved cybersecurity and regulatory compliance

For traditional IT infrastructure, it is not enough simply to buy, set up, and maintain new technologies ever so often. Companies must also secure their existing infrastructure and ensure that this security is not compromised due to vulnerabilities arising from new technological additions or recently developed cyber threats.

However, this issue almost completely disappears for those companies that adopt XaaS solutions. Instead of relying on client-side due diligence, most XaaS vendors take it upon themselves to ensure that robust cybersecurity measures are implemented for their products and services.

Further, with regulatory bodies across the globe implementing customer-centric policies to ensure that data privacy and associated rights of their constituents are upheld, it becomes easier for XaaS providers to simply ensure compliance at their end rather than expecting client companies to use their services in accordance to applicable regulations. Many XaaS vendors also offer sufficient customizability to allow companies to modify their subscriptions in accordance with relatively niche industry regulations, such as HIPAA.

10. Increased chance of success

From the biggest juggernaut in the industry to the smallest startup, every company has a use case for XaaS. For some companies, the adoption of XaaS could mean the difference between earning huge profits and winding up operations.

This is especially true for smaller companies without the capital and R&D that market leaders boast of. After a while, organizations that steadfastly refuse to adopt XaaS might begin to feel that their technological infrastructure is outdated and be left with two choices: a complete upheaval and upgrade leading to huge capital expenditure or shutting down all operations.

XaaS offers more than just enhanced operational efficiencies and maximized cost savings. It offers real-time access to cutting-edge technological innovations and business capabilities. It gives struggling enterprises (that have a prime use case for XaaS, of course) a lifeline that not only enables them to sustain themselves amid the cutthroat competition but thrives and turns a profit over the long term.

There are thousands of companies around the world that are or will soon be at a crossroads. They will see the need to revolutionize their operating models to make their business processes more efficient and generate transformative advantages over the long term. XaaS may hold the key to this transformation, and it would be safe to say that XaaS solutions are the harbinger of a paradigm shift in many industries.

Takeaway

Anything/everything as a service (XaaS) solutions have redefined businesses. XaaS solutions minimize capital expenditure on software, hardware, and human resources. The agility offered by XaaS can help companies by virtualizing platforms, people, and processes, thus increasing profitability. The revolutionary ‘pay-as-you-go’ model offered by XaaS is much more suited for the ever-changing market needs, especially those arising due to the ongoing pandemic. Finally, the rapid increase in the global adoption of cloud computing and high-speed internet, combined with consumers who are more informed than ever before, makes XaaS solutions ideal for the future of business operations.

Did this article help you understand where the XaaS market is headed? We would love to hear from you—let us know on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window !

MORE ON CLOUD

• What Is Software as a Service (SaaS)? Definition, Examples, Types, and Trends
• Top 10 Software as a Service (SaaS) Companies in 2021
• What Is Platform as a Service (PaaS)? Definition, Examples, Components, and Best Practices
• What Is Anything/Everything as a Service (XaaS)? Definition and Key Trends
• What Is Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)? Definition, Components, Providers, and Trends