XaaS or Everything as a Service: what it is and the main benefits
The increasing prevalence of cloud computing and the rapid growth of rental business models for a variety of aspects of our personal and professional lives have combined to create a world where anything can become a service offered through the Internet: welcome to XaaS.
What is XaaS?
XaaS, also known as Everything or Anything as a Service, is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of products, tools, and technologies that are offered on a subscription basis and can now be delivered to your business as a service over the Internet, thanks to the use of cloud computing and remote access.
There are many other similar acronyms referring to a more specific kind of product: SaaS, where the S stands for software, PaaS for platform, IaaS for infrastructure, and so on. XaaS is the broadest possible term that covers them all, because an X in mathematics is an unknown value that can stand for anything.
What are some examples of Everything as a Service?
Because XaaS is such a wide term, the list of potential examples is long. Well-known services such as Google Apps and Microsoft 365, which provide applications for the everyday needs of your company, fall under the definition of XaaS, and so does any service that delivers storage or server space to your business through the cloud.
Any aspect of your company’s daily technological needs, from physical devices to databases, and from identity and access management to security, can now be provided as a service and therefore fall under the label of XaaS.
The benefits of XaaS
The main benefits of switching to XaaS (or relying on it from the beginning if you are trying to start a new business) relate to the reduced cost of accessing technology through a pay-as-you-go model as opposed to owning it outright, and the increased flexibility in the day-to-day management of your company.
Buying all the technology you need to start or upgrade your business can be a significant investment, so a rental model that grants you access to the same technology for a monthly fee is a valid alternative if you are unable or unwilling to face the upfront cost of owning it: XaaS turns your capital expenses into operating expenses, freeing up a portion of your initial capital that you can dedicate to other aspects of your business. Making use of cloud services also reduces the need for physical spaces and infrastructure, which is another great cost-cutting measure.
Everything as a service models also boast great flexibility, in that the contract can be easily modified according to your changing needs, and can relieve your IT department of some of the responsibility of daily maintenance and troubleshooting in case an issue arises, making everyday operations smoother and giving them more time to focus on greater goals.
Even the environment can benefit from switching over to XaaS: renting devices instead of owning them means that they must be given back at the end of their useful life, recovering parts or materials during disposal and minimising waste.
If you are considering XaaS as a solution, however, you must never forget that you are relying on a third-party provider, so it is always better to choose one you can trust: make sure you are satisfied with your provider’s transparency about what is being done with your data, look into their history, and have a contingency plan in place in case of any issues. As long as you have a trusted partner such as Acer, with a decades-long experience in providing all the support you need to keep your technology up and running, you will find that the benefits of XaaS outweigh the challenges.
The future trend of Everything as a Service
The situation is ripe for XaaS to become mainstream: cloud computing is on the rise, high-bandwidth Internet is more and more widespread, and paying a monthly fee for a subscription service as opposed to making a one-time purchase is an increasingly common mindset even in our choices of entertainment, let alone in a professional setting where the choice between owning and renting could make all the difference in a company’s budget.
With these conditions, the XaaS market is projected to grow from an order of magnitude of billions to one of trillions before the end of the decade as more and more businesses make the switch to services delivered through the cloud.
Acer Device as a Service, a XaaS solution
Acer DaaS is our own example of how XaaS can change your business for the better: a comprehensive package of both hardware and software that provides devices and applications and takes care of your needs from procurement to disposal and everything in between.
Acer DaaS is a rental model that offers laptops and mobile devices for your company as well as the software that comes with them, maintenance and help desk services to keep them in good working order until the end of their life, and when the end inevitably comes and the devices need to be replaced, it also disposes of them in an eco-friendly manner.
If you are looking to switch to XaaS as a model for your company, we encourage you to look to Acer DaaS as the solution for you. Do not be deceived by its name: the D may stand for ‘device’, but it offers much more than devices alone. It is a complete service for devices and software that can be tailored to your preferences and adapt to your changing needs, all for a predictable fee that can make a tangible difference in your budgeting.
