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Must-know facts about XaaS (Everything as a Service) technology before investing in it
Must-know facts about XaaS (Everything as a Service) technology before investing in it

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In the last few decades, the world has taken an accelerated drive towards digital transformation. The ongoing digital revolution coupled with the evolution of various other industrial functions such as Industry 4.0 etc. has created a completely new market for businesses. The growing popularity of the digital market has resulted in the shift of business operations worldwide to the online platform including the buying and selling of goods and services.

The most prominent shift can be observed as the entry of Cloud Computing into the mainstream market. Though Cloud Computing is not relatively new, this era of transformation has created a new connected business model with the introduction of XaaS or “Everything as a Service”. It is also called “Experience as a Service” or “Anything as a Service”. It is a type of business model that is known to provide a variety of services through an online platform.

XaaS - A new way to provide services

The need to be more accessible with consumers worldwide had led to the integration of several innovative technologies over a widely connected network, giving rise to XaaS. It provides clients or customers with IT components or business processes from a cloud platform directly from the manufacturer or the relevant retail and channel partners. The wide variety of applications available and its instant access on-demand has modernized the IT industry while digitally transforming its business models.

Considering the “Everything” in “Everything as a Service”, XaaS is now an umbrella term that does not only limit itself to technology. The list of possible services is now considered to be endless with popular offerings such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Communications as a Service (CaaS), etc. The transforming technology has also made its presence felt in offline activities like food delivery, property searches and doctors on demand.

The evolving XaaS industry

The XaaS industry is growing exponentially; a booming business with a compounded annual growth rate of 26% in the global market and its strong foothold has predicted the same trends in growth to last till 2025. With its massive potential to grow more, XaaS has gathered the interest and focus of many worldwide due to the colossal shift it has brought to business operations today.

According to Deloitte’s “Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) Study” 2021 edition, that surveyed 600 IT professionals from US based companies during the Covid-19 pandemic mentioned that 81% of adopters agreed that the pandemic has accelerated their organization's shit from traditional IT to XaaS.

XaaS - Knowing its pros and cons

The importance of XaaS in bringing agility and innovation can be captured through its bright side.

  • Backup and security - XaaS along with other cloud computing models allows for businesses to have their data stored in a protected cloud account to ensure data recovery in times of technical issues. They also come with higher-grade cybersecurity measures at a more affordable cost.
  • Financial efficiency -  XaaS allows businesses to save costs due to the shift from physical access to access tools, software and other solutions to an online platform, on a subscription basis. Businesses can pay for what they solely require as physical resources come from the service provider thereby leading to decrease in capital expenditures.
  • Relevance and response time - The integration of XaaS allows businesses to stay relevant with their target audience by being more easily accessible via increased first-hand interaction. This also allows them to be more responsive and sensitive to changes in the market to keep up with the evolving needs of the clients.

As a booming technology XaaS has captured the focus of enterprises, but the model comes with its set of downsides.

  • Downtime and performance issues - Being on an online platform XaaS can face possible issues. Low Internet reliability and resilience can cause servers to go down from time to time, preventing its use for that specific time period. Furthermore, too many users can also slow down servers causing issues with data storage, data retrieval and bandwidth along with editing integration, management and security issues.
  • Troubleshooting issues - While XaaS allows users to simplify their business processes through automated software, there may be major troubleshooting issues in case of any potential problems. This can increase overall maintenance costs for the servers and create a need for IT staff to be trained in the latest technologies. Further, service providers may also discontinue service, become unavailable or alter a feature, much to the discomfort of user.
  • Integration issues - As workspaces transform and enter the digital sphere, XaaS can be difficult to integrate certain existing enterprises, thereby creating a need to have more advanced integration systems. It also requires the entire company staff to adjust to new technology.

The future of business operations

As we dive deeper into the Digital Revolution, businesses are finding it increasingly essential to find new ways to conduct and drive their enterprises on a completely different platform. The ongoing pandemic has aided in the adoption of XaaS in companies across the globe. The steady movement of emerging technologies like AI and IoT towards the cloud has provided a tremendous potential for businesses to use the XaaS model to suit their ideal delivery model, security and operational structure in the future. However, they must adjust the pros and cons of each model to create the optimal architecture that meets the needs and expectations of the enterprise as XaaS has a more cohesive way of approaching business.


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Dr. Vikram Kumar

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