Consolidating Business Into Xaas

The never-ending connectivity via the network is not only a technology but also a necessity given the globalized world we live in today. The access to service for a given system spread over miles needs good networking and enhanced connectivity- all of this forms the crux of our online communications.

Ever imagined how all of this is put to work?

Let me answer. Just as our brain is the core memory that stores all the required voluntary or involuntary functions, our networking needs the storage to process all the required tasks via cloud computing. In today’s world, cloud computing has become an inseparable part of the system without which networking seems incomprehensible and unused.

With this said, let us dive into the know-how and what of the newer technology named XaaS, which is the answer to your stagnant growth and the fresh vibe to the ulterior motive of your company’s marketing strategies.

What does XaaS imply?

XaaS is an abbreviated form of “Anything as a Service,” which finds its place with cloud computing and remote access. It is a collective term used to refer to the delivery of anything as a service – any IT function can culminate into service.

The vast number of tools, products, and technologies accumulated together now can be delivered as a service over a network – most likely the internet. Various other forms of XaaS are shortly being used in networking. Few to name would be-

1) SaaS (software as a service)

A software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a  subscription basis and is hosted centrally. In simple terms, instead of downloading or installing any sort of application, you access its service via the internet. E.g., google apps, dropbox, etc.

2) PaaS (platform as a service)

A cloud computing model wherein a third-party provider will deliver the service (hardware/software) to users on the internet. It hosts its infrastructure—Eg: Google app engine, Heroku, etc.

3) IaaS (infrastructure as a service)

A cloud computing service that provides needed storage and networking sources on-demand on a pay-as-you-go basis. E.g., Linode, amazon web services (AWS), etc.

It started with a digital arena but now can be fully utilized in the real non-digital world too.

With the onset of pandemic and sudden rupture of all offline activities, it has been important to incorporate any sort of online technological advancements to meet the ever-increasing service demands. Thus, the sudden shift towards XaaS has been noticed during these unprecedented times. There are multiple possible reasons why XaaS is proving to be one of the preferable choices of business ventures and organizations. Those reasons can be summed up as follows:

Technology adoption life cycle

TALC, or technology adoption life cycle as we call it, is one of the demand side “pull” mechanisms for a product. To cover this journey from the left side of the graph to the right side of it, one needs to be the innovator type to reap the full benefits of this scheme without any rupture in terms of business tactics.

As clearly visible from the graph, the earlier you adopt the XaaS and implement it in your system, the more beneficial your career gets. On the other hand, a conservative approach will hamper your creativity and your market growth and trust value.

The fundamental change with XaaS is the major shift from capital to operational costs reducing the total cost of ownership. Crossing the chasm is the only road blocker in your successful targeting of mainstream consumers.

Investment growth

Amid the pandemic, adopters of XaaS have realized how much more importance needs to be given to the service sector given the vulnerable situations and unprecedented times we went through. Ventures find it more relatable, necessary, and futuristic to pursue XaaS critical importance.

Organizations with greater or- higher annual revenue invest more heavily in the XaaS technology than others. This would hint at a likely increase in the number of investments in the near future, given the XaaS good-response and assured benefits.

Business agility

Increased operational efficiency (lesser capital requirements) and business agility are the two factors that have triggered the fame of XaaS in current times. Adaptors, especially innovators, are more into XaaS for operational efficiency.

The flexibility with XaaS makes it more workable. Innovation, new system solutions, emerging technologies, better experimentation with service providers, etc., are few impressive outcomes of this technology.

Instead of investing money and taking the risk of buying new technologies for the service, the organizations find it more attractive to be able to provide their services via investments and innovate with their products and services.

Hence, it gives a new platform for experimentation, enhances the organization’s innovative side, and helps in re-inventing new products and services.

How can the chasm be crossed?

If we view the graph, a clarity of vision since the beginning of your graph, i.e., the early adopters (visionaries) have a high probability of crossing the chasm and reap the benefits of innovation via anything as a service system. Hence the early majority can seek the maximum benefits by adopting earlier and investing in the betterment of their services and products via XaaS.

To target the mainstream market and create a customer base, it has become essential to make crossing the chasm the ultimate goal well within time. A good marketing scheme coupled with the services will only boost your reputation in the market.

Keeping a competitive view

Adopters have been pretty happy with the aftermath of XaaS adoption and have gained an advantage in the competitive arena. For example, 27% of the organizations have reported being on the emerging side of the service sector; meanwhile, 19% of the companies that don’t use them have no significant reporting of any such progress.

Continuous monitoring of the market scenario and input of any sort of new technology into the service sector via XaaS gives adopters the advantage to stay ahead in the game of marketing and servicing.

Managing with the challenges

Also, contending with the challenges that it provides will keep you on your toes for those just in case moments. Given the newness of this technology, there are specific challenges that an adopter might face during its planning.

There are inadequate IT skills needed for managing and running XaaS. For example, today’s data security and privacy is a serious concern of the customer base and the organizations,  cascaded costs or hidden costs in the entire process, etc.

But it is also important to note that these hurdles can be easily overcome without much ado with efficient planning and management.

Partnering with providers

A majority of the adopters believe that a successful partnership in terms of XaaS would help render the services to their customer base even more efficiently. However, this is a complicated relationship in terms of data profitability.

XaaS providers are committed to helping organizations or businesses achieve success; hence the adopters have shown positive reactions towards the adoption of XaaS. They can also help you differentiate the customer base based on their needs, categorize them in terms of easement of work, and render the appropriate service option available.

Moreover, as most organizations are looking for long-term stable relationships and betterment in their performance thus partnering with XaaS provides you not only stability of optimization but also innovation.

Demand-side challenges have been well settled using this latest technology, as the study shows in its reports. The innovative take and the optimal utilization of the present market scenarios and service requirements by the customers eases the customer success strategy to be fulfilled. The consumption-based business can get an easy takeaway with the XaaS model in terms of the mainstream customer base and enriching the future customer bases and their variabilities.

No doubt that any novel idea in business or life is always very jittery giving initially, but what is a business or life without some newness. Stagnancy will hurt your creative side and make you lag in the current race of things. It is always better to go with the flow with enough understanding and hindsight measures on your side!