Throughout 2020 and 2021, we saw SaaS infrastructures help almost every organization on the planet work from anywhere when the pandemic disrupted our lives. For those who didn’t have them integrated into their businesses before entering remote work, they sought the aid of third-party collaboration and video conferencing tools like Slack and Google Meet and invested in the development of their own corporate SaaS-based solutions.
In 2022, the world is in a state of adjustment and we’ve set our sights on a much greater technological expanse to safeguard our progress. We’ve learned to adapt – and XaaS can help us get there.
But what is XaaS and what’s its staying power?
Let’s unpack.
What is XaaS according to Alexa?
Me: “Alexa, what is XaaS?”
Alexa: “Here’s something I found on the web. According to *inaudible* .com. XaaS is a form of cloud computing that delivers a variety of computer-based services and applications to users through the internet instead of physically providing them locally or on-site within an enterprise.”
Me: “Thank you, Alexa.”
Confession time. I actually used an AI-powered SaaS app called Otter.ai to give me a real-time transcription of Alexa. As you can see, there were a few bugs, like the name of the website she retrieved her definition from. I couldn’t properly decipher it from what she spoke. Otter also transcribed the word ‘XaaS’ how it sounded; ‘ZaaZ’.
If there was ever a metaphor for the setbacks of Web 3.0, this is it. As disruptive as Web 2.0 has been for mobile internet access, social networking and – indeed – newer SaaS applications like this, there are still creases to iron out before the next successive web iteration brings about a fully realized SaaS XaaS merger.
What is XaaS vs SaaS?
According to Stratus, it was IBM who introduced the term back in a 2014 blog an umbrella term to cover the growing potential – and number – of cloud solutions.
“As time goes by, more and more “as a service” models are being introduced. Since there are so many of them, we can be said to be heading into the “X” as a service or “XaaS” era.” – Former IT Architect, IBM
However, upon further scouring of the web, I discovered an everything as a service XaaS ppt by Cognizant who have studied this eventuality since before December 2013.
It’s all in the model. If we look at the specific differences between the XaaS vs SaaS models alone, we can speculate the diversities of one over the other.
Despite both the software and everything as a service model offering provider supplied solutions, a prominent difference is their approach to customer management. SaaS provides customers with services that are easy to set up and customize and require minimal one-on-one communication with the customer service team. Conversely, the layers of additional options XaaS services provide can require much more of a high touch approach.
But what is XaaS offering SaaS customers that they’re not getting right now?
The chance to hack counterproductivity through its services.
As a 100% remote company, tl;dv is an ideal use case for using XaaS technology to drive us forward. It’s adversities like the pandemic that test our willingness to maintain order, improve morale, strengthen intraoffice relationships despite being miles – or countries – apart. Knowing our own meeting and recording insights platform can empower other XaaS businesses makes our jobs that much more rewarding.
Brielle Nickoloff, Co-founder & Head of Product Botmock is one of our beta testers. We found out how she’s been utilizing tl;dv’s Google Chrome Extension for her customer demos and onboarding/training of employees and were taken aback by how much time she saved during the process.
What Is XaaS Doing to the Current SaaS Market?
Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III) reports the global XaaS market climbed 38 per cent, to a record $51.3 billion, in 2021 and forecasts 20% XaaS growth and 5.1% managed services growth for 2022.
As an isolated subject, XaaS adoption seems to be having a positive effect on SaaS, as its usage jumped 50 per cent, to a record $3.7 billion in 2021. ISG is also forecasting the global market for cloud-based XaaS (IaaS and SaaS) will grow 20 per cent and the global market for managed services will advance 5.1 per cent in 2022.
This XaaS services adoption has the potential to phase out the less streamlined and more clunky solutions – and this acceleration isn’t limited to SaaS.
According to the hardware as a service wiki, IaaS can potentially allow physical servers to operate a large number of virtual machines (VMs) as guests run alongside each other. Despite this attributing to the upscale and downscale of services according to customers’ varying requirements, there’s only so far this model can take a business in terms of exponential growth.
Here’s where platform as a service (PaaS) solutions succeed where IaaS fails just by the allowance of apps being hosted, ran, managed, and even developed on their host’s cloud infrastructure, and not requiring their own on-premises.
In contrast to storing data in-house, storage as a service (STaaS) provides a solution that is cost-effective, less complex, and a lot more secure. The most successful STaaS examples such as Google understand the importance of flexibility within their tier structures, which is why the fact everything can be refigured throughout using the service is its biggest key differentiator.
If we want to accelerate the everything as a service model trend and usher in Web 3.0, we need a multi-service approach consisting of tools, applications, services, games, and whatever else becomes necessary. But what is XaaS able to achieve in terms of facilitating the future of our businesses?
What Is XaaS’ Relevance in 2022 (and Beyond)
Deloitte has found XaaS development services to improve upon numerous facets of businesses, and have categorized the specific sub-groups for participants relative to their view of greater XaaS adoption.
What is XaaS when it comes to Web 3.0? That all depends on its relevance. Knowing the few core examples of XaaS technology and their workings within the acronyms can help familiarise the public to the benefits directly affecting them.
What is XaaS from a host’s standpoint?
XaaS gives the possibility to convert one-time buyers into service subscribers, with the add-on benefits, just as Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Web Services successfully accomplish.
What is XaaS from a C-Suite’s standpoint?
Analytics Insight places cloud technology and the semantic web within their top 10 trends to look out for in 2022. Turning your business into an XaaS environment can futureproof your progress should dire emergency conditions ever again come into effect.
What is XaaS from an employee’s standpoint?
Where SaaS opened the door for employees to become accustomed, XaaS can show them through it. tl;dv’s arsenal of collaboration tools can provide up-to-date examples of XaaS they can employ to smooth out their remote working transition. These can expand the boundaries of what teams and company-wide members consider to be “in the office”.
What is XaaS from the average consumer standpoint?
With XaaS technology, those subject to lifestyle restrictions can have easy access to cutting-edge technology. XaaS can facilitate term-based billing or pay-as-you-go models, offering subscriptions with flexible contracts users can exit quickly and without financial ramifications. This increased flexibility provides stability in uncertain times.
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It’s clear anything as a service XaaS offers the high scalability, multi-tenancy and location independence that can drive businesses of all sizes into greener pastures. The more the public know about it as a service and its relevance to certain hierarchical groups, the more likely XaaS is to be embedded into the very core of operations. After all, what is XaaS if not a golden opportunity to experiment without it costing your most valuable resources?
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