If you’re in the market for any type of technology upgrade, you’ve probably wondered if XaaS is interchangeable with SaaS.
XaaS (everything as a service) encompasses any type of cloud-based solution that is offered as a managed services option. They are subscription-based, with a pay-as-you-go model that appeals to many companies.
SaaS (software as a service) is just one type of XaaS. Even if you haven’t made cloud-based technology a central priority, it’s likely that SaaS is being used somewhere in your company. It may simply be a project management tool or communication app being utilized by one department.
In addition to SaaS, there are two other primary types of XaaS that many applications fall into:
PaaS, or platform as a service, offers hardware and software tools over the internet. It is useful in delivering virtual machines and for tasks like application development or testing.
IaaS is infrastructure as a service and provides elements like storage and network and server resources on a subscription basis.
There are additional types of XaaS that companies may employ to address a specific gap in their technology solutions:
- DRaaS, or disaster recovery as a solution, is a tool to allow companies to regain business functions after a natural disaster or cyber security attack.
- UCaaS, or unified communications as a service, is one of the most common priorities for cloud-based solutions. It offers a variety of communications formats in a single app that can be accessed from anywhere with a secure connection.
- AaaS, or authentication as a service, handles the management of identity and access to your systems.
After seeing the benefits of a few as a service solutions, many companies have begun to take a cloud-first approach, actively looking for areas in which a cloud-based solution can multiply the benefits across their organization. These benefits include:
Cost Savings: The subscription-based pay model means that services can be designated as operating expenses, rather than capital investments associated with traditional technology purchases. In addition, XaaS solutions demand less in terms of servers, hardware, network switches, and IT management and maintenance time.
Less Overhead: Cloud-based solutions take up less space and require fewer resources related to power and cooling.
Scalability: While traditional, on-premise software generally demands that you hold a number of users that exceeds your actual use, one of the key benefits of XaaS is scalability. You are able to spin up more users in a matter of minutes and reduce them just as easily. For companies expected to grow and for those that have seasonal elements to their businesses, this feature offers a key advantage. You pay only for what you use.
Before investing in any type of XaaS solution, you may have questions about some areas, such as security or how much visibility you would have in a solution managed by a cloud provider. You might wonder whether it’s easy to cancel a solution that isn’t working as well as you had anticipated.
These are all questions that come up as companies explore cloud-based solutions, and Cloud Source is the ideal guide for walking you through each consideration for choosing the right technology. Contact us to get started examining potential options and to ultimately leverage the best solutions to move your company forward.