What is XaaS (anything as a service)?

The im­por­tance of cloud is steadily in­creas­ing; cloud-computing enables companies to outsource large parts of their resources. XaaS now describes the ability to provide “every­thing” as a service, thus taking this approach to the extreme. More specif­i­cal­ly, all services such as in­fra­struc­ture or even hardware are provided via the cloud.

The ab­bre­vi­a­tion “XaaS” stands for “anything as a service”. As the name suggests, the basic idea behind the concept is to offer all con­ceiv­able services as a service. Instead of local software on site, the cloud computing model is used to provide software or hardware, for example, resulting in greater flex­i­bil­i­ty and greater spe­cial­iza­tion. Costs can also be reduced through XaaS, as companies no longer have to rely on building their own in­fra­struc­ture but can simply obtain it as a service. In­ci­den­tal­ly, the ab­bre­vi­a­tion “EaaS” is used syn­ony­mous­ly with XaaS, which stands for “Every­thing as a Service”.

The core concept behind XaaS is cloud computing, i.e. the provision of hardware or software resources via the cloud. Anything as a service companies can offer their services to millions of users in this way. Such companies can also be un­der­stood as IT system house, which offers all IT services under one roof, so to speak. Therefore, with the help of XaaS, all IT services required are provided in one, making work easier for customers.

In addition to such system houses that provide all services as a service, there are a number of companies that spe­cial­ize in a specific area that falls under XaaS.

Smart, IT-based service solutions are in­creas­ing­ly replacing their local coun­ter­parts. We have compiled a list of the most important ap­proach­es for you. In the case of other service solutions such as HaaS (Humas as a Service), it is not clear to what extent they fall under the col­lec­tive term XaaS. This is when ac­tiv­i­ties that can either be performed very slowly or not at all by computers are performed by humans and provided as a web service via cor­re­spond­ing online mar­ket­places.

SaaS is an area of cloud computing in which ap­pli­ca­tions are provided as a service. This principle is used by e-mail providers, for example. In SaaS ap­pli­ca­tions, users can create accounts and simply access the ap­pli­ca­tion they need online without having to manage the hardware or software them­selves.

IaaS is another approach that falls under the col­lec­tive term XaaS. For example, customers of IaaS companies can si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly access their high-per­for­mance and scalable IT in­fra­struc­ture, e.g., servers or firewalls, and determine how much computing or graphics power is required. It is possible to adapt the resources to their own re­quire­ments at any time.

With PaaS, the two afore­men­tioned concepts are linked in some way: Platform as a service makes it possible, for example, to create, test, deploy and maintain web ap­pli­ca­tions directly. In addition to the required IT in­fra­struc­ture, customers are given suitable runtime or de­vel­op­ment en­vi­ron­ments for this purpose.

Even the use and man­age­ment of databases no longer has to take place locally. Another sub-segment of XaaS is DBaaS. Database as a service provides necessary IT in­fra­struc­ture combined with a suitable database man­age­ment system directly via the cloud, so that the clientele simply needs to access it.

BaaS goes one step further and includes more than just the provision and man­age­ment of databases via cloud. The basic idea of BaaS is to host the entire backend in the cloud. This also includes updates. This means de­vel­op­ers do not need to program the entire in­fra­struc­ture them­selves and can con­cen­trate on other elements of web de­vel­op­ment such as the front end.

Also falling under XaaS is FaaS. Users can easily program ap­pli­ca­tions that run on servers owned by the FaaS company and whose in­fra­struc­ture is also owned by the providers. This means de­vel­op­ers do not have to con­cen­trate on updates or main­te­nance but can focus entirely on the func­tion­al­i­ty of the ap­pli­ca­tion.

Data storage can also be out­sourced using the cloud. Service providers spe­cial­iz­ing in STaaS offer both private in­di­vid­u­als and companies storage space via cloud computing. Its use is based on IaaS and is highly flexible, so that you can always book right amount of storage space.

One of the most popular services in cloud computing and XaaS is DRaaS. Disaster recovery as a service companies take care of the recovery of IT systems when needed, so that their clientele can focus entirely on their core business and not have to worry about downtime.

Analyzing business processes is important for the success of companies. But thanks to XaaS, it no longer nec­es­sar­i­ly has to be done locally either. Analytics as a Service companies provide analytics software via the cloud that can be cus­tomized to meet needs specific to the business.

Meanwhile, even container-based vir­tu­al­iza­tion is available as a service solution. With CaaS, end users can make use of container services via cloud computing. This way, they do not have to host the necessary in­fra­struc­ture them­selves. Container as a service companies normally offer their customers a complete container en­vi­ron­ment including suitable de­vel­op­ment tools and API.

Anything as a Service is a re­al­iza­tion of the theories of spe­cial­iza­tion and division of labor es­tab­lished in business man­age­ment theory. Therefore, it offers companies a number of ad­van­tages. One important point is cost ef­fi­cien­cy. Most service solutions are concluded as sub­scrip­tions and can be ter­mi­nat­ed at any time or within short periods. If re­quire­ments change, the sub­scrip­tion can be adjusted very easily. XaaS solutions can grow flexibly with the company. The cost of hiring spe­cial­ized employees is also elim­i­nat­ed when using service solutions.

In addition, XaaS ap­proach­es eliminate startup dif­fi­cul­ties by lever­ag­ing the ad­van­tages of cloud computing. Startups and young companies are no longer forced to invest in high-priced software or hardware at the very beginning but can rent it without much effort. This leaves them able to focus on their business model right from the start without having to worry about the IT in­fra­struc­ture.

Due to the spe­cial­iza­tion of XaaS companies, pro­fes­sion­al technical support is also often guar­an­teed. This provides speedy solutions in the event of problems. Finding these solutions within the company often involves a lot of effort.

The use of XaaS may also entail dis­ad­van­tages, par­tic­u­lar­ly in security and data pro­tec­tion. Data is trans­ferred to third-party companies for the use of XaaS solutions, which can affect the security of this data. Depending on where the third-party service provider is based, they may not be subject to the same data pro­tec­tion laws as your company. This makes it necessary to closely examine the service providers in question. The like­li­hood of being hacked also increases when working with ad­di­tion­al companies, as the sensitive data is then processed by several companies rather than just one.

Another dis­ad­van­tage of using XaaS solutions is the risk of downtime of the re­spec­tive service. In such cases, the clientele must rely on the anything as a service company and cannot work on fixing the problem them­selves.

Users of XaaS services could also incur hidden costs. To avoid this, it is important to check the contracts concluded with XaaS companies for such cost traps.