What Is Xaas? Everything as a Service Explained

The “as-a-Service” model of cloud computing, providing services over the internet, is a trend that continues to gain traction across the globe. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings are becoming the de facto method for users to access services and products like Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office. Other kinds of offerings are being made available in the same pay-as-you-go business model.

You’ve seen the terms SaaS, PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), and IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) plenty of times. Now, a newer concept encompasses these ideas—and more: everything as a service, or XaaS.

In this article, we’ll:

• Look at XaaS and servitization
• Share real-world examples
• Explore the best way to make XaaS work

What is XaaS?

XaaS is short for Everything-as-a-Service and sometimes Anything-as-a-Service. XaaS reflects how organizations across the globe are adopting the as-a-Service method for delivering just about, well, everything. (That’s why we’re seeing services like FaaS, BPMaaS, ITaaS, and even ransomware as a service!)

Initially a digital term, XaaS can now apply to the real, non-digital world, too.

Many B2B organizations provide as-a-Service offerings. These offerings are neatly sliced up and portioned out to create customized services that meet the specific needs of each client at a price that makes sense for them. In this way, XaaS could be simply thought of as a combination of SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS offerings.

You wouldn’t be wrong to think that. But you also wouldn’t be getting the full picture of what XaaS means today.

The primary goal of XaaS offerings is to increase the value for the customer. In a XaaS model, you want to convert one-time buyers into service subscribers who receive ongoing benefits from the product. In a XaaS offering, customers should feel that their money is being put to good use—otherwise, as we’ll see below, customers are unlikely to adopt XaaS.

This is where the concept of servitization comes in.

What is servitization?

With the massive success of subscription-based business models, more organizations are looking to get in on the action by leveraging “servitization”—the combination of products and services into a single package.

To succeed, the goal of servitization must be more than just milking more money from customers. Combining services and products together allows organizations to provide customers with greater value than the products or services would provide as standalone offerings.

In many ways, XaaS and the Internet of Things (IoT) are connected. Many consumer-facing organizations are finding ways to integrate data tools into their existing products to provide users with increased value. Rolls-Royce is one such company.