During 1990 expansion of internet brought about a new class of centralised computing, called Application Service Providers (ASP). Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) essentially extended the idea of the ASP model, but now there are almost too many cloud based service offerings to keep track of.
XaaS or “Everything or Anything-as-a-Service” is a term derived from Cloud Computing and today with emerging technologies and growing use of internet, any type of hardware, software, platform or business process can be offered as a cloud-based service.
The benefits of XaaS to any enterprise or industry are higher levels of innovation; faster responsiveness to market changes based on customer needs; and to increase the bottom line.
XaaS is a combination of utility-based offerings which are coming with various pricing models based on timeline, usage, etc. The core idea behind XaaS is that enterprises can cut costs and get specific kinds of personal resources by purchasing services from providers on a subscription basis. Before the emergence of XaaS and cloud services, businesses often had to buy the licensed software products and install them on site. They had to buy hardware and link it together to create expanded networks. They had to do all security work on site, and they had to provide expensive server setups and other infrastructure for all of their business processes.
I hereby try to figure out few key services in the as-a-Service domain and their providers in the market. This will help the enterprises and industries in defining their strategies.
Backup as a Service (BaaS)
Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) provides backup and recovery operations from the cloud. The cloud-based BaaS provider maintains necessary backup equipment, applications, process and management in their data centre. The customer will have some on-site installation, an appliance and backup agents are common, but there is no need to buy backup servers and software, run upgrades and patches, or purchase dedupe appliances.
Some of the well-known Backup-as-a-Service providers include EMC, Oracle, Databarracks, Acronis, Asigra.
Communication as a Service (CaaS)
Communications as a Service (CaaS) is an outsourced enterprise communication solution that can be leased from a single vendor. Such communications can include voice over IP (VOIP or Internet telephony), instant messaging (IM), collaboration and videoconference applications using fixed and mobile devices.
Some of the Communication-as-a-Service providers include Agora, Verizon, Calltower.
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
Desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) is a form of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) in which the VDI is outsourced and handled by a third party. Also called hosted desktop services, Desktop-as-a-Service is frequently delivered as a cloud service along with the apps needed to use it on the virtual desktop.
Some of the well-known Desktop-as-a-Service providers include Amazon, VMware, Citrix, Cisco.
Database as a Service (DbaaS)
Database-as-a-service (DbaaS) is a cloud computing service model that provides users with some form of access to a database without the need for setting up physical hardware, installing software or configuring for performance. All of the administrative tasks and maintenance are taken care of by the service provider so that all the user or application owner needs to do is, use the database. Of course, if the customer opts for more control over the database, this option is available and may vary depending on the provider.
Some of the well-known Database-as-a-Service providers include Amazon, google, Microsoft, Oracle, MySQL, IBM, mongoDB, EnterpriseDB, Redis Labs, Rackspace.
Disaster recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS)
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is the replication and hosting of physical or virtual servers by a third-party to provide failover in the event of a man-made or natural catastrophe. Typically, DRaaS requirements and expectations are documented in a service-level agreement (SLA) and the third-party vendor provides failover to a cloud computing environment, either through a contract or pay-per-use basis. In the event of an actual disaster, an offsite vendor will be less likely than the enterprise itself to suffer the direct and immediate effects, allowing the provider to implement the disaster recovery plan even in the event of the worst-case scenario, a total or near-total shutdown of the affected enterprise.
Some of the well-known Disaster recovery-as-a-Service providers include Sungard Availability Services, IBM, NTT communications, Acronis, iland, Columbus Business solutions, VMWare, Peak 10.
Hardware as a Service (HaaS)
Hardware as a Service (HaaS) refers to managed services or grid computing, where computing power is leased from a central provider. The HaaS model is similar to other service-based models, where users rent, rather than purchase, a provider’s tech assets. In collective computing environments, HaaS participants often use Internet Protocol (IP) connections to utilize the computing power of remote hardware. A user sends data to a provider, and the provider’s hardware performs necessary actions to the data and then sends back the results. These types of agreements help individual businesses lease computing power, rather than invest in additional on-site hardware.
Some of the more well-known Hardware-as-a-service providers include Equus, Navitus, Amazon.
Identity as a Service (IaaS)
IDaaS or Identity-as-a-Service refers to identify and access management services that are offered through the cloud or SaaS on a subscription basis. This is in contrast to traditional identified and access management (IAM) solutions that are typically completely on-premises and delivered via bundled software and/or hardware means. These systems also tend to rely heavily on Active Directory (AD) and the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for their IAM services.
Some of the well-known Identity-as-a-Service providers include Centrify, Okta, Ping Identity, Covisint, OneLogin, SailPoint Technologies, CA Technologies, ForgeRock.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a service model that delivers computer infrastructure on an outsourced basis to support enterprise operations. Typically, IaaS provides hardware, storage, servers and data centre space or network components. IaaS is popular in the data centre where software and servers are purchased as a fully outsourced service and usually billed on usage and how much of the resource is used, compared to the traditional method of buying software and servers outright. This may also be called enterprise-level hosting platform.
Some of the well-known Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers are Amazon, CenturyLink, CSC, Dimension Data, Fujitsu, Google, IBM, Interoute, Joyent, Microsoft, NTT Communications, Rackspace, Verizon, Virtustream, VMware.
Network-as-a-Service (NaaS)
Network-as-aService (NaaS), a cloud computing model in which tenants have access to additional computing resources collocated with switches and routers. It is a model for delivering network services virtually, either through subscription or ‘pay as you use’ service model. Through NaaS all that is required of the customer is a computer with an internet connection that is connected to the NaaS portal made available through a NaaS provider/cloud provider. NaaS simplifies network architecture through virtualization.
Some of the well-known Network-as-a-Service providers are Cisco, Aryaka, BigSwitch.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a category of cloud computing that provides a platform and environment to allow developers to build applications and services over the internet. PaaS services are hosted in the cloud and accessed by users simply via their web browser.
Platform as a Service allows users to create software applications using tools supplied by the provider. PaaS services can consist of preconfigured features that customers can subscribe to; they can choose to include the features that meet their requirements while discarding those that do not. Consequently, packages can vary from offering simple point-and-click frameworks where no client side hosting expertise is required to supplying the infrastructure options for advanced development.
Some of the well-known Platform-as-a-Service providers are Salesforce, Microsoft, Google, Engine Yard, NTT Communications, Mendix, cloudControl, CloudBees, Progress, SoftwareAG, SAP, IBM, RedHat.
Storage as a Service (STaaS)
Storage as a service (STaaS) is an architecture model in which a provider provides digital storage on their own infrastructure. Storage as a service can be implemented as a business model in which a large service provider rents space in their storage infrastructure on a subscription basis. Small companies and individuals often find this to be a convenient methodology for managing backups, and providing cost savings in personnel, hardware and physical space. A company providing SaaS may be called a storage service provider (SSP). Storage as a service can also be referred to as hosted storage.
Some of the well-known Storage-as-a-service providers are CSC, Zadara, NetApp, NaviSite.
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