ChannelVision Magazine

at your service: Xaas A growing number of organizations are integrating anything-as-a-service (XaaS) as they face competitive shifts fueled by technology-driven business models, say analysts at Deloitte. And while improving operational efficiency and reducing costs remain important goals for XaaS adoption, business agili- ty – or the ability to pivot quickly as new opportunities and threats emerge – is rivaling these traditional uses of XaaS. In short, suggests a new Deloitte study, XaaS is helping bigger com- panies innovate faster, while giving smaller companies the scale and capa- bilities they need to compete. Indeed, the study revealed that XaaS has become essential for keep- ing up with competitors, with 28 per- cent of companies reporting that they are able to use XaaS to create a siz- able lead, while 39 percent report that XaaS adoption helps them catch up to or keep pace with their competitors. Another 32 percent believe it will help them edge slightly ahead. Seventy percent of companies said flexible consumption allows them to access a product or solution that otherwise would be too expensive, while three-quarters say XaaS makes it easier and faster to prototype. Eight in 10 companies say XaaS gives them quicker access to the latest technolo- gies and innovative capabilities. What’s more, adopting XaaS is no longer just a part of the information technology playbook, with seven in 10 companies reporting it is “very” or “critically” important to their business success. Furthermore, the study found in the next one to two years, the num- ber of companies that consume more than three-quarters of IT as a service will increase by 50 percent. While interest in XaaS is soaring, challenges do remain. Topping the list are data security and privacy concerns (43 percent). Only one-third of compa- nies keep sensitive data such as cus- tomer details, financials and intellectual property “mostly” or “fully” in the cloud. More than 70 percent of respondents noted new privacy regulations are causing them to re-examine how they handle data through XaaS solutions. Familiarity, however, does breed some confidence. Companies with three or more years of XaaS experi- ence are 60 percent more likely to keep their customers’ proprietary data mostly/fully in the cloud, and 37 per- cent more likely to do the same with their financial data. Organizations are generally satis- fied with their ROI from XaaS, with 69 percent of respondents saying it has resulted in better ROI and a lower to- tal cost of ownership than traditional IT. Using XaaS to reduce costs isn’t straightforward, however. More than one-third of companies rated cost concerns as a top-three challenge of XaaS. Among these respondents, 45 percent reported that XaaS costs are difficult to predict and budget; 42 percent said costs were greater than anticipated. One reason for higher costs is duplication: continuing to pay for traditional IT (such as existing in- frastructure) while moving to XaaS. Forty-four percent who cited cost as a top-three challenge are concerned with duplicative costs. OVHcloud has launched the OVH- cloud Partner Program for its infra- structure-as-a-service offerings. With the new partner program, resellers, system integrators, system outsourcers (SISO), and managed service provid- ers can offer new OVHcloud solutions, providing alternative and low-cost op- tions to their customers. OVHcloud enables partners to grow their cloud businesses by sell- ing services such as VMware-based hosted private cloud, bare metal servers and/or public cloud. The program consists of four tiers, giving partners the opportunity to select the level that most aligns with their busi- ness goals. Each level provides dif- ferent resources, benefits and finan- cial incentives to support customer and sales needs. Deloitte: Need for Speed, Innovation Fueling XaaS Adoption Business Agility Beginning to Rival Operational Efficiency as Goal of XaaS (Percentage of respondents rating each goal among top three XaaS objectives) Operational Efficiencies Business Agility Flexibility: Rapidly scale IT capability, operatons, costs up/down on demand 43% Access to new tech 40% Increased workforce efficiency 41% Accelerated innovation 37% Reduce cost 38% Faster time-to-market of our products/services 34% Ease deployment and use 33% Better maintenance and support 29% Source: Deloitte OVHcloud Launches IaaS Partner Program Channel Vision | September - October, 2018 48