Utilizing as-a-service deployments have been around for quite some time. And while most people would imagine that the flexible consumption and financing would be the top reasons for as-a-service deployments, think again!
It seems reasonable that rather than worrying about large CAPEX budgets for planning out your infrastructure every few years and opting for a flexible OPEX subscription service would win out as the top reason for as-a-service deployments. Why? Most organizations would agree that addressing the changing market landscape, technical innovations, and unplanned events in shorter time frames is a tough job — and sometimes nearly impossible. Long term CAPEX planning can oftentimes leave organizations with long product life cycles and the inability to shift quickly, hindering their infrastructure to meet changing business dynamics. But surprisingly, this is not the reason for as-a-service deployments.
So, what is the top reason? We asked IDC about the top factors driving as-a-service models in our recently sponsored IDC Analyst Connection Q&A, Networking as a Service: How the Latest “as a Service” Paves the Way to the Intelligent Edge. According to IDC, from their IT Procurement Trends and Consumption Models Survey, the top factor driving as-a-service deployments is to reduce IT staff workloads. Yes, the top factor driving as-a-service deployments is to reduce IT staff workloads!
Reducing IT staff workloads makes sense. For example, with networks in particular, all too often organizations find themselves distracted away from strategic workloads reacting to network problems. Resource time and expenses are often spent on troubleshooting, determining root causes, and remediating the latest event or attack, taking resources and time away from critical projects.
Interestingly, the shift from CAPEX to OPEX isn’t even one of the top three factors contributing to the adoption of as-a-service. However, in the IDC Analyst Connection Q&A, IDC did mention a more recent bimonthly worldwide survey that revealed given the current crisis, about 43% of the survey respondents believe that interest in as-a-service models will significantly or moderately increase because of the economic downturn from the recent pandemic. More organizations will most likely watch their budgets given the unknown impacts to their bottom line. We have already seen impacts across almost every industry.
Organizations need to preserve their capital. The flexible financing and subscription approach, often fundamental to as-a-service offerings, should prove to be an attractive mechanism for organizations to get the support for product and services they will need to implement without having to make large CAPEX investments. With the shift to a consumption model, organizations may quickly realize the inherent benefit of as-a-service deployments – that is, increased business agility.
Find out what other factors are driving as-a-service models and more in the IDC Analyst Connection Q&A. Learn about the additional benefits of the as-a-service model.
