Age of the rental: SOC as a service, IaaS, DaaS, HaaS

The barrel of challenging economic forecasts and complex local and global political outlooks has companies focused on sustainability.

Patrick Reeves, Managing Executive, Axiz, says the SOC as a service (security operations centre) market is anticipated to grow to more than US1 trillion by 2024. And the IaaS (infrastructure as a service) market is aiming for US238 billion by 2026, the DaaS (data as a service) market by US66 billion by 2023, and the HaaS (hardware as a service) market by a CAGR of 26.8% by 2025.

Reeves adds that the global 'as a service' market has become so varied, so disrupted, that anything can become a service. "In fact, the XaaS (anything as a service) market is expected to also achieve significant growth over the period 2019-2024. In short, it is the age of rental and there are few organisations not poised on the cusp of taking advantage of this varied and rather dynamic market proposition."

One of the driving forces behind the growing as a service market is the economy. Companies looking down the barrel of challenging economic forecasts and complex local and global political outlooks are focused on one thing – sustainability. The old models of capex spend are slowly being reshaped by this focus as organisations recognise the value of opex and making someone else handle the IT load.

The cost of maintaining, updating, managing and replacing assets is increasingly expensive, in both manpower and funds. With the as a service model, there’s no upfront capital expenditure, nor is there the need to invest in vast quantities of assets that will be out of date within a few years. The assets on-site are fresh, relevant and rented.

For many organisations, IT teams are dedicated to managing the minutiae of upgrades or ‘turn it off and on again’, rather than focusing on technology and integrations that refine the business process and redefine agility. The as a service model shifts the weight from the company to the service provider.

Ultimately, the enterprise (regardless of size or market share) wants to focus on its core business, not on the latest upgrades, security patches and integration issues. It wants to know that its devices, systems and technology infrastructure work well, do what they’re meant to do, and can be fixed when disaster strikes.

Another advantage of the as a service is its ubiquity. IT teams are given the freedom and time they need to focus on agility and DevOps – the driving forces behind digital transformation and market competitiveness – instead of on asset sweating and upgrade cycles. It also cuts the costs allowing for the business to place its budgets into pockets that will take it into new markets rather than new software or a PC for Billingsley on the fourth floor.

With the ITaaS (IT as a service) or HaaS models, the company can invest in systems that are powered by consumption and can be scaled up or down on demand. Procurement is flexible, control is absolute, and the questions around security and compliance neatly resolved.

Service providers specialising in the as a service model will ensure the security patches are done, the compliance parameters are met and the service level agreements are relevant. Technology is constantly evaluated and implemented in alignment with business needs and strategy.

Over the next five years, the market is set to undergo a dramatic shift from the traditional, weighty capex model to the as a service model. Driven by economies of scale, functionality, simplicity and ubiquity, ITaaS and HaaS will be shifting how organisations do business with technology. It is the commoditisation of the essential services that keep the enterprise functioning and it’s a powerful tool for bypassing market complexities in emerging markets like South Africa.