Technology-as-a-Service (TaaS) seems like a common, albeit vague, buzzword used by many tech experts nowadays. But beyond the preconceptions are fundamentally sound concepts that are changing the way businesses see and package themselves for the benefit of their clientele.
Take for example Netflix. In 2008, Netflix — then a mail-order DVD rental company — experienced a major database corruption event that rendered them unable to ship out orders to their clients for three days. The database failure was exacerbated by the fact that they were then running their own servers, which effectively became the single point of failure that left the company unable to operate entirely.
The event convinced leadership to migrate to the cloud and adopt a TaaS-style data management system. In 2016, eight years after its first migration event, Netflix’s technology stack became 100% cloud-based. This allowed them to escape the demise of their initial service model and eventually scale their operations to accommodate data-heavy streaming services for over 130 countries — something that was impossible when they were still running their own servers.
Netflix’s experience isn’t an outlier; many businesses are discovering how TaaS is helping them keep up with evolving client wants and needs. Nearly immediately apparent are the ways you’ll get to leverage the cloud:
Migrating to the cloud
The cloud has brought about a paradigm shift to many businesses, as it is proving to be fundamental to the future of commerce. The competitive strategies of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are shifting toward wider customer bases with virtually no geographical constraints, thanks to eCommerce. Many economic and technological experts also believe that practically all businesses will have a digital presence before 2025.
With that in mind, business leaders have identified solutions that will help control costs, provide complete coverage, and help position their company for growth. TaaS has come to the forefront of that pursuit. It can be difficult to seamlessly leverage the rapid developments of cloud-based solutions without a formidable deployment infrastructure in place, but TaaS is proving to be a reliable, secure, and affordable answer.
Migrations are never uncomplicated, but having TaaS architecture in place takes away most of the headaches. Its many benefits include improving practically all the ways your business handles data, from collection to storage to analysis. It’s a great way to bring harmony into your system — and with the benefits of cost-efficiency and scalability to boot.
Related: Make business better and easier with Technology-as-a-Service
Gearing up for an organizational shift
Business is a cyclical process. Virtually every business ever (save for a handful of extreme outliers) goes through growth and stagnation, albeit in varying degrees. And that is not a bad thing per se — it’s simply a fact of life, and for many enterprises, organizational shifts are the measure by which they determine their ability to adjust and adapt to maximize their potential.
Businesses that take advantage of TaaS tend to experience less turbulent organizational shifts. This is because a TaaS architecture can be configured with change in mind. And when the only constants you expect to deal with are the evolving market conditions of a “new normal,” it’s best to have a system that isn’t easily disrupted by change.
With a TaaS infrastructure, you get a deployment platform where you can slot solutions in and out as your business requires. This means upgrading an enterprise resource planning (ERP) app from its SMB-level offering to an enterprise-level offering is as simple as a quick download. Or adding storage space for your backup needs won’t mean buying an entire storage device and server; it’ll just be a short email to your storage provider to give you more storage.
Related: The perks of cloud-based enterprise mobility
Improving returns for the business and its clients
Overall, working on a TaaS system brings about improved value. For your investors and business leaders, it comes in the form of an efficient, powerful, and cost-friendly data system. You’ll get to position your company to take full advantage of new technologies as they are launched. You’ll also have more control over costs, able to mitigate or eliminate any potential losses and errors along the way. Lastly, you’ll get the benefit of improved system oversight, as a well-deployed TaaS program will give you a good view of how each business component affects one another. This will give you better information so you can make smarter decisions.
For your customers, it will be felt through your enhanced customer support, improved responsiveness, and more efficient product/service delivery. For instance, a cloud-based ERP will give you powerful insights on which of your products, geographic markets, and demographic markets perform best and why. Moreover, a cloud-based customer resource management system will show you your customers’ tastes, preferences, and habits, so you can position your brand strategically.
Close information gaps and broaden your business’s potential with TaaS. outsourceIT is one of the leading TaaS providers in Washington, DC, Maryland, and North Carolina. Contact us to learn how we can transform your business.
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