Outsourcing business systems and processes is increasingly appealing to the modern business owner, and therefore the landscape of anything-as-a-service (XaaS) vendors is growing as many new and old players are upping their game by providing a must more alluring opex payment model.

Also known as everything as a service, XaaS refers to the availability of various services over the internet through cloud computing, instead of being provided by an enterprise within the premises, according to IMARC Group. It is an extension of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.

The global XaaS market is expected to exceed $344 billion by 2024, according to IMARC. Based on the service area, the market has been classified into storage as a service, security as a service, unified communications as a service, network as a service, database as a service and backend as a service, it said.

We spoke with analysts, a member of the Channel Partners Editorial Advisory Board and other experts to find out what it takes to succeed in XaaS.

Almost anything we consume nowadays is on a subscription basis, and C-level decision makers are jumping on board with this, said Anish Patel, TBI‘s vice president of emerging technologies.

TBI’s Anish Patel

“XaaS companies see this shift and want to capitalize on the market opportunity; hence, growth is primarily from a revenue perspective,” he said. “New entrants will always come into the market, but the top-tier XaaS companies have established a dominating presence.”

Juan Fernandez, vice president of managed IT services for Image Net Consulting, said cutting-edge XaaS providers are the ones that are finding deliverables through creative innovation.

“We see many new technology solutions we never have seen before, such as fully provisioned desktops as a service (DaaS), AI-enabled support as a service [and] full PaaS solutions that allow you to reboot a physical desktop and obtain a refreshed operating system,” he said. “So many new and exciting offerings are coming from cutting-edge thinkers.”

Patrick Graves, TetraVX‘s vice president of sales, said the number of XaaS providers is accelerating as the barrier to entry is becoming less prominent and demand is high. TetraVX also has had success in the XaaS realm.

TetraVX’s Patrick Graves

“Niche players are developing XaaS solutions to address specific business needs,” he said. “Those organizations will become acquisition targets as the market matures and they begin to acquire customers. The major players will need to develop competencies around M&A to address time-to-market/first-mover advantage considerations as they race to gain market share.”

Rick Beckers, CEO of XaaS1 and editorial advisory board member, said the competitive marketplace has been becoming move convergent over the past two years.

XaaS1’s Rick Beckers

“Data MSP offerings are being picked up by telecom agents,” he said. “Telecom solutions are being picked up by MSPs. Even traditional consulting-based solutions like compliance and security are rapidly being bundled and packaged into as-a-service offerings that make it possible for everyone to offer them into their customer base. It is my opinion that [the] 2020 Channel Partners Conference and Expo in Las Vegas will be where everyone will look back and say, ‘That was the point in time where the lines were so completely blurred’ as it pertains to everyone embracing XaaS as their business model.”

We’ve compiled a list, in alphabetical order, of 20 XaaS providers that are making the most of the current competitive landscape and charting success. By no means a list including all providers, the list offers a mix of well-known suppliers as well as lesser-known companies that are making big strides in XaaS.

Click through our gallery below.

Auvik

Fernandez cites Auvik's managed network as a service as a top XaaS solution. Auvik provides network management software for IT MSPs, and in December expanded its collaboration with Cisco to give MSPs additional insight into the status of Cisco network devices."To be a truly successful and cutting-edge XaaS provider, the organization needs to stay on top of the current market trends and have a holistic view of your customer demands," Graves said. "It’s also imperative that the provider is in tune with the latest technology stacks that impact how a client does business. They need the ability to design, deploy and support a solution built for specific customer challenges and business processes, while providing SLAs for uptime and performance."

AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is cited by IMARC as a major XaaS player. It offers more than 175 services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, robotics, ML and AI, IoT, mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment and management.