XaaS Models: Our Offerings

The case for transformation to everything-as-a-service

XaaS models aren’t new. Long employed by utility and telecom companies, flexible consumption has now expanded to businesses in other industries, creating value for both customers and the companies that adopt them. Benefits to customers include flexibility, convenience, and affordability, while vendors can enjoy financial predictability, lower unit costs from aggregation, and enhanced customer relationships.

Companies that have shifted their offerings to an XaaS model have been met with considerable success. They have been rewarded by consumers as well as investors, challenging conventional valuations and placing pressure on industry players that are retaining traditional business models, such as perpetual licensing and long-term contracts.

Adopting pay-per-use business models has become a business imperative for many organizations. Newer companies that launched with these models at the outset are at a considerable advantage. Large, complex, and more entrenched companies face a bigger challenge—both in effecting a successful transformation and in determining the optimal pacing and sequencing of the transition.

Why is the shift to everything-as-a-service so hard?

For established businesses, transforming to consumption-based modeling calls for a fundamentally different way of doing business. Current organizational capabilities may not support the new model, and entrenched, risk-averse stakeholders may be resistant to the required changes. In addition, short-term performance may need to be sacrificed for the sake of long-term success, which has significant implications both internally and externally.

Transitioning to pay-per-use business models is complex and requires companies to make a set of critical, interrelated decisions:

These are all difficult questions that call for strategic thinking, high levels of coordination, and visionary leadership.

Deloitte can help you in the transition to pay-per-use

Deloitte has guided myriad companies through the transformation to XaaS models. We have deep knowledge of consumption-based business models and understand the challenges they present. We understand that modern businesses comprise a number of highly complex, interrelated systems, which is why we don’t view any transformational element in isolation. We can help you think through the implications of the business decisions you will need to make as you transition to a pay-per-use model.

With a full range of capabilities, we can work with you through the entire transformation, from inception and design through execution and operation. We have professionals who are knowledgeable about all industry dynamics, core functional areas, strategic capabilities, and enablement technologies. In addition, we also bring together team members who are highly experienced in:

• Change management and compensation
• Critical regulatory and compliance aspects of revenue recognition, including the impact of the new revenue recognition guidance, and related costs such as commissions and internal use software costs, controls, security and privacy, legal entity structure, and tax considerations

Designing the shift to everything-as-a-service

Our tested and proven transformation framework for XaaS models guides companies with confidence through all stages of the transition. And our systematic, structured, and repeatable approach helps us identify interdependencies and pursue parallel tracks of decision making and execution throughout the three primary phases of the transformation: decide, design, and deploy.