XaaS (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.)

Glossary

"XaaS (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.)"

This glossary explains various keywords that will help you understand the mindset necessary for data utilization and successful DX. This time, let's reconsider the very meaning of the word "cloud" today, starting with the term XaaS.

What is XaaS?

XaaS (pronounced "zaasu") is an abbreviation ofX as a Service or Anything as a Service. It is a general term that refers to cloud-related services such as SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS.
Alternatively, it can refer to the "as a service" delivery model made possible by cloud services, and is a term that refers to all the various types of such service delivery models.

What is the cloud (and how did it come about)?

Cloud computing has become commonplace these days, so it's actually difficult to understand how new it was when it first appeared. When the term "cloud computing" first came into use, it was recognized that what made it different from traditional computing was that it was "provided as a service," and many terms such as SaaS and PaaS were born. Taking this situation into account, the term "XaaS" was created to refer to the whole of the concept.

Before the cloud, when using software, it was common to procure the hardware yourself, purchase and install the packaged software, and then manage and operate the system yourself."Utilizing IT" always came hand in hand with these various activities, and this was so natural that it was not even questioned.

What was revolutionary about the cloud was that it overturned that assumption. It created a new situation in which "software usage itself" could be purchased and used "as a service" via the Internet. The phrase that directly describes this new situation is "Software as a Servive (SaaS)."

"As a Service" other than SaaS

In other words, the essence of the newness was not "software" but rather a change in the way it was provided "as a service." As a result, things other than software began to be provided as services as well. A change in the world began. The following are some representative and basic examples.

PaaS (Platform as a Service): Providing a platform for creating software services.
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): Providing hardware as a service via the cloud

In addition to the above, various other "service offerings" are now available.

The term "XaaS" has come to be used to refer to this new way of providing services, where users can purchase only the services they use.

The newness of "as a Service": From ownership to usage

It's not just the format of delivery that has changed; there have been many fundamental changes.

First, whereas traditional systems require large initial expenditures, such as purchasing hardware and software first, the absence of initial costs lowers the barriers to starting or stopping use (reduced initial costs).

It is not uncommon for cloud services these days to allow you to start using them just a few minutes after paying by credit card, which is incredibly fast compared to the old days when you had to buy and set up hardware and software (flexible and revolutionarily fast to use).

Additionally, when you initially purchase hardware or software, you have an "asset" that is subject to tax, but with the cloud, you pay a "cost" for use, which is advantageous in terms of taxation. The initial cost is small, and it's easy to increase or decrease usage according to demand, which also gives your business greater flexibility financially (from assets to expenses, and from fixed costs to variable costs).

This transformation from owning various things to providing them as a service is not limited to cases such as providing IT services via the cloud. For example, a similar initiative would be "Mobility as aService (MaaS)," which makes it unnecessary to own cars and other vehicles and provides transportation as a service.
Some people may have been confused because they have similar names even though they are not cloud services, but when explained this way, it becomes clear that they are indeed initiatives that should have the same type of name.

In other words, new initiatives based on the concept of "as a Service (XaaS)" are not limited to IT initiatives on the Internet, but are also attracting attention these days as general new initiatives in business.

Deepening XaaS in IT

In the IT sector, "as a Service (XaaS)" initiatives are expanding in various ways.

FaaS (Function as a Service) or "Serverless":
It is an initiative to provide IT software "functions" (or functions that can be assembled) "as a service." The difference from traditional cloud services is that it eliminates the need for management and operation of service usage, which was often necessary even with cloud services, and allows users to use only the functions.
⇒Glossary: Serverless (FaaS: Function as a Service)
BaaS (Backend as a Service):
For example, smartphone app developers may not want to deal with the development and operation of the server side (backend side) in the cloud. This is an initiative to provide backend functions as a service with (as much as possible) no management required.

These initiatives are not so much about not having to own the system, but rather about providing services that provide only the aspects you want to use, such as not having to manage and operate it yourself, or being able to leave the parts you don't want to handle to someone else.

From this perspective, it is now possible to provide services from a variety of angles to suit a variety of circumstances, specialized functions, and needs, resulting in a wide variety of "as a Service" offerings.

Furthermore, as the cloud computing era deepens, it is becoming more important to "connect" various services and IT in addition to using and creating them, and there are services that meet these needs "as a service." Please take a look at the explanation at the link.

iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service):
A cloud that connects various clouds and a wide variety of systems and data.
⇒Glossary: iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service)

What is needed in the "as a Service" era

Cloud computing has become commonplace in business these days, and cloud computing is becoming more and more prevalent. However, when you think about the essence of cloud computing as explained above, you will find that there is a lot to consider.

Are we moving towards an "as a Service" world?

For example, it is said that simply putting legacy systems and IT usage on the cloud is not a good idea. In this example, it can be said that only the hardware has become cloud IaaS, and nothing else has changed. Let's think again to see if we are just using the cloud.

Can the service be used quickly and flexibly?

As more and more services become available in the future, in order to take advantage of this new situation, you will need to be able to fully utilize the various services and make them useful for your business.

Your company and your business need to be replaced with "as a service"

Using MaaS as an example, we introduced how transformation is also taking place in fields other than IT. The business your company is engaged in and the value it provides may also need to adapt to the wave of the "as a Service" era. Are you adapting as a provider as well as a user?

Not everything will be a new way of thinking (all at once)

However, not everything will change at once to the new way of thinking. For example, when it comes to IT utilization, there are times when traditional IT utilization methods that existed before the cloud computing era will inevitably have to remain. Such circumstances will also need to be taken into consideration.

What "connecting" technology can do

DataSpider is Japan's leading iPaaS and EAI product, and can connect clouds, systems, and a wide variety of systems and data without coding, allowing us to support the initiatives required in this new era.

Able to freely link various services and data

Various services can be freely linked and used simply by operating the GUI. Because you can access data in various formats from various data sources, you can also use the various data your company possesses in various services.

No-code development and on-site trial and error

Because it is a no-code system, there is no need for time-consuming and laborious traditional system development. Not only can it be used quickly, but it also enables on-site IT utilization and facilitates trial and error on the business side.

In particular, if you are thinking of providing a service in-house, it is important to experiment with who to provide it to, how to provide it, and how. It is important to be able to make changes easily and to be able to experiment quickly.

There are traditional ways to connect to IT

Even though we live in the cloud era, in reality it is often best to keep legacy IT. In such cases, the ideal approach is to preserve legacy IT, such as mainframes, while also making full use of the latest IT.

I think that even secret Excel spreadsheets that have been used for many years in the field can be classified as traditional IT. It is wrong to have to choose between moving to the cloud or throwing it away. It would be ideal to be able to utilize existing assets and strengths, as well as the strengths of traditional businesses.

Related keywords (for further understanding)

iPaaS
- A cloud service that "connects" various clouds with external systems and data simply by operating on a GUI is called iPaaS.
EAI
- It is a concept of "connecting" systems by data integration, and is a means of freely connecting various data and systems. It is a concept that has been used since long before the cloud era as a way to effectively utilize IT.
ETL
- In the recent trend of actively working on data utilization, the majority of the work is not the data analysis itself, but rather the collection and preprocessing of data scattered in various places, from on-premise to cloud.
Serverless (FaaS)
REST API
JSON
File Linkage
- By going through a file, it can also be used as a way to reduce dependencies between the caller and the callee.
Excel Link
- Excel is an essential tool in the use of IT in the real world. By effectively linking Excel with external IT, you can make the most of Excel's strengths while smoothly promoting IT use.
No-code/Low-code

DataSpider trial version and free online seminar

"DataSpider," which we offer, is a leading iPaaS/EAI product developed in-house in Japan, with a long history of success in not only utilizing the latest cloud technologies, but also integrating cloud and legacy IT (such as kintone and mainframes).

Unlike regular programming, development can be done using only the GUI (no-code), without writing any code, and it offers "high development productivity," "full-fledged performance that can serve as the foundation for business (professional use)," and "ease of use that can be used by those in the field (even non-programmers can use it)."
It can smoothly solve the problem of "connecting disparate systems and data," which is hindering not only data utilization but also the successful utilization of various IT technologies such as cloud computing.

We offer a free trial version and hold online seminars where you can try out the software for free, so we hope you will give it a try.

Free trial seminar here

XaaS (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.)