Everything as a service

"Everything as a service" ("EaaS", [http://news.cnet.com/8301-13953_3-9977049-80.html The new geek chic: Data centers] ] "XaaS" [ [http://www.eweek-digital.com/eweek/20071105_mot/?pg=81&search=xaas+%22everything+as+a+service%22&u1=texterity&cookies=1 eWeek November 5 2007] ] , "*aaS" [ [http://blog.gardeviance.org/2008/06/gang-up-now-before-aas-cloud-gets-you.html Gang up before the *aaS cloud gets you] ] ) is a concept of being able to call up re-usable, fine-grained software components across a network. [ [http://www.information-age.com/articles/292231/everything-as-a-service.thtml Everything as a service] ] It is a subset of cloud computing. The most common and successful example is software as a service (SaaS), but the "as a service" moniker has been associated with many other functions including communication, infrastructure and platforms, most of which are core components of cloud computing. With extremely low barriers to entry (often accessible for free or with a personal credit card), the offerings were adopted by consumers and small businesses before pushing into mid-sized and large enterprise space. [http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/Home/News.asp?id=48388 Everything as a Service] ] This is the primary differentiator from other Service Oriented Architecture offerings.

A number of vendors including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce and Hewlett Packard [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/08/hp_everything_as_a_service/ HP sells cloud vision amidst economic downpour] ] [ [http://www.hpl.hp.com/open_innovation/irp/2008_HPL_IRP_Research_Topics_Americas.pdf HP Labs Innovation Research Program] ] have been associated with the "everything as a service" trend. [ [http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/mowi/article.php/3716281 10 Mega-Trends for IT in 2008] ]

Key characteristics

Offerings tagged with the "as a service" suffix have a number of common attributes, including:
* Low barriers to entry is a common theme amongst offerings, with services typically being available to or specifically targeting consumers and small businesses.
* Little or no capital expenditure as infrastructure is owned by the provider.
* Massive scalability is also common, though this is not an absolute requirement and many of the offerings have yet to achieve large scale.
* Multitenancy enables resources (and costs) to be shared amongst many users.
* Device independence enables users to access systems regardless of what device they are using (eg PC, mobile).
* Location independence allows users remote access to systems.

Examples

* Communication as a service
* Infrastructure as a service
* Monitoring as a service
* Software as a service

ee also

* Cloud computing
* Service-oriented architecture
* Utility computing

References