This week I am writing about the rise of the Software as a Service model (SaaS).  Essentially it’s a business model where everything is presented to the customer and they make the choice to use it.

A quick online search shows that the “as a service model” exists in almost every single sector. Now why am I talking about this? I’m talking about it because there was a time when it didn’t exist the way it does now and also I’m looking at how society has changed and what are the benefits for me.

The benefits for me as a consumer and a customer of the “as a service model” means I can get services quickly and Up-to-date, for example, the software as a service model, allows for ease of updates, so the burden upon me as a customer and a client to keep up my software up to date is removed, however, because “Software as a Service” is effectively a licencing model and a subscription service, I am then tied in to using that product. Examples of software as a service are packages such as the Microsoft packages and the Google packages that are offered to customers.

There is also the rise of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) such as getting transport when you require, so right now one can get a taxi when we need it, but we could be moving to MaaS, where we don’t actually need to own cars we just use transport as and when required.

I can see many advantages for companies because customers are buying in to their service and if you’ve bought into the service then companies can auto renew and are able to see a clear revenue stream.

In fact almost everything can be offered “as a service” and this has the wonderful title XaaS – “Everything as a Service”.

So as an educator, my challenge to you is to consider where in lesson can discussions around business models like “as a service”  be incorporated. In doing so our pupils will not just learn about computer science concepts but starting to consider use of IT in business contexts and in the wider world.

Written by Beverly Clarke 

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