The Road Less Traveled: Getting on the Path to As-a-Service

Getting on the path to the “As-a-Service Economy” today is a bit like bringing to life the classic Robert Frost poem in which he contemplates two paths in the woods – the one that is clearly well traveled, and the one that is not. Realizing the vision of plug-and-play, outcome-based services means choosing that less-traveled path today. It’s an evolved way of working together to drive value, and like any relationship, it starts with a good match between parties sharing a common goal and willing to take some risks to move along the path.

Since introducing the “As-a-Service Economy” at the November Blueprint session in Chicago, HfS Research has been exploring how the business services industry is shaping into this vision. There is an appetite from forward looking service providers and enterprise buyers to enter into more “as-a-service” deals and examples of where it’s working as they come together. This point of view provides guidance as well as links to further research and points of view to serve as a framework for considering and choosing your path forward in sourcing.

Whether we want to be on this train or not, the services industry is on an inexorable shift to the As-a-Service delivery model. It won’t happen overnight, but if you’re not getting ahead of the curve now, you may wake up one morning to find the train has already left the station and you’ve missed it altogether. Now is a good time if you as an enterprise buyer are interested in doing work in a new way, versus the old model of moving work offshore and fixating on cost alone. This is the time to explore it, looking at elements of “as-a-service,” and developing the roadmap to get to there, taking the “road less traveled.”