As the U.S. enters the 4th Industrial Revolution, blurring the boundaries between the physical and the digital, it has become more common for businesses that traditionally provided a physical object: a backhoe, a car, or even a software CD, to move to a service-based model. Read on for how the shift to a service-driven model can benefit your business.
EaaS
EaaS, equipment as a service, or even machine-as-a-service, has several advantages over the older model of buying equipment outright. EaaS can work like a lease, with the subscription covering the cost of repair and preventative maintenance. The other option is for a subscriber to actually use specialized equipment at another facility provided by the service.
Costs are reduced compared to a traditional lease because the data from the machines belong to the service provider. For the subscriber, EaaS eliminates capital expenditures and deprecation in favor of operating expenditure. Your accounting team doesn’t have to guess at amortization. You can trust your equipment will always run efficiently because the leasing company will perform all necessary updates.
SaaS
Software-as-a-service has been around for a longer time but can still be a new concept for businesses stuck in the moribund world of on-premise software. SaaS is a software subscription for anything from Microsoft Office to Intuit QuickBooks. The value is not only in always having the most current version of the software but in being able to access the program from different locations. Whether your employees are in the office or working from home SaaS keeps them productive.
Changing from a one-time fee for software to something that you pay for continually can seem counterintuitive, but the fact is most software is sunsetted within a few years, meaning you will have to buy a new version anyway. Generally, with a subscription, you’ll never be charged for additional software support either.
When you need to always have the latest equipment and software subscription services can be the key to business success.
