BUSINESS & INDUSTRY | Summer 2020

Edge computing is accelerating growth in technology

Cloud computing and artificial intelligence will once again dominate the technology headlines, but 2020 could be a breakout year for edge computing. Deloitte’s global technology, media, and telecommunications industry leader, Paul Sallomi, shares his perspectives on the advantages of processing data locally and how partnerships will play a key role in accelerating growth in technology.

Last year, we emphasized the growing importance of partnerships as a strategic tool that every technology company should employ. Until recently, strategic discussions typically began with the following question: “Should I buy or build?” As we head into 2020, that question should be modified: “Should I buy, build, or partner?”.

With fast-paced developments in emerging technologies, partnerships can be critical for tech companies looking to enhance their existing solutions or provide more targeted offerings. Based on the key strengths and expertise of partners, companies can pursue research and development; offer more integrated solutions across their hardware, network, platform, or software stack; or target different markets altogether. Tech companies have leveraged this model extensively to offer improved products and services across areas like AI, cloud, and processing.

For many companies, this approach will require a permanent shift in their overall mindset. But today’s ultra-competitive, highly complex technology environment demands nothing less. After all, why buy an asset that’s not best-in-breed when you can team with someone who has the specific capabilities you need? Partnering represents a more efficient use of capital and will probably drive better outcomes.

This “partnership” concept also extends to multiplayer alliances—complex ecosystems of providers who combine best-of-breed assets to create end-to-end solutions for clients. Successful ecosystems are those that simplify issues like systems integration and contractual obligations so that the customer experience is transparent.

When it comes to strategies for developing and expanding their cloud business, many tech companies are increasingly shifting toward the everything-as-a-service (XaaS) model, which encompasses capabilities such as platform-as-a-service (PaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), and software-as-service (SaaS).

Within the PaaS environment, database and application platform services represent the largest market segments, with blockchain, digital experience, serverless, and AI/machine learning platform services the most recent offerings.13 The global IaaS market is mainly driven by advantages such as improved disaster recovery, ease of deployment, and platform scalability.14 Larger than PaaS and IaaS,15 the worldwide SaaS market features solution providers that leverage microservices to offer customizable end-to end solutions, increased agility, and better ROI measurement.16

Tech companies are also offering new solutions like security-as-a-service, data-as-a-service, and device-as-a-service to help companies deliver XaaS benefits, such as operational efficiency and faster innovation...

Source: Deloitte

Ten Key Strategies For Pivoting Enterprise Applications To SaaS

Organizations of all sizes are shifting their operations towards software as a service (SaaS) applications. To capitalize on that market opportunity, it’s important for solution providers to understand the trends that are shaping the market—and tailor their business strategies to solve for their customers’ evolving needs.

Understanding SaaS market trends
The enterprise software market is undergoing a foundational change. After decades of IT-led buyer models, line-of-business (LOB) stakeholders are developing an increasing say in purchasing decisions, especially for the LOB applications they use on a day-to-day basis. This shift is deepening the focus on SaaS products and the innovative companies building them.

This shift in solution purchasing and management models—one of the ten key strategies explored in the following Forrester report—means customers are looking for applications that are easily implemented, reliably updated, and scalable to users’ flexible needs. A SaaS solution provider that can meet such customer demands is well-positioned to capitalize on this growth opportunity.

But crafting a business model tailored to that market need—as well as the other nine customer strategies detailed in this report—isn’t an exact science. The needs of the enterprise customer vary dramatically from those of small and midsize businesses, especially across various industries. Building a solution and market strategy that can find a scalable space in the buyer ecosystem takes a strategic partner that can help you both accelerate your application to the marketplace and grow your customer base.

Using a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, enterprises can focus on business outcomes instead of working around technology limitations. SaaS clients enjoy faster, more flexible deployment and more frequent automatic updates
to accelerate the pace of innovation. SaaS standardization streamlines R&D and unlocks new collaboration and sharing potential. This report provides applications development and delivery (AD&D) professionals with actionable advice for putting SaaS at the center of their strategy...

Source: Microsoft