Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

We have XaaS or EaaS. We have returned to the day of the general store.

We have almost everything as a service. Some call this XaaS. I call it EaaS (Everything as a Service or maybe AEaaS Almost Everything as a Service). Examples, IaaS, DHaaS, SaaS, PaaS, etc. (how many letters are their in the alphabet?).

We might as well call it GSaaS for General Store as a Service. The general store was (still is in some places) a rural store that (1) was the only store for miles and (2) carried just about everything that the folks nearby needed.

The days of the General Store have ended—well, sort of. In many rural areas of America there is the Dollar Store. That is a significant store as they carry dry groceries (canned and boxed) as well as this and that and everything else.

Perhaps we should call XaaS “DSaaS” (Dollar Store as a Service).

Alas, offering services to the high tech industry is a good idea. Everyone seems to need just about everything. Each company has its own area of expertise and would rather purchase other services instead of do them for themselves.

Walking through the rural areas of the American southeast (I did that in 2008 and 2009), I saw many places that offered many services. Tanning salon, income tax, accounting, baby sitting, and such were common. (I don’t understand the tanning salon as folks in rural areas generally get more outdoor sunshine than they want.) Everything as a Service. What you need not listed on the sign, just ask.

Got a tech company? Offer services. List them all, and be sure to list “Don’t see what you want? Just ask. We can probably do that, too.”