Many businesses across a vast range of industries have seen their margins shrink and have their growth limited by the cost of investing in and maintaining ever-increasingly complex technology. The benefits of new technology in quality and efficiency are significantly reduced by how often equipment needs to be replaced and maintained, not to mention the up-front cost of AV and broadcast equipment when a business is just starting out. The solution is technology-as-a-service. Below, we’ll discuss what this option is and what it should entail.
What is Technology-as-a-Service
Technology-as-a-service is a delivery and use model for hardware. You may be familiar with software-as-a-service (SaaS) where you don’t own your software, but you use it while another company provides and maintains it. TaaS is just the hardware version of this.
Instead of owning, for example, your camera, you are provided with a camera from your broadcast technology-as-a-service company. The company retains ownership of the camera and provides service and maintenance for it. If the camera no longer suits your needs, you should be able to swap it out, making scaling much simpler. Plus, if you run into issues with the camera, your broadcast technology-as-a-service company should provide you with the support that you need.
Instead of needing to invest large sums of money, sort out maintenance on your own, or blindly make a technology decision and hope it meets your future needs, you avoid all these pitfalls. You get professional support, the technology you need today, and more benefits.
The Merging of Hardware and Software
No doubt, you have heard of software-as-a-service. This is a very popular delivery option for firms to get the software they need without worrying about issues like bugs, errors, security, obsolescence, and scaling. However, more and more hardware is coming with software, and analog systems are being abandoned. This is true for vehicles as much as it is for AV and broadcast equipment. So, when software-as-a-service makes sense, hardware-as-a-service also does.
What TaaS Should Be
There are some pitfalls to avoid when understanding what TaaS is and how it should function. TaaS should not be a path to ownership because that undermines several of the key benefits of the model. You shouldn’t end up owning your hardware, including your broadcast equipment, because you should instead swap out the technology as newer options become available or as your business outgrows its current solutions. The resale value of this equipment is usually not enough to justify the economics of the purchase or of an ownership model.
At VidOvation, we offer broadcast and audiovisual technology-as-a-service solutions which can benefit your firm, allowing you access to the exact equipment that you need, with the support of professional experts who know how to get you the most value from your equipment. We offer you benefits you might not expect from an “as-a-service” model, including natural disaster coverage and more. Reach out to us to discuss how technology-as-a-service can benefit you.
