The as-a-service market is maturing fast. Customers no longer want to own and manage hardware, connectivity and software as separate capital purchases; they want predictable monthly costs and someone else carrying the operational burden. At Jola we've seen this shift drive demand for bundled propositions, with connectivity, devices and management wrapped into a single recurring service. It's now the default expectation rather than a premium option.
The risk for partners who don't adapt is twofold. The obvious one is margin erosion: box shifting and one off connectivity deals are increasingly commoditised, and resellers competing on price alone get squeezed out. The deeper risk is losing the customer relationship entirely. Recurring service models create stickiness and recurring revenue, and partners who don't offer them hand that ongoing relationship, along with the upsell opportunities, to someone who does.
Mobile data connectivity is the backbone of this shift, particularly as more devices and sites go fully wireless. Around that, the real enabler is management software. Our Mobile Manager platform, for example, lets partners and their customers provision SIMs, monitor usage, set alerts and control spend in real time. Add Device as a Service and cloud voice through Jola Calls, and you have all the components to deliver a complete managed solution rather than disconnected parts.
The most interesting innovation across the market is the shift towards genuine self service and automation. Customers expect to see live usage, manage their estate and act on it instantly, without raising a ticket. We're also seeing connectivity, devices and applications converge into single SKUs, with Device as a Service a good example, where the SIM, the hardware and the management all arrive as one service with one bill.
Looking ahead, we expect more convergence and more intelligence. Bundles will keep consolidating, and the platforms underneath them will get smarter, using usage data to predict problems, automate provisioning and flag anomalies before they cost the customer money. For the channel, success will come from owning the management layer and the customer relationship, not the hardware. The partners who build genuine XaaS practices, rather than just relabelling old products, will be the ones who grow.
Jola is a wholesale service provider of XaaS solutions, to find out more, request our Partner Pack.
