The ongoing pandemic has changed the definition of ‘workplace’ for all Information Technology (IT) professionals. Many companies have initiated a ‘Work From Home’ (WFH) policy for all employees to avoid social gatherings and maintain social distancing. Such policies have made way for drastic changes in employees’ working routines. Employees now can work from anywhere, at any time, with any device.

These ever-changing needs are making some forward-thinking as organizations implement the idea of Modern Workplace-as-a-Service (MWaaS). Adopting this practice can help businesses enhance device management and increase the cost-effectiveness of their technological infrastructure. Enterprise partners may help with strategy, support, and infrastructure to achieve objectives.

Defining WaaS

The Workspace-as-a-Service or WaaS concept is similar to the active virtual workspace that allows employees to communicate and access work-related resources as if they are physically working in the office premises. The resources may include any corporate or application data directly accessible from anywhere using internet-connected devices.

Third parties are usually responsible for handling the WaaS through the medium of the cloud. Amazon Workspaces, Citrix Workspace, Google Workspace, Workspace ONE, and Windows Virtual Desktop are some companies that have already implemented this technology. With WaaS technology, the employees can have the flexibility to work from anywhere and anytime only if they can access the remote cloud system of their company.

Advantages of WaaS

The WaaS holds several advantages for both employees and organizations –

• Remote working made easy – Employees can work from anywhere irrespective of the location and time only if they can access internet-connected devices. Such a facility can even help employees stay productive even when they are outside the office.
• Budget-friendly – Implementing the WaaS model brings transparency in billing and budgeting. The payment process is carried out monthly based on the pay-per-user payment process, eliminating the need for a typical invoice structure. Such methods ensure that the company pays for what is actually being used, thus reducing the overall costs.
• BYOD and WFH policies reduce overhead expenses – As companies start regulating Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) and WFH policies, they no more have to invest in providing employees with office hardware equipment or other regular necessities.
• Target specific applications – Every individual needs different applications to perform their functions. For example, the employees working in the accounts section do not have access to other departmental applications. WaaS allows companies to assign employees with specific applications based on the job requirements.

Risk involved with WaaS

As every coin has two sides, so does the WaaS technology. Like any other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) component, WaaS brings challenges that every organization must know about and prepare for.

Following are the two major challenges that come across while implementing WaaS technology and cloud computing

• Risk with third-party security: Most companies find it beneficial to deploy WaaS to eliminate the need for physical hardware security. It should be replaced by cloud security as the WaaS provider takes charge of it.

It is essential to conduct a third-party risk assessment monitoring to ensure that the provider sticks to the latest security standards. Third-party monitoring also reports anything that could affect the provider and the organization.

• Availability with uptime: While present at physical workspaces, one can easily manage applications and have primary control over the availability of services. This makes it possible to mitigate outages. While working with WaaS, the availability of services required majorly depends on the provider.

So before committing to any long-term agreements, it is essential to track the uptime performance of any WaaS provider. It is important to have an easy-to-use and open communication channel to reach out to WaaS vendors if there’s an outage.

WaaS with SaaS

Combining WaaS and SaaS models ensures maximum security, convenience, and flexibility. The software is not installed directly on the hardware while using SaaS, but access to data and apps is provided via the cloud.

The merging of the WaaS and SaaS models reduces the management efforts of the IT department. Moreover, the transparency and predictable costs enable financial resources to deploy precisely and adequately within the organization.

The WaaS complements the SaaS solutions with the hardware component, better known in the business environment. Together, companies can avoid high investment costs by reducing capital tie-ups.

WaaS versus DaaS

WaaS and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) models are often confused and misunderstood as they are pretty much similar. Both technologies use the cloud as a medium to deliver services. The difference is that WaaS provides users with the applications they require to work, while DaaS offers an infrastructure or the virtual desktop environment.

The following example gives a clear view of the difference between the WaaS and DaaS models – consider DaaS as utensils required to cook a particular recipe, and WaaS is the detailed recipe book. So even if one has utensils to cook food, it is not possible to prepare the dish without the correct recipe. Similarly, even if one has implemented the DaaS model, the process’s working is incomplete without the WaaS model.

End part

An estimation on remote working was made even before it became necessary for most industries to embrace remote working. By 2025, the WaaS market is expected to reach a value of USD 8.54 billion. Experts predicted the value based on the market’s 2019 value of USD 4.9 billion.

Due to security concerns, many companies are not yet ready to welcome the new WaaS model, but this has not affected the demand for WaaS models. The recent global events are making companies adopt WaaS technology more comfortably. The flexibility to switch workspaces makes the WaaS model more famous among the employees.

Visit our latest whitepapers on Workspace-as-a-Service (WaaS) and other related technologies.