Are we embarking on a Golden Age of DAAS?

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In the run up to 2020, Device-As-A-Service (DAAS) purchase models were growing in popularity. The financial flexibility to pay monthly and free up hard cash meant businesses could make their budgets stretch further. Since the turn of the year many budget plans, and plans in general, were decimated as companies went in to self preservation mode. Any free cash was redistributed to ensure people were paid and businesses were able to stay operational. Now we are cautiously coming out the other side, business leaders are wondering how, with reduced budgets, they can still achieve their technology goals without settling for a cut price solution which could affect performance.

Now I’m no Nostradamus, but I’m going to predict this will bring about a golden age for DAAS.

How does DAAS work?

Basically instead of having to find a huge pile of cash to make a device purchase you can split that cost in to monthly payments over say 3 years. What’s even better, is the business doesn’t own the hardware, so the kit doesn’t appear on the balance sheet. Because they are off-balance sheet (OBS) the devices don’t suffer from depreciation, like other company owned assets. So a business can free up cash and purchase the perfect device without having to skimp on quality.

Hassle free

Normally once a device has reached the end of its life a business needs to dispose of it in one way or another. Not only does it have to be done in an environmental way but also securely. These devices could have stored and, have access to, huge amounts of sensitive business and personal data- so a business needs to be extremely careful how they handle device retirement. With DAAS the great news is that this is usually built in to the package. At the end of the contract the devices are securely wiped and found a new home or recycled and WEE certificates provided to the business.

One less headache to worry about ??

But wait… there’s more!

Not only can you pay for your hardware monthly, you can wrap services and software in to the mix to give you the perfect bundle at one monthly price. Things like warranties, accessories, support, data analytics, software licenses and apps can all be added to your package, simplifying the whole purchase. If you want to get really clever you can build in a device refresh halfway through your contract and upgrade to the latest kit, while keeping the same/or similar monthly price. You can now confidently plan device purchases for the long term and not need to worry about whether you will have the spare capital in 3,4, 5 years +.

Conclusion

We already pay for so much in our personal lives on a subscription/monthly basis - from our video content to shavers. It makes sense the business world would also move in this direction. Recent events look like they will only accelerate this transition from traditional capital device investments to as-a-service models.