Here is list of recent announcements and posts in the As a Service trend which I am curating in a magazine on Flipboard. Here they are (20 of the most recent) after the jump, in a convenient list of RSS fed posts 💥
Continue reading “Update on As a Service Trends”Two brains on “Everything as a Service” for the price of one
These are some thoughts captured and co-written by Stephen Danelutti and Jason Noble, two long time contributors to the world of Everything As a Service (XaaS) who met recently. We realised our common background and insights and decided to produce this combined thought piece – hope you enjoy.
Continue reading “Two brains on “Everything as a Service” for the price of one”As a Service trend research – customer solutions
This is a topic I will be covering as a chapter in my As a Service trend report. It’s not entirely dissimilar to one of the other chapter topics I will be covering and have written about here: As a Service trend research – products to services.
Continue reading “As a Service trend research – customer solutions”As a Service trend research – products to services
One of the chapters I am covering in a trend report I am working on (As a Service Trend) will explain how even tangible products can be open to “servicification” and purchased or subscribed to. For example, razors for personal grooming, cars for transport, fork lifts for logistics, etc.
Continue reading “As a Service trend research – products to services”As a Service trend research – technology ecosystems
One of the chapters I am covering in a trend report I am working on (As a Service Trend) will focus on technology ecosystems. Technology is fundamental to all of the solutions in the new As a Service sphere because of the connection it provides to data, between customer and provider, to physical things, etc. From an ecosystem point of view, I will also be touching on technology platforms as well as looking at the organisation as a platform – a view being explored by many.
Continue reading “As a Service trend research – technology ecosystems”150 Million reasons the subscription economy is real
Amazon.com recently announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2019 – Source: The Information. Amongst all the announcements is the staggering figure referred to in the title, in relation to Prime membership. From the announcement:
Continue reading “150 Million reasons the subscription economy is real”Ways auto industry can transform with As a Service and employee experience
The automotive industry is scrambling to transform itself in various areas: green (move to electric); smart (move to connected), etc. Much is being driven by nimble startups like Tesla, unencumbered by legacy concerns. This post focuses on two two areas that could further drive the turnaround and may be even more important because they are in white space.
Continue reading “Ways auto industry can transform with As a Service and employee experience”The engine of the subscription economy
I read this article the other day: 4 Reasons Why Salesforce Could Acquire Zuora. I’m writing this trend report: As a Service Trend. Two of the chapters I will be covering are Subscription Economics and Technology Ecosystems. Point 2 in the first article linked above gets to the heart of and intersection between these two chapters and this post is a way to explore the topics.
Continue reading “The engine of the subscription economy”Not much elaboration needed but a few words just to be clear about what I am saying in this doodle:
Continue reading “Customer Success Influencers”Update on As A Service Trends
It’s been a while since my last update and there’s been lots going on so sit down, grab a ☕ and enjoy reading about a host of new announcements and articles capturing the trend.
Continue reading “Update on As A Service Trends”Update on As a Service Trends
The latest and greatest posts and research on the subject and these are all being tracked with a tag here. I include Customer Success in this being a subset of the As a Service trend but I’ve added it under a separate section.
- The future of car ownership: Cars-as-a-service
- Automated Vehicles Will Unlock Countless as a Service Business Models
- Everything You Need To Know About Mobility as a Service
- Miles Driven, Not Cars Sold: 5 Takeaways on Subscription Programs. Rounding off a collection of posts about the automotive industry, this one does a great job of explaining how thinking around value propositions needs to and can change.
- What do subscription services and streaming mean for the future of gaming?
- The end of ownership and the rise of usership (my own post :)
- Delivering on subscription services (includes results from a survey of over 1,000 consumers conducted by Vantiv and Socratic Technologies as well as an infographic)
- HPE boldly commits to everything-as-a-service, but is it a smart bet?
- A rare glimpse into the sweeping — and potentially troubling — cloud kitchens trend. This really is a great view into how the As a Service trend is permeating industries and sometimes not without troubling consequences.
- 11 Interesting Recent Statistics on the Subscription Business Model. More evidence if it was needed at all.
Customer Success

Mary Meeker is famous for the insight of her Internet Trend Reports so of course I read them. Two slides stood out in relation to the trend I am tracking and the report I am working on. I captured my views with some annotations.
The end of ownership and the rise of usership
To own or to use is not a new concept. I started grappling with this at least 12 years ago when I worked for a technology division at Sony and we developed a mobile music streaming service with Vodafone. That was in the day before iPhone was launched, before Spotify, when the iPod was on the rise. Check out the demo video I recorded.
Continue reading “The end of ownership and the rise of usership”Update on As a Service Trends
I’ve not had a chance to post for a while and there has been a fair bit of activity in the space so I have quite a bit to share.
I have also run a few numbers through the data visualisation machine and come up with the infographic at left – feel free to use and share.
So herewith some of the best posts from recent weeks.
New SaaS Delivery Models Require New Customer Success Delivery Models. A solid piece on how Customer Success roles need to change in the maturing SaaS space. Sticking with the SaaS space, this article does a really good job of explaining how to manage your vendor if you use a SaaS product: How to manage SaaS Vendors in the Subscription Economy. And for some other really good posts on these themes:
- 5 Blisteringly Successful Customer Success Strategies
- New research report by Gainsight: The State of the Customer Success Profession 2019 (sign up required)
- A practical guide to understanding and reducing SaaS churn – an investors perspective
New entrants to the space
These include:
- Hertz who launches a monthly car rental subscription.
- Then there is Sanofi who turns to subscriptions to offer patients insulin at $99 per month.
- And Volkswagen rolls out subscription model in the UK.
- Last but not least, Urban Outfitters Inc are to start renting out clothing.
This collection of announcements above 👆 shows the sheer breadth of industries effected by the As a Service trend – nothing is off limits.
Industry specific news
There were a batch of articles and new research:
- New research highlights how increasing interest in the subscription economy will revolutionise the automotive dealer service experience.
- From McKinsey: How sharing the road is likely to transform American mobility.
- Great opinion piece by Kara Swisher in the New York Times: Owning a Car Will Soon Be as Quaint as Owning a Horse.
- The Rise Of The Industrial Subscription Economy
- Forget Games as a Service, We’re Headed Towards Consoles as a Service
- Apple is now the privacy-as-a-service company
- Fashion as a Service

Trend indicators
Here is a good summary of the trend which includes commentary on all the different industries being effected by the subscription economy: Subscription Services Draw Companies Closer To Customers. As with so many of the posts that I reference to the subscription economy, this one points to its darling Zuora, as you can see from the source of the chart. But their standing at the top of the subscription economy heap (as a company that powers the economy) may be under threat as new entrants join the fray: Stripe billing launches in Europe to power subscription companies across the continent.
There are other signs of a growing consolidation and integration in the Subscription Economy and Customer Success industries with the announcement by Medallia of their Strikedeck acquisition. Also Customer Success leader Gainsight’s announcement of the broadening of their portfolio into a “Customer Cloud”.