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Building Your Anything-as-a-Service Business

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While there are countless examples of anything as a service (XaaS), the most common ones refer to three general cloud computing models: software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Still, these categories are too small to contain everything that is XaaS.

As the demand for XaaS continues to grow, it seems there’s no end to what resourceful entrepreneurs can adapt to this delivery model. With services ranging from connected cities to Cadillac driving, the global XaaS market is expected to grow 40% annually through 2020.

Consequently, XaaS is becoming as much of a way of thinking for consumers as it is a strategy for providers. So, what should partners keep in mind during this transformational time? And how can you position your firm to win in the as-a-service marketplace?

Every Business is a Technology Company

As XaaS continues to gain traction, every business will become a technology company to some extent.

XaaS makes it possible for companies outside the technology industry (such as the Cadillac car as a service example) to deliver innovative, new solutions. By building on established cloud platforms and partnering with technology firms, businesses can develop services more quickly and bring them to market before their competitors. Herein lies the opportunity, both for your business and those of your customers.

Customers are increasingly recognizing the value of XaaS to their businesses; the as-a-service model can cut costs, simplify IT deployments and deliver a streamlined technology experience that customers are starting to expect. Many of them may even have their own as-a-service offering.

For a service provider, value-added reseller (VAR) or independent software vendor (ISV), XaaS presents nearly infinite opportunities to embrace and monetize new revenue streams, while providing customers with the selection, flexibility and value they expect. In fact, many of our partners are helping their own customers bring their as-a-service offerings to market.

Monetizing XaaS

Now that almost anything can be delivered “as a service,” more partners are using the Ingram Micro Cloud Platform to monetize it. The Ingram Micro Cloud platform empowers you to automate XaaS services delivery management, including service orchestration and subscription management, cloud marketplace enablement, hosting and multi-cloud management, billing automation and reseller management, and data analytics.

ISVs can get their offers to market almost instantly across the entire multi-service provider ecosystem. Service providers can deliver the most effective portfolio of services for their customers by combining the services they have access to with their own core services or applications. And VARs can extend their footprint, expanding into an ever-increasing variety of as-a-service offerings, while embracing the monthly recurring revenue model.

Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) is one example of an Ingram Micro Cloud partner that is embracing and monetizing XaaS and IoT in impactful, creative ways. TIM built an end-to-end subscription and catalog management system using IoT as a service and the Ingram Micro Cloud Platform for their connected car solutions. Read more about it here.

Infinite Opportunities Abound

XaaS presents nearly unlimited revenue potential to partners who are ready to capitalize on the opportunity. Building your XaaS business will require thinking differently and taking nontraditional approaches to tasks like billing, support, sales, marketing, hiring and training. But the rewards are well worth the effort.

At Ingram Micro, we work nonstop to create the programs, platforms, tools and resources our partners need to succeed in the as-a-service marketplace. Keep this in mind: Ultimately, you’re not delivering software or services; you’re delivering successful business outcomes. You’re already good at that and we’re here to help with the rest.

We’ll be sharing specific ways to build your XaaS business at Ingram Micro Cloud Summit 2018 from April 30 May 2, 2018, in Boca Raton, Florida. Hope to see you there.

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Mike Jennett, Director of CloudBlue Platform Strategy, is an accomplished business and technology executive. With a deep focus on product development and go-to-market strategy, he plays a pivotal role driving strategic growth and market expansion. Mike’s career is characterized by his adeptness in driving technological advancements and his commitment to leading digital transformations with experience including IDC where he was VP of the Mobility and Digital Transformation IEP practices, and HP where he held numerous leadership roles. Mike’s expertise is also reflected in his published works and contributions to multiple tech publications. Mike holds a B.A. from California Polytechnic University.
Having previously to strategic product management, agile transformations, and user experience in CloudBlue, Taylor Giddens heads the Services & Solutions team where he ensures smooth delivery, operations and solution growth for our partners and customers.

The team includes technical account management, managed services, support, custom solution development, and customer enablement.

Prior to CloudBlue, his resume boasts leadership of some of the world’s largest companies during their digital transformations and marketplace launches. Taylor is a practitioner of servitude leadership when it comes to enabling his team to drive positive outcomes on the road to operational excellence.
Laurens van Alphen, a visionary entrepreneur with over 29 years of internet technology expertise, serves as Director of Technical Managed Services at CloudBlue, responsible for Operations and Delivery of CloudBlue SaaS.

As a Dutch racing champion and car enthusiast, he brings the same drive to the tech realm, steering Keenondots from a managed hosting firm to a global cloud enablement leader. Laurens is celebrated for his outcome-driven leadership, deep industry insight, and passion for balancing business innovation with client engagement.
Lincoln Lincoln is CloudBlue’s Head of Global Sales; having been with the company since November 2017. Leading CloudBlue’s global go-to-market organization, he’s responsible for driving accelerated and sustained mutual growth with CloudBlue’s customers and partners, as well as forming new customer partnerships across the Vendor and Provider ecosystem. As part of CloudBlue’s leadership team he is responsible the organisation’s revenue and continued market leadership by delivering and supporting products, services and solutions to organizations in established and new markets around the world.

Before joining CloudBlue, Lincoln was AppDirect’s Regional Director, Asia Pacific & Japan, responsible for forming, building and leading AppDirect’s business and operations across the APJ geography. He built and led AppDirect’s fastest growing and highest performing region globally within 3yrs.

Before joining AppDirect, Lincoln was EMC’s Practice Manager, Cloud Service Providers, APJ, working with the leading Service Providers to maximise their Cloud Business presence & market success. Lincoln joined EMC in 2007, and has over 20 years’ experience in the IT industry, having been based out of Singapore, Australia and the UK. Prior to EMC, he was in range of sales and channel positions at Symantec and VERITAS.

Lincoln has an Honours degree in Business Administration from Kingston University in the United Kingdom.
Brent Clooney is the Executive Director and Associate General Counsel for Ingram Micro Inc., and lead counsel for CloudBlue.

Brent is a Canadian based corporate lawyer with more than 20 years of experience as a strategic legal advisor both in private practice and as in-house counsel to large multi-national companies. Prior to joining Ingram Micro in 2008, he worked at a well-respected corporate law firm in Toronto, Canada and later served as general counsel for Toshiba Canada. During his 15-year tenure at Ingram Micro, he has held positions of increasing complexity and responsibility, and since being promoted to his current role in 2022, Brent is the legal lead for both Ingram Micro’s Canadian and global cloud businesses, as well as CloudBlue.

Brent holds a law degree (LL.B.) from Queen’s University, a Psychology degree (B.A. Honours) from Lakehead University, and has been admitted to the bar in Ontario, Canada since 2002.
Anurag serves as the Head of Product Management for CloudBlue and is responsible for product direction and driving innovation. His leadership has been marked by a keen focus on customer needs, growing the ISV ecosystem, and ensuring the continual evolution of CloudBlue’s product portfolio.

Anurag joined Ingram Micro in 2017 and has been instrumental in, positioning CloudBlue as an industry leading monetization platform for MSP’s, Telco’s and Distributors. Previously Anurag worked at Oracle and Microsoft where he managed many technology projects and programs.
As VP of Engineering of CloudBlue, Rony oversees the development and engineering efforts of the company. He is a recognized leader with more than 25 years of experience in Technology and Product.

Prior to joining CloudBlue Rony lead the R&D efforts at Tripwire acquired by Thoma Bravo, and Cedexis acquired by Citrix. Rony is a leader with extensive experience in transforming both complex technology problems into products that customers love and disjointed organizations into agile high performing teams.
Coen is a distinguished leader and entrepreneur in the realm of cloud technology. Currently serving as CEO of Keenondots and the Global Director of CloudBlue SaaS. He is passionate about driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and leading high-performing teams to achieve transformative results.

With a background as Managing Director of INTO Cloud and a pivotal role as Director of Products of KPN, he brings a wealth of experience in steering organizations through the complexities of the digital landscape.

Beyond the boardroom, Coen is a marathon enthusiast, demonstrating endurance and discipline in pursuit of both professional and personal goals.
Alyson has over twenty years of experience in demand generation, marketing automation and data management. She is responsible for leading the strategy and direction of the company’s brand, performance, and digital marketing.

Prior to CloudBlue, Alyson served as Ingram Micro’s Director of Global Business Intelligence Marketing Automation driving channel partner campaigns. Her tenure in marketing leadership at prestigious companies such as Western Digital, Ocean Institute celebrates redefining marketing campaigns and building top performing teams based on trust, experimentation, and results.

Alyson resides with her husband and three children in Orange County and is an active volunteer and donor within her children’s sports and education programs.

Darek Tasak is leading Customer Success & Value Creation for CloudBlue. In his role, he looks after CloudBlue customers globally during the entire lifecycle of our relationship: from the initial on-boarding, through in-life account management, always ensuring they build successful businesses leveraging our technology. Additionally, he is also in charge of Partnership & Alliances, as well as Pricing Management for everything we commercialize.


Before CloudBlue, Darek managed Ingram Micro’s Services division for hi-tech customers in Europe & APAC. His prior experiences include also launching and leading pan-European services business for TDSynnex, as well as strategy consulting with Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

As President of CloudBlue, Uddhav is a distinguished leader and visionary with nearly two decades of platform-building experience. He is an industry leader in digital commerce, the subscription economy, and monetization platforms.


Notably, at SAP, he spearheaded the transformation of their platform business into a multi-cloud platform-as-a-service, offering enterprise and developer-friendly subscription models. At Pure Storage, he championed the efforts to successfully disrupt the storage industry by creating revolutionary Storage-as-a-service, AIOps-as-a-service, and Disaster Recovery-as-a-service offerings with cutting-edge features and establishing a sophisticated subscription commerce infrastructure that is channel-friendly.


At CloudBlue, Uddhav guides and empowers businesses to rethink their monetization strategies by unlocking the power of digital ecosystems and marketplaces. CloudBlue provides enterprises with a mature multi-tier, multi-channel marketplace and monetization platform that enables usage-based subscription models and global delivery of Anything-as-a-Service solutions. Uddhav has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of the subscription economy through his innovative thinking and impactful contributions.

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