Device as a Service, often referred to as DaaS, is a service offered by IT Solutions companies, including SCT, as a way of helping businesses ease their IT needs.
What is Device as a Service?
Device as a Service is a model that offers laptops, smart devices, phones and other computing devices as part of a paid service. It can ease the IT needs of a company by outsourcing the hardware, software and device management to an external provider.
Device as a Service can help to minimise expenses by transferring the company’s budget from a Capital Expenditure model to an Operating Expense model. This means that costs are predictable and done on a per-user or per-month basis.
Benefits of Device as a Service
There are multiple benefits of a Device as a Service model. The package is easily scalable, meaning that when new starters join a company or existing staff leave, it is easy to add or remove a device from the plan.
The offering can allow for rapid response times, for some devices a 4 hour replacement service may be required. Or, if less urgency is required devices can be delivered on a Next Business Day or 5 working day basis meaning when devices are not operating effectively a replacement is rapidly available.
As well as this, the Device as a Service model allows companies to dispose of old devices in an eco-friendly way. At SCT, we are proud to offer a sustainable and secure way to retire or repurpose any device, ensuring that your data has been erased in a way that securely preserves your intellectual property.
Device as a Service ensures that all of your employees have access to the devices and software that they require, as soon as they require it. Devices are delivered directly to your employees, complete with the latest hardware, configured to specific requirements, whether working in the office or at home, to ensure that your team can start working immediately.
Device as a Service also offers support for the service desk and end-user support, meaning that if there is an issue with any of the devices that are being used, it is fixed as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
The Device as a Service model ensures that it abides to data security and GDPR compliance regulations. When a device is returned, a stringent data wiping policy is followed to make sure that GDPR guidelines are followed.
Disadvantages of Device as a Service
There are many benefits associated with the Device as a Service model. However, businesses and organisations should also consider the potential downside.
Device selection is often limited to certain models, meaning if a specific spec is necessary for an organisation or task, it may not be possible to use the Device as a Service model. It is worth checking with the provider to find out what ranges are included in their offering.
Because vendors service and maintain the devices, it may not be an option in certain regulated industries where data privacy is an utmost concern, despite following strict GDPR regulations.
Device as a Service vs. Desktop as a Service – what is the difference
Device as a Service shares the DaaS acronym with another model, Desktop as a Service. With Device as a Service, physical devices are offered through a subscription model.
Desktop as a Service, however, is a cloud computing offering where service providers deliver virtual desktops to end users, again through a subscription model. Service providers typically manage these virtual desktops through maintenance, backups, updates and data storage, but they may also handle security and apps if the users don’t choose to manage these aspects individually.
If you’d like SCT to help your organisation with your device management, please get in touch today and one of the team will be happy to help.
