The Covid-19 pandemic is changing the dynamics between consumers, trading partners, suppliers, and even countries. One very powerful model that will emerge in the Covid-19 era is Value-Stream-As-A-Service.
You can read e the details in “Defining the Emerging Value-Stream-As-A-Service World” https://www.rtinsights.com/defining-the-emerging-value-stream-as-a-service-world/ – which was published on RT Insights last year. Here is a brief overview of VSaaS:
- VSaaS is a new model for collaboration involving multiple enterprises or business units. Each enterprise or its specific business unit will bring the required capability. They can come in to participate or opt-out. VSaaS supports capability “plug-ins” as participants in collaborative Value Streams Thus, VSaaS supports collaborations between various capabilities of businesses across multiple enterprises.
VSaaS is the next stage in the overall evolution of “XaaS” offerings on the Cloud – these include IaaS (Infrastructure), PaaS (Platform), and SaaS (Software). VSaaS is challenging from a setup, security, and reliability perspective as it involves different organizations.The RT Insights articles and the references therein provide more details. Through the VSaaS transformation approach involving multiple organizations, there will be mutually-beneficial application & functional components, that are additive and would enhance the end-to-end Value Stream. Capability building blocks (potentially from different organizations or enterprises) can come together in services that provide value to target customers.
In other words, VSaaS becomes a mechanism for inter Enterprise-In-Motion innovation and new service creations: all powered and enabled with a DPA engine on the cloud. All participants will benefit, including potentially target end customers (e.g. consumers of products that involve multiple parts supplied through VSaaS).
Here are three compelling dimensions of how Covid-19 compels and accelerates the VSaaS model:
- Service Provider plug-ins: the post Covid-19 world will be an era of accelerated collaboration that will also enable various participants in VSaaS to establish credibility – Know Your Partner – and participate in the end-to-end value stream. The plug-in service providers will be leveraging technologies such as Blockchain, IoT, and Automation with continuous data mining and execution. For instance, IoT edge computing and edge intelligence will be critical – as it accelerates responsiveness for the plug-in. In addition to localized optimizations of the plug-ins, the end-to-end value stream (aka value “chain”) needs to be also optimized.
- Agility in Manufacturing and Supplying critical parts: There are many sources of potential disruptions to the Supply Chains. In an earlier article, we highlighted the following: Weather, Civil Unrest, Labor Union Challenges, Fuel prices, Vendor market disturbances. Needless to say we now add Pandemics to the list! The VSaaS platform now can be automated and provide benefits that target precisely the challenges of interrupted supplies: Just-In-Time (JIT) Inventory Management, Just-Needed-Visibility, Just-Desired Innovation, Just-Required Collaboration, and Just-Predicted Mitigation of Risk. All these are critical factors in the Covid-19 era.
- Flexibility In Currency Exchanges and Decentralized Blockchain Traceability: Blockchain will increasingly become a powerful enabler for Covid-19 VSaaS solutions. It is the foundation of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Many countries will face potential depreciation of their currencies. Bitcoin might replace fiat or at least provide some stability and there are signs there will be increased institutional demand for cryptocurrencies. Blockchain has another advantage and capability for plug-in service providers as well as the end-to-end VSaaS provider: secure, immutable, and robust traceability of goods and services that are transferred between various trading partners in the end-to-end value stream.
Covide-19 is providing enormous challenges but also new opportunities to rethink collaborations involving different service providers to achieve end-to-end services involving different participants. It will take a while but potentially a new Cloud model – VSaaS could emerge. VSaaS will provide unprecedented visibility involving multiple partnering enterprises and accomplish their shared objectives in an optimal, collaborative manner.
