Device as a Service (DaaS) is an increasingly common way to provide hardware to your team, much in the same way as Software as a Service (SaaS) has become the norm for your different business applications.

Essentially, it’s a service that provides each of your team with a comprehensive computing solution that includes devices and accessories, analytics and support, all for a monthly per-user cost. After all, why buy hardware outright when it quickly goes out of date or in some cases simply isn’t needed anymore?

Further still, DaaS continues to grow in popularity as more and more people choose to work from home or places other than the office - rather than providing every employee with expensive new hardware, DaaS takes the pain out and allows you to easily procure devices without massive upfront costs. 

Here are 6 things we recommend looking out for when choosing a DaaS solution:

1) High-levels of security - Security might seem obvious, and really, it’s a no-brainer - you have to have security, right? But if you have people working from home or a shared workspace or in a cafe because they travel for work - how do you mitigate the security risk of the infrastructure they’re using? You can’t control the open Wi-Fi hotspots in the same way you can your office network, so you need to make sure the devices provided have their own high-levels of security. Not so easy when everyone is working from home, and IT might be unavailable to resolve your issues.

2) Scalability and a Flexible contract - Look for a solution that allows you to scale up AND down when it comes to the number of devices. As well as scaling up for growth, you never know when you might need short-term scalability, for example, if the office becomes unusable for some reason, you may need to temporarily provide devices to all of your staff. Further, look for a solution that does not require a lot of upfront investment but instead charges a cost per month that includes service.

3) Devices that are right for your team - We all work differently and what a designer needs in regards to a laptop is likely to be different from what a salesperson needs. It’s really important to choose a provider that can cater to different ways of working and different needs. This is often done with analytics that look at CPU, hard-disc and memory usage on current devices to work out what the most efficient device would be for each worker. 

4) Analytics and Actionable Reports - Who doesn’t love data and analytics? In this case, what you’re looking for is a way to proactively manage devices and make sure they’re running properly without issues. In essence, this allows you to prolong the life of the devices through catching potential issues before they actually become problems!

5) On-the-road support - You can’t always plan for when and where accidents happen but you can plan for fixing them. As DaaS is commonly used for remote working, it’s pretty conceivable that a worker won’t be in the office when their device breaks or something goes wrong - that’s why you need to look out for on-the-road support - a way to keep your staff up and running no matter where they are in the world.

6) Speedy up and running time - Getting everyone up and running with devices can sometimes take months - that’s not ideal if you don’t have months, therefore, it’s crucial to choose a solution that can have you up and running in the short term with longer term support available. Find out early on what the lead time is and how long it’s likely to take to get everyone you need onto a device - be aware though that some events can cause delays in device availability. 

Device as a Service (DaaS) can provide a long list of benefits providing you choose a solution that best matches the way your team work, while also allowing for scalability up and down and offering top-end security. 

Looking for a solution that covers all of the above?

The Xenith HP DaaS solution offers the most secure laptops on the market, protecting home and mobile workers from malware and ransomware, wherever they are and on whatever network they connect to. With the advanced operational analytics offered as part of the solution, it’s easy to track and highlight security threats, usage insights, assessment management and help define who needs what device.

Further still, DaaS can go beyond just laptops and can help provide everything your team needs to work from home while continuing to work as usual - from monitors to peripherals to docks - it’s all there for one monthly cost per user.

Xenith HP DaaS - now available on it’s own or as part of our Remote Workplace Package.