Move over SaaS.... Meet YaaS (You As A Service)

YOU ARE A SERVICE.

It's not a new concept but to say it makes me think...

Those reading this blog are likely familiar with the concept of Software as a Service (SaaS). This blog is NOT about SaaS, the notion that with advances in reliability, security & efficiency of the Internet, there is a growing opportunity to run applications, on-demand, via the web with no installations, or even IT support staff. Although the term SaaS is still a bit in flux, the same value proposition that makes SaaS an interesting concept can be applied to the you. Yes... You... You can be (if you aren't already) a service. Introducing YaaS, "You as a Service". Even when we speak of "mass collaboration" it ultimately comes down to you.

What makes You-As-A-Service a reality? Scale & Efficiency...

1. Scale: For the same reason that Gartner predicts SaaS to be the delivery model for 25% of all business applications by 2011. As big as a company is, it can't possibly hire everyone. What if it needed one idea from one person and that was it. Would you hire them? Would you even consult with them? Even if a company could hire everyone, what kind of bureaucracy would be required? By tapping into things like Innocentive, individuals become their own services.

2. Efficiency: For the same reason Ronald Coase won a Nobel prize in economics in explaining why firms exist. The need to vertically or horizontally integrate was spurn because of cost inefficiencies. It was simply more efficient to buy out the partners or hire them then it would be to create contracts with everyone you worked this. This is now changing. To the extreme there are now companies with virtually no employees such as CrowdSpirit.

You can now be a service. A thought source. A problem solver. A creative entrepreneur. And the globe is your marketplace. What a fascinating world it is when we can all hang up our own "Open for business" signs.