Content as a service: What is it and why should you care?
Paige Toomes
Copywriter and Digital Marketer
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a common term. But how much do you know about CaaS and BPaaS or, in other words, Content as a Service and Business Process as a Service?
Today, we’ll discuss both and how organizations can improve operations using CaaS and BPaaS.
Unpacking ‘as a service’
Dictionaries define the noun “service” as:
"The action of helping or doing work for someone”
“Assistance or advice given to customers during and after the sale of goods”
“A piece of work done for a client or customer that does not involve manufacturing goods”
In other words, a service is useful work that’s done for you but not by you. The term “as a service,” which is often used in the context of cloud computing, riffs off of this definition.
Today, with all of the technology available, we tend to own fewer things and use more online services. People today like “everything as a service” because of:
Reduced infrastructure costs
Accessibility of web services, digital assets, and digital experiences on multiple devices
Accessibility through several channels thanks to multi-channel publishing
Mobile-friendliness
The vast choice of applications available
The constant stream of emerging innovative services
Free, affordable pay-as-you-go or subscription model
Connectivity and instant communications
Scalability and flexibility
Robust customization options
Centralized storage
Use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI)
Integrations
Speed and ease-of-use thanks to user-focused design
The list goes on, further blurring the line between products and services in the cloud. Take the evolution of music, for example.
Music used to be a product in the form of records, tapes, and CDs. Over time, it became digitized with MP3 and iTunes and is now a service available through subscription-based software like Spotify.
The evolution of music from product to service
Or, what about something like Microsoft Word?
When I was at university, I bought the product version of Microsoft Office for Students. However, when I graduated and got a Macbook, I was told I couldn’t just install the same one.
I had to buy a new version for Mac. I was frustrated and thought, “No way am I doing that.”
Granted, they did and do have a browser version, but—I think we can all agree—it's not as good.
(Anyway, these days, I hardly use Word anymore. I use GatherContent instead, and it’s a breath of fresh air. Content creation tools have moved on.)
What is Content as a Service (CaaS)?
Content expert and Petsolino CEO Sherry Morgan explains Content as a Service this way:
“CaaS is a model where raw content is placed in a repository where other apps, websites, and platforms can use it in any way they need. With CaaS, platforms have the flexibility to utilize the content on any front-end in the quickest way possible.”
The Content as a Service model defined
The fragmentation of audiences, the rise of content marketing, and the sheer number of web properties the average enterprise has to oversee mean that content creation and content management are becoming increasingly complex.
Content as a Service solves this problem by replacing multiple project management tools by using a single, enterprise-wide platform, which also considers the pre-CMS stage of content creation and editing.
Ultimately, CaaS solutions are about aligning technology with content strategy. It’s thinking about the whole of your content operations and unifying people, tools, and processes in the cloud to create better, user-centered content for your audiences.
Here’s what CaaS looks like in an organization:
Decoupled/headless CMS. This approach means separating content creation, management, and storage of content from the presentation layer. Once content is created and edited in the back-end, you can deliver the raw content to any front-end design on any device or channel. This simplifies the CMS architecture and makes content delivery scalable, fast, and flexible for multiple channels and devices.
Metadata, architecture, and content models. With CaaS, information architecture and metadata such as categories and tags are important components. This approach requires clear, well-defined content models.
REST-based API. Content that’s provided with a REST API is flexible. It means you can pull content from your projects and into whatever platform or CMS you’re using, such as WordPress or Drupal.
Structured content. Structured content is a vital part of CaaS. Using templates and chunking to ensure it’s in the correct format and style for multiple channels, improving the consistency, flexibility, reusability of content. These improvements, in turn, result in a better customer experience and better content marketing results.
Reduced silos. CaaS uses a centralized place for all content, which enables teams, departments, and systems to connect better across organizations on a single platform.
Who is Content as a Service for?
On what kinds of organizations can benefit from the CaaS model, Taylor Murchison, SEO Growth Director of On The Map said:
"Global companies that need to dynamically distribute information to fragmented audiences across numerous touchpoints are quickly adopting and developing Content as a Service (CaaS) technologies."
But it’s not just huge, international organizations that have something to gain. Sherry Morgan, quoted earlier, commented:
“CaaS is best used if you're having challenges with limited availability in content formats or making your content available to your target audience.”
Examples of Content as a Service
Where have you seen CaaS out in the wild?
Sam Campbell of Reddiquette pointed to a great example, saying:
“The most famous example of Content as a Service is Netflix. Netflix produces its own high-quality original programming, which it makes available to its subscribers as part of its monthly subscription. This original programming is one of the main reasons Netflix has been so successful and continues to grow in popularity.”
As mentioned earlier, Spotify is also a great example of a Content as a Service platform. For one thing, artists upload their content to a content repository; Spotify also uses a variety of channels for content delivery.
Users can access its mobile app on smart devices or enjoy the same digital experiences in the car or on desktop devices.
Other examples include Uber and Lyft, which use cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, and Amazon Elastic Container Services (Amazon ECS), a scalable container management service provider.
And with the rise of cloud-native, API-first headless content management systems like Contentful, more companies—large and small—embrace CaaS solutions.
“Business Process as a service is a term for a specific kind of web-delivered or cloud hosting service that benefits an enterprise by assisting with business objectives. In the general sense, a business process is simply a task that must be completed to benefit business operations. Using the term BPaaS implies that the business process is being automated through a remote delivery model.”
Email is a good example. Although we’ve moved on to more advanced tools that can handle any business process—sales, marketing, finance, HR, and so on—email can still be classed as BPaaS.
What are some characteristics of BPaaS? It:
Is standardized for use across industries and organizations. This means it’s flexible and repeatable, contributing to higher efficiency and, ultimately, better service and experience for customers.
Has configurable workflows for all kinds of business operations with roles and responsibilities. This helps keep people on track, keep projects on time and budget, and avoid duplicate work and bottlenecks.
Has planning tools and features such as calendars, scheduling, project progress tracking, deadlines, and milestones.
Facilitates collaboration, enabling teams to assign tasks and responsibilities, manage version control, and communicate about projects efficiently with in-line commenting and automated notifications.
As you can see, Business Process as a Service is broader than CaaS; in fact, the CaaS model is contained within it. It’s ultimate goal is to boost productivity, reduce costs, simplify processes, and result in higher-quality output.
Where CaaS, BPaaS, and your CMS intersect
GatherContent is a SaaS Content Operations Platform that fits into both the CaaS and BPaaS categories. With several use cases and numerous content management functions, it simplifies the process of planning, creating, and managing content at scale.
For instance, you can improve the productivity of your content marketing team with clear workflow and task assignments. You can also produce higher-quality, more relevant content that delivers a memorable user experience for your audience.
Plus, with flexible integrations and API, GatherContent sits well with your other tools. You can easily create structured content ready to map to your content management system whether you use a headless CMS or a traditional one. No more copy and pasting—hurrah!
Good to Know: All in all, you can use it to handle day-to-day content operations as well as things like large website launches, redesigns, or other big content projects. To see how, book a free demo or product tour.
Today, we’ll discuss both and how organizations can improve operations using CaaS and BPaaS.
Unpacking ‘as a service’
Dictionaries define the noun “service” as:
"The action of helping or doing work for someone”
“Assistance or advice given to customers during and after the sale of goods”
“A piece of work done for a client or customer that does not involve manufacturing goods”
In other words, a service is useful work that’s done for you but not by you. The term “as a service,” which is often used in the context of cloud computing, riffs off of this definition.
Today, with all of the technology available, we tend to own fewer things and use more online services. People today like “everything as a service” because of:
Reduced infrastructure costs
Accessibility of web services, digital assets, and digital experiences on multiple devices
Accessibility through several channels thanks to multi-channel publishing
Mobile-friendliness
The vast choice of applications available
The constant stream of emerging innovative services
Free, affordable pay-as-you-go or subscription model
Connectivity and instant communications
Scalability and flexibility
Robust customization options
Centralized storage
Use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI)
Integrations
Speed and ease-of-use thanks to user-focused design
The list goes on, further blurring the line between products and services in the cloud. Take the evolution of music, for example.
Music used to be a product in the form of records, tapes, and CDs. Over time, it became digitized with MP3 and iTunes and is now a service available through subscription-based software like Spotify.
The evolution of music from product to service
Or, what about something like Microsoft Word?
When I was at university, I bought the product version of Microsoft Office for Students. However, when I graduated and got a Macbook, I was told I couldn’t just install the same one.
I had to buy a new version for Mac. I was frustrated and thought, “No way am I doing that.”
Granted, they did and do have a browser version, but—I think we can all agree—it's not as good.
(Anyway, these days, I hardly use Word anymore. I use GatherContent instead, and it’s a breath of fresh air. Content creation tools have moved on.)
What is Content as a Service (CaaS)?
Content expert and Petsolino CEO Sherry Morgan explains Content as a Service this way:
“CaaS is a model where raw content is placed in a repository where other apps, websites, and platforms can use it in any way they need. With CaaS, platforms have the flexibility to utilize the content on any front-end in the quickest way possible.”
The Content as a Service model defined
The fragmentation of audiences, the rise of content marketing, and the sheer number of web properties the average enterprise has to oversee mean that content creation and content management are becoming increasingly complex.
Content as a Service solves this problem by replacing multiple project management tools by using a single, enterprise-wide platform, which also considers the pre-CMS stage of content creation and editing.
Ultimately, CaaS solutions are about aligning technology with content strategy. It’s thinking about the whole of your content operations and unifying people, tools, and processes in the cloud to create better, user-centered content for your audiences.
Here’s what CaaS looks like in an organization:
Decoupled/headless CMS. This approach means separating content creation, management, and storage of content from the presentation layer. Once content is created and edited in the back-end, you can deliver the raw content to any front-end design on any device or channel. This simplifies the CMS architecture and makes content delivery scalable, fast, and flexible for multiple channels and devices.
Metadata, architecture, and content models. With CaaS, information architecture and metadata such as categories and tags are important components. This approach requires clear, well-defined content models.
REST-based API. Content that’s provided with a REST API is flexible. It means you can pull content from your projects and into whatever platform or CMS you’re using, such as WordPress or Drupal.
Structured content. Structured content is a vital part of CaaS. Using templates and chunking to ensure it’s in the correct format and style for multiple channels, improving the consistency, flexibility, reusability of content. These improvements, in turn, result in a better customer experience and better content marketing results.
Reduced silos. CaaS uses a centralized place for all content, which enables teams, departments, and systems to connect better across organizations on a single platform.
Who is Content as a Service for?
On what kinds of organizations can benefit from the CaaS model, Taylor Murchison, SEO Growth Director of On The Map said:
"Global companies that need to dynamically distribute information to fragmented audiences across numerous touchpoints are quickly adopting and developing Content as a Service (CaaS) technologies."
But it’s not just huge, international organizations that have something to gain. Sherry Morgan, quoted earlier, commented:
“CaaS is best used if you're having challenges with limited availability in content formats or making your content available to your target audience.”
Examples of Content as a Service
Where have you seen CaaS out in the wild?
Sam Campbell of Reddiquette pointed to a great example, saying:
“The most famous example of Content as a Service is Netflix. Netflix produces its own high-quality original programming, which it makes available to its subscribers as part of its monthly subscription. This original programming is one of the main reasons Netflix has been so successful and continues to grow in popularity.”
As mentioned earlier, Spotify is also a great example of a Content as a Service platform. For one thing, artists upload their content to a content repository; Spotify also uses a variety of channels for content delivery.
Users can access its mobile app on smart devices or enjoy the same digital experiences in the car or on desktop devices.
Other examples include Uber and Lyft, which use cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, and Amazon Elastic Container Services (Amazon ECS), a scalable container management service provider.
And with the rise of cloud-native, API-first headless content management systems like Contentful, more companies—large and small—embrace CaaS solutions.
“Business Process as a service is a term for a specific kind of web-delivered or cloud hosting service that benefits an enterprise by assisting with business objectives. In the general sense, a business process is simply a task that must be completed to benefit business operations. Using the term BPaaS implies that the business process is being automated through a remote delivery model.”
Email is a good example. Although we’ve moved on to more advanced tools that can handle any business process—sales, marketing, finance, HR, and so on—email can still be classed as BPaaS.
What are some characteristics of BPaaS? It:
Is standardized for use across industries and organizations. This means it’s flexible and repeatable, contributing to higher efficiency and, ultimately, better service and experience for customers.
Has configurable workflows for all kinds of business operations with roles and responsibilities. This helps keep people on track, keep projects on time and budget, and avoid duplicate work and bottlenecks.
Has planning tools and features such as calendars, scheduling, project progress tracking, deadlines, and milestones.
Facilitates collaboration, enabling teams to assign tasks and responsibilities, manage version control, and communicate about projects efficiently with in-line commenting and automated notifications.
As you can see, Business Process as a Service is broader than CaaS; in fact, the CaaS model is contained within it. It’s ultimate goal is to boost productivity, reduce costs, simplify processes, and result in higher-quality output.
Where CaaS, BPaaS, and your CMS intersect
GatherContent is a SaaS Content Operations Platform that fits into both the CaaS and BPaaS categories. With several use cases and numerous content management functions, it simplifies the process of planning, creating, and managing content at scale.
For instance, you can improve the productivity of your content marketing team with clear workflow and task assignments. You can also produce higher-quality, more relevant content that delivers a memorable user experience for your audience.
Plus, with flexible integrations and API, GatherContent sits well with your other tools. You can easily create structured content ready to map to your content management system whether you use a headless CMS or a traditional one. No more copy and pasting—hurrah!
Good to Know: All in all, you can use it to handle day-to-day content operations as well as things like large website launches, redesigns, or other big content projects. To see how, book a free demo or product tour.
Paige is an English Literature and Media graduate from Newcastle University, and over the last three years has built up a career in SEO-driven copywriting for tech companies. She has written for Microsoft, Symantec and LinkedIn, as well as other SaaS companies and IT consulting firms. With an audience-focused approach to content, Paige handles the lifecycle from creation through to measurement, supporting businesses with their content operations.
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