Introduction to CaaS

Today’s world is all about content and managing it efficiently. With CaaS, the content can reach through wide range of channels and is an alternative to cost heavy CMS portal software.

Companies would benefit from CaaS as content is consumed through wide channels and absorb information which increases their sales and revenue.

CaaS is a cloud service model which mainly address managing structured content into feeds for disparate applications and system to consume and make use of the content to fulfil their use cases.

Content is delivered through REST-based APIs through a structured format. The system uses cloud storage and end users manage content through a web interface. CaaS supports subscription models for content consumers.

CaaS is the next stage in the traditional content management and delivery process which the current/traditional CMS system fails to provide.

Fig.1

Key capabilities of CaaS

• Content-as-a-Service (CaaS) connects disparate systems and it is very easy to consume.
• Content is delivered swiftly in a format that platforms can consume, for example, in HTML or JSON’s. Since content is delivered via an API, it can be seamlessly delivered and displayed on multiple platforms with greater control and capability.
• Content is highly secure as it is hosted in a cloud platform and can be distributed across the globe seamlessly.
• All the content can be handled in a single “Content Repository”, viz text, audio, video, etc. In a single location all content can then be managed and categorized and distributed across different platforms, devices as and when required, as shown in fig.1
• This service enables teams to accelerate their content delivery across devices, platforms, channels, and regions with better workflow management which is the need of the hour for “IOT era.”
• The amount of personalization, availability, flexibility CaaS allows on how and where to deliver content is phenomenal.

 Characteristics of Content as a service

Content as a Service (CaaS) is a cloud computing service model where content delivery is on demand through web services and APIs via the cloud. All content (text, audio, video, ratings, etc.) is hosted centrally, and can be distributed globally across multiple devices and platforms.

The major differentiator between traditional “Content Management”(CMS) and “Content as a Service” is the storing of content in a raw format meant for machines to consume and not humans. For example, when creating content, content is not really stored as posts, PDFs, documents but rather in a raw format such as HTML or JSON and delivered via API to multiple devices that render it as defined and has no limitation on the number of platforms and devices to display content delivered this way.

CaaS being cloud based, all content is streamlined into a single “content repository” where editors and developers can create, edit, manage, categorize, and modify content whenever needed and of late, there are quite a few companies providing content as a service which binds to all the common programming languages making it even easier for developers to integrate with them. These features strongly go against the legacy systems where CMS was the one stop software that handled content management, display and infra.

Key benefits of content as a service

a) Personalization

CaaS allows teams to dynamically handle their content, allowing it to be flexible and personalized as required. On a simple level, teams can dictate custom rules to direct specific content to specific devices, platforms, and channels. With CaaS aiding in the management of content for multiple channels, brands can gather more data on their customer’s preferences and then personalize content for them.

b)  Omnichannel marketing  experience

CaaS enables teams to be better prepared for delivering their content as new channels and devices come to market regularly, since content is delivered via API, future campaigns also can be ready, CaaS enables them to run campaigns across any platform in the IoT era – like a website and app, or smart-fridge, smartwatch, or a car.

c) Content driven by data

CaaS allows content to be analyzed as data. As every delivered content piece is API driven, marketers have an unprecedented insight into granular analytics by looking at API connections. This facilitates for greater detail in AB testing since every bit of content can be analyzed.

d) Scalability and Security

A reputed cloud based CaaS provider like IBM, AWS, Microsoft Azure etc., would allow content to be spread and cached globally, which allows better performance on rendering the content at the front end.  They would also follow best practices on encryption and security to ensure that the repository is secured from external attacks and hackers. There is no risk as in the case of physical on-site servers managing content, which enables teams on building their products and having their content readily available (and secure) whenever needed.

 Major Use Cases for Content as a Service

CaaS has a variety of use-cases applicable to various business needs :

a) Multi-channel distribution and publishing

A singular content repository allows teams to deploy content to multiple channels instantly rather than maintaining different databases per platform. I.e. a single content repository that separates content cleanly from its presentation so that authors can write once and use that asset across channels and campaigns. This immensely benefits marketers and developers.

b) Favoring  Mobile Applications

The mobile apps can get the feed from RESTful APIs(native version), which does not re-use a mobile web version of content but with the same content as in the website, which helps marketing teams have better control over pushing promotions and campaigns into mobile environments on the go.

 c) Integrating with existing services and software

Contents such as digital assets will be combined with content to one cohesive service and delivering that to any other platform,i.e. interoperable across the systems.

d) Promoting Artificial intelligence and Bots

A bot can easily consume structured content and automated conversations, which are directly connected via API. Bots can rapidly consume and distribute the accurate content where NLP (Natural Language Processing) comes into play.

 

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