Cloud computing is a term we’re all familiar with, but it is wide-ranging and covers various models and service types. We’ve covered the different types of?Cloud Models?(e.g. Public, Private and Hybrid) in earlier blog posts, so we’ll focus this article on explaining the ins and outs of the different cloud service types out there.
What are Cloud Services?
Cloud services are those which are hosted by third party providers and made available over the internet. These cloud services cover infrastructure, platforms and software and in simple terms, the degree of control you wish to have determines the type of service you need. There are three main types of cloud computing services: SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. These are sometimes referred to as the cloud computing stack because you can build one on top of the other.
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS):?The cloud computing type used for web-based applications. SaaS applications are delivered over the Internet. Cloud providers host and manage their software applications. Users can then access these across their various devices.
- Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS):?This type of cloud computing offers a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud. PaaS gives developers the tools to build and host web applications. It is designed to support the complete web application lifecycle. This means that users get access to the components they need to quickly develop and publish web or mobile applications, without needing to worry about set up or the underlying infrastructure.
- Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): IaaS enables you to rent your infrastructure from a cloud provider on demand. This is the most basic type of cloud computing, you simply gain access to storage and computing power to do with it as you please. An IaaS solution helps you reduce maintenance of on-premises data centres, save money on hardware costs, and gain real-time business insights.
We’ll explore the cloud computing types in more detail below, going into the use cases and advantages of each.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
Most, if not all software services you’ll use over the internet are a form of SaaS. From your email account to Trello, the Microsoft 365 apps to Zoom, all of the above are web-based SaaS services. Typically, all your data is stored remotely and you just need some user credentials to access both it and the tool you wish to use.
Some SaaS products are free, some free for personal use, others require payment from organisations. You pay for the apps either via subscription or usage amount.
- Get instant access to a wide range of high-level applications: With SaaS apps the service provider handles all of the hardware, software and (usually) security. If your organisation doesn’t have the resources to build the service you need independently, you can access sophisticated tools at an affordable level through SaaS.
- Pay for what you use: You only need to purchase the level of users/subscription you need, scaling up and down as you see fit, according to your contract.
- Enable your workforce: SaaS apps are designed to be accessible from virtually any internet-connected device. Swapping between computers, locations or operating systems shouldn’t matter in the majority of cases. Your users can log in and get going from anywhere.
- Minimal expertise required: You shouldn’t need any expertise at your end. Your service provider should be on-hand to solve any issues and take care of any security concerns. This is of course subject to the quality of the service provider you’ve signed up with, and this must always be a consideration in picking a SaaS product.?
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
PaaS is typically used in a few different ways:
- As a development framework for building or customising cloud-based applications. The idea is to reduce the amount of coding developers have to do by providing built-in software components and cloud features such as scalability and high-availability (HA).
- The tools provided with PaaS allow organisations to deeply analyse their data. For business intelligence processes this can help with forecasting, investment returns, finding patterns, mining data and general business decision making.
- PaaS providers may also offer application enhancing services, including scheduling tools, security or workflow development.
- Reduce development time:?PaaS development tools can reduce the time developers need to code apps with pre-developed components built into the platform, including directory services, security features, search, and so on.
- Gain additional development capabilities: PaaS can help your team to achieve additional capabilities without you needing to employ extra staff with specific skills
- Develop for multiple platforms with ease:?Certain PaaS providers will include development options for multiple platforms, making cross-platform app creation much quicker and easier.
- Sophisticated tools at an affordable price:?The pay-as-you-go model associated with ‘as-a-service’ solutions enables organisations to access sophisticated development and analytics tools that they would not be able to afford outright.
- Employ a global or distributed workforce:?Teams can work together from any location as all each team member needs is internet access to the platform.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)?
There are multiple business scenarios where IaaS is used:
- Lift-and-shift migration:?Your application or workload can be put into the cloud with IaaS. You can quickly and cheaply scale, increase performance and security and reduce running costs.
- Test and development:?With the scale up and down nature of IaaS you can pay for test environments when you need them and disable them when you don’t.
- Storage, back up, and recovery:?IaaS can be used to handle unpredictable demand and growing storage needs while avoiding large outlay on staffing skills and physical infrastructure. It can also be used in backup and recovery planning.
- Deploy web apps:?Quickly deploy web apps and scale up or down in line with unpredictable demand.
- A cost-effective solution:?Remove the cost of configuring and managing a physical datacentre by migrating to the cloud.
- Enhance performance:?Scale as and when you need to. Guarantee performance of your applications by increasing resources in line with demand spikes.
- Increases stability and reliability:?Your service provider will handle all maintenance, upgrades and any equipment problems in accordance with your Service Level Agreement (SLA).
- Improve business continuity and disaster recovery (DR):?IaaS helps with business continuity and DR in two ways. It can reduce costs and help you access applications and data during an outage.
- Enhanced security:?With a suitable SLA, your service provider may offer better security for your applications and data than what you could achieve or afford in house.
- Speed to market:?Once you’re ready to launch a new app, product or solution, the necessary infrastructure can be available to you almost instantly, rather than needing weeks for setup.
A cloud approach can be applied to virtually every computing service. There are many factors that influence the cloud computing type you ultimately need. If you’d like us to help you in your decision making process we will assess your requirements and technical needs to see what solution may be right for you.?Contact us today?to have a chat about what you’d like to achieve.
