Cloud computing has been a boon for businesses and consumers alike for a long time, but there’s still a great deal of confusion surrounding this service. Although many might assume that all of the services related to the cloud fall under the same banner, there are actually three distinct types of cloud computing that benefit users in distinctly different ways. In this article, we take a look at software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (Paas) to give you a better idea of what they’re all about.
What software as a service is all about
Managing the complex technology infrastructures that modern businesses demand is often no easy task – which is why it’s not uncommon to seek out the services of a managed IT services provider in Sydney – but developing a little bit of know-how related to how a business processes and stores information can be incredibly helpful. The first step for many is differentiating between software as a service, infrastructure as a service and platform as a service, as your business might be using all three for very different purposes. Software as a service involves the delivery of services to customers, infrastructure as a service enables secure network and storage to businesses, and platform as a service acts as a kind of middle ground, where developers are provided the means to create apps without the usual back-end issues. As you might imagine, SaaS is by far the most common type of cloud computing available due to it making possible the delivery of applications over the internet, ready for a user to use at any time they wish. Because there is no installation or downloading of software required, they can be used immediately – thing of streaming services like Spotify or Netflix for entertainment, and Microsoft Office 365, Google Apps, Xero, Dropbox and Slack for business users.
Less common needs related to the cloud
Although software as a service is the most common use of the cloud, that doesn’t mean that infrastructure as a service and platform as a service don’t have their place. IaaS is the ideal solution for businesses looking to do a lot of the work themselves, such as the introduction and use of valuable and highly versatile IT resources and infrastructure. IaaS provides the huge benefit of being available for both long-term and short-term needs, which allows companies to scale as they need to. This is because IaaS relies on third parties hosting some parts of the infrastructure, but customers will usually provide their own operating systems. Taking this one step further, platform as a service is highly valuable for businesses looking to create their own software. With PaaS, businesses have access to tech development tools, code libraries, servers, programming environments, and much more, plus they don’t have to worry about any relevant security or infrastructure needs as the vendor will take care of all of that for them!
The impressive flexibility of the cloud
If you couldn’t yet tell, businesses and regular people alike rely heavily on the cloud in their day to day life, whether for business or pleasure. The excellent scalability of the cloud is in part the reason for this, as it allows for completely open access to whatever an end user might need at any given time – no wonder it’s so popular!
