SaaS, PaaS and IaaS: An Overview

• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• An Overview

Over the next few years, the cloud computing market is expected to grow by double digits. And as the cloud expands, it will continue to revolutionize how companies create and operate new applications. More and more organizations will run and manage their businesses with the help of Cloud solutions.

The cloud allows software and services to run on the internet instead of only locally on one device because the data is stored remotely across various servers. Each type of cloud computing leaves you with less on-premise infrastructure to manage. Cloud computing allows for allocating several parts of your infrastructure to the management of a third party, freeing you up to focus on other things. This has allowed many companies to shift their spending on on-premises servers and IT hardware to more productive and cost-effective cloud services.

There are three main types of cloud computing as-a-service options, and each one covers a degree of management for you: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

About SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS Software as a Service is the best-selling service model and is the most popular cloud stack. When companies choose a SaaS option, the entire technology stack is outsourced. This means the vendor handles everything related to the delivery of the product. Companies pay a subscription fee and access the application service over the internet through a web or mobile browser.

The provider handles software updates, bug fixes, and general software maintenance, and the user connects to the app via a dashboard or API. There’s no software installation on individual machines, and group access to the program is smoother and more reliable.

SaaS examples: Gmail | Google Drive | Netflix | Jira | Slack

About PaaS (Platform as a Service)

PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) is a cloud-based platform service that provides a foundation for developers to build custom business apps. It bundles an operating system and server software with server hardware and network infrastructure to free developers to focus on building high-value custom solutions for their organizations.
PaaS users also gain access to various resources in the application stack, such as middleware, programming languages, operating systems, and databases. All of which would have been significantly more difficult to maintain on-premise.

PaaS Examples: AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Windows Azure | Google App Engine | OpenShift.

About IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

IaaS products allow organizations to manage their business resources, such as their network, servers, and data storage on the cloud. IaaS is a self-service model built specifically to provide Cloud Infrastructure Services to help with accessing, monitoring, and managing remote data center infrastructures. IaaS assists with essential infrastructure-related functionalities like storage, establishing effective firewalls, networking, etc.

IaaS is a quick, flexible way to build and take down development and testing environments. You can use only the infrastructure you need to create your development environment and scale it up or down for as long as you need it, and then you can stop when you’re finished, paying only for what you use.

IaaS Examples: AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud

Overview

Gartner reports that SaaS solutions currently have the largest market share, continuing to push out traditional on-premise licensed software. IaaS solutions hold second place, with PaaS close behind in third place. As you move up the cloud service model stack, the required level of user IT expertise decreases. Meanwhile, the costs are lower as well. The SaaS cloud service model is the most affordable, while IaaS is the most expensive.

Cloud-based software servers are convenient and easy to use for most businesses, allowing them to manage their organization’s technical infrastructure virtually, create apps, and access a wide array of tools without buying and maintaining a physical server. With this sector witnessing massive improvement and evolution, new and enhanced features of cloud computing are bound to attract a vast clientele in the coming years.