What are the three main types of cloud service?

What Is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computing services, such as databases, storage, servers, networking, software, analytics and intelligence. These services are delivered over the internet or “cloud” which allows for nearly instantaneous access to critical business data and resources.
Instead of owning their own data center or computing infrastructure, businesses can rent access to storage, applications and other services from a cloud service provider. When businesses switch to the cloud, they can eliminate high upfront costs and technical challenges associated with owning and managing their own IT infrastructure. With cloud computing, they pay only for the services they use, when they use them.

Cloud computing can either be private or public. Private cloud services deliver services to a limited number of people. In comparison, public cloud services provide services over the internet for a fee. There is also a hybrid of these two options which combine elements of both private and public services.

The Three Types of Cloud Computing

There are three main types of cloud computing: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). There are some distinct differences between these three models and what they can offer a business in terms of storage and resources. The three types of cloud computing can also interact with one another to create a comprehensive cloud computing model.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure-as-a-Service is another form of cloud computing that delivers fundamental network, storage and computer resources over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis. In an IaaS model, the cloud provider hosts the components of the infrastructure that are traditionally present in an on-premises data center, such as storage, servers and networking hardware.
IaaS providers may also provide other key services, such as log access, detailed billing, security, monitoring, backup, recovery, replication and load balancing and clustering. Services and resources are accessed through a wide area network (WAN), such as the internet.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

Platform-as-a-Service differs from SaaS and IaaS as businesses rent everything that they need from a cloud provider to build an application, such as infrastructure, development tools and operating systems. PaaS aims to simplify the web application development process by allowing the cloud provider to handle all the backend management.
Businesses can access PaaS over any internet connection, which makes it possible to build entire applications in a web browser. The development environment is not locally hosted which means that developers can work on the application remotely from any location. Although developers have less control over the development environment, they can enjoy significantly less overhead.

Who Should Consider Cloud Computing?

Consider Cloud Computing Services with SeaGlass

Choosing the best model of cloud computing for an organization should be based on benefits, usability, cost efficiency, unique needs and the size of the business. As cloud computing can be a complex topic to navigate, consider speaking with an experienced cloud computing expert to learn more about these models. For more information, reach out to SeaGlass Technology for cloud computing services.

By moving critical data into the cloud, your business can run from anywhere and gives you the freedom and flexibility your team deserves. 

Types of Cloud Services

There are three main types of Cloud Services: Software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (Paas), and Infrastructure as a service (Iaas). Each of these will allow you to build a secure way to transfer data between your team members and work from anywhere. But each offers slightly different things.

IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service

This service is probably the most common for a company with an existing IT department as it is can be the most cost-effective and relatively painless first step to moving data into the cloud. IaaS will allow your company to rent remote physical and logical IT infrastructures from cloud vendors like Google Cloud VM Instance and AWS EC2 Instance.

PaaS – Platform as a Service

Paas will let consumers create an environment on demand for developing, testing, and managing software and services. Some common PaaS cloud services include Google App Engine and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

SaaS – Software as a Service

This is probably the most well-known cloud service. SaaS is applications that are cloud-based and can be reached as long as there is Internet available. Common examples of SaaS cloud services include Google GSuite, Salesforce, Slack, Dropbox, Microsoft Office365, and DocuSign.

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Almost every business today runs at least one application in the cloud, and growing numbers of CEOs report having a cloud-first IT strategy. In fact, the stats in our infographic from earlier this year show that the cloud is now normal. And the events of 2020 have meant that even those organisations still lagging behind in their cloud adoption have turned to cloud solutions to enable remote working and business as usual activity to continue during lockdown.

While the cloud has so many benefits for business it’s almost a no-brainer, it isn’t necessarily a “one size fits all” solution.

Different cloud services have different advantages and potential drawbacks, all of which need to be considered. Some organisations are happy to wash their hands of managing their own IT and invest in a full Infrastructure as a Service, such as Azure Active Directory, while others prefer to retain some control over their IT.

Here, we explain the three main types of cloud services and how they can benefit your business.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the foundation of cloud IT. IaaS is a computing infrastructure that is provisioned and managed over the internet (in the cloud) by a cloud service provider (CSP).

IaaS gives consumers great flexibility, because it can expand and contract with business needs. If business activity increases, for example, during busy retail periods, resources can be scaled up and back down again once activity returns to normal. And because physical hardware and servers aren’t needed with IaaS, organisations can save money on the initial expenditure and setup costs of an on-premise infrastructure, as well as on office space and maintaining the server.

A cloud service provider can also provide security as part of IaaS so that apps and data are protected at all times.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Platform as a Service (PaaS) gives organisations a development and deployment environment in the cloud which allows them to build and deliver simple to sophisticated cloud-based apps. PaaS is paid for on a pay-as-you-go basis as a subscription from a cloud service provider. It offers everything an organisation needs for the complete lifecycle of a web app, from building and testing to deploying, managing and updating.

PaaS contains the same infrastructure as IaaS but also includes development tools, database management and business intelligence (BI). The business manages the applications and services they develop, and the CSP manages the rest.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a Service, also known as SaaS, gives users access to cloud-based apps such as email and office tools, like those found in Microsoft’s enterprise-grade cloud, Microsoft 365.

SaaS is another pay-as-you-use service which automatically scales up and down according to the level of usage, so customers only pay for what they use. The service provider’s data centre holds all the infrastructure, middleware and app data, so SaaS customers don’t have to manage or maintain anything. A Service Level Agreement can be drawn up between the provider and the customer which outlines the minimum acceptable availability, downtime and resolution times if a problem occurs. SaaS lets business quickly deploy and use an app, with minimal initial expenditure.

SaaS allows users to access the apps from anywhere, on any device that’s connected to the internet, so it’s an integral part of enabling mobile working. Because data is stored in the cloud, if a user’s device is lost or damaged, data is still accessible.

Next steps

Wherever you are on your cloud journey, Core can help. We can plan for and migrate you to the Microsoft cloud, provide ongoing support once you’re using the cloud and offer Microsoft-funded workshops to help you get the most value from your licences once you’re using Microsoft 365. Talk to us about how we can help, or click here to view our workshops.