Different types of cloud computing services and their purpose

When someone says cloud, people often think of Google Drive. Cloud computing is a broad umbrella term that encompasses the storage of apps, programs, and data via the internet. Its convenience is hard to deny, and its usefulness goes beyond just storing documents online.

For businesses considering cloud migration, there are different types of cloud computing services that they need to know about, and which of them are a match to their needs.

The three types of cloud computing services mainly encompass Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

SaaS

Software-as-a-Service are cloud applications services where applications can be accessed remotely and from any device by anyone with access.

It is the most widely used among the types of cloud computing services with products like Google Workspace, Salesforce, and Dropbox being the most popular.

A business might want to use this cloud service model since it delegates all management of servers, data, middleware, and storage as one linear pipeline to the cloud provider.

It is also an easy and convenient model for businesses since it functions entirely through web browser, meaning that users need not waste their time downloading, installing, and updating software.

Organizations who wish to spend less time on tech related issues and maintenance and more time focusing on the actual product or service that they provide may want to consider SaaS as their go to cloud application.

PaaS

Platform-as-a-Service is, instead of being a software in itself, a platform that allows for the creation of a software. Businesses who wish to create and deploy an app can do so without the hassle of maintaining operating systems and infrastructure such as servers of software updates.

The scalability, and cost-effective deployment of applications through PaaS is what often draws businesses in. It is one place to develop, test, and deploy your apps.

Businesses that embrace PaaS save heaps of costs, and with the added scalability makes the use of custom applications that much less of a headache for businesses of all sizes.

Common examples of PaaS are Windows Azure, Force.com, and Google App Engine.

IaaS

Infrastructure-as-a-Service uses virtualization technology to deliver, well, infrastructure; servers, operating systems, network, and storage. The difference is that the client has complete control over the infrastructure provided.

Basically, a virtual data center.

Again, all types of cloud computing boast a great deal of scalability, and IaaS is no different. Outsourcing one’s resources as a service is a great way to make sure your infrastructural needs are as cost effective as possible. Like having a warehouse in the sky for your data.

IaaS is extremely useful for larger companies that only want to pay for what they are using or are on the verge of scaling their services rapidly and need the infrastructure to accommodate.

Smaller businesses that want to outsource their physical infrastructure without the hassle of maintaining them. The best examples for IaaS are DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine (GCE).