What Is IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS? Examples and Definitions

What Is IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS? ... The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recognizes three standard cloud computing models of as ... Skiptocontent FindUsOnFacebook FindUsOnGoogle+ FindUsOnLinkedIn FindUsOnTwitter Home>Insights>Blog>WhatIsIaaS,PaaS,andSaaS?ExamplesandDe…   April28,2020bySiobhanClimerandMikeCzerniak Theas-a-servicelabelhasbeenutilizedineveryfacetofthetechnologicalsphere.Infact,therearesomewithintheindustrywhoadvocateforan“everything-as-a-service”model,whichissimplysuggestingthatanythingcanbecommoditized–notthemostradicalstatementever. Regardless,theas-a-servicelabelismostoftenassociatedwithcloudcomputingnomenclature.Itreferstothedifferentservicemodelscloudprovidersoffer.Therearethreemainas-a-servicecategories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS) Platform-as-a-Service(PaaS) Software-as-a-Service(SaaS) Inthisarticle,we’llunravelthedifferences,offerexamples,anddiscussthedifferentusecasesbywhichthesemodelscanofferyouthemostsuccess.    WhatIsIaaS,PaaS,andSaaS?   TheNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology(NIST)recognizesthreestandardcloudcomputingmodelsofas-a-service:Infrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS),Platform-as-a-Service(PaaS),andSoftware-as-a-Service(SaaS).  Ineffect,eachofthesemodelsoffersaprogressivelevelofabstraction–ormanagement–bythecloudprovider.InFigure1below,weusethetypicaltechnologystacktovisualizetheprogressiveservicemodel.    Figure1:UnderstandingIaaS,PaaS,andSaaSCloudServiceModels   Infrastructure-as-a-Service:IaaSExamplesandDefinitions   Definition:IaaSistheutilizationofAPIstomanagethelowestlevelsofnetworkinfrastructure,includingnetworking,storage,servers,andvirtualization.  Examples:Rackspace,DigitalOcean,GoogleComputeEngine,andsomedeploymentsofMicrosoftAzureandAmazonWebServices(AWS) CommonUseCases:IaaSisthemostflexibleservicemodelforcloudcomputing,soitisespeciallyeffectiveforstartupsandorganizationslookingforagilescaling.Itisalsopreferredbybusinessesthatseekgreatercontrolovertheirresources.   Platform-as-a-Service:PaaSExamplesandDefinitions   Definition:PaaSoffersanevengreaterabstractionofcloudservice,offeringusersthecapabilitytobuildordeployapplicationsusingtools(i.e.programminglanguages,libraries,services)withoutmaintainingtheunderlyinginfrastructure.Usersinsteadhavecontrolovertheapplicationsthemselves.  Examples:Salesforce,AWSElasticBeanstalk,Heroku,GoogleAppEngine(GAE),andOpenShift CommonUseCases:PaaSishighlyavailableandhighlyscalable,anditgivesorganizationstheabilitytobuildandcreatenewservicesandsolutionswithouttheneedforhighlyskilleddevelopersfocusedonsoftwaremaintenance.PaaSispreferredbyITinhybridcloudenvironments.    Software-as-a-Service:SaaSExamplesandDefinitions   Definition:SaaSenablesuserstouseandaccessthecloudprovider’sapplicationsthatarerunningontheprovider’sinfrastructurefromthinclientorprograminterfaces.  Examples:Thereareloads:GoogleG-Suite,Dropbox,CiscoWebex,Concur,MicrosoftO365,Genesys,PayPal CommonUseCases:SaaSisacomfortableservicemodelforapplicationsthatarehighlyinteroperable–usedbymultipleusersinternallyandexternally–andforshort-termprojects.SaaSmodelsarepreferredbysmallandmedium-sizedbusinessesthatdonotwishtoinvestheavilyinITmaintenance.    BenefitsOfAs-A-ServiceCloudModels   Eachas-a-servicemodeloffersauniquesetofbenefitsbefittingyourspecificusecase.Traditionally,organizationsuseamixofthesedifferentmodelsfordifferentaspectsofthebusiness;forexample,anorganizationmayusetheSalesforceplatform(PaaS)andGoogleDocs(SaaS).  Findoutwhichmodelbestmatchesyourcurrentneedsandplansforthefuture.TalktoaMindsightengineertodaytoreceiveyourCloudInsightsReport.  Likewhatyouread? Contactustodaytodiscuss  AboutMindsight MindsightisindustryrecognizedfordeliveringsecureITsolutionsandthoughtleadershipthataddressyourinfrastructureandcommunicationsneeds.Ourengineersareexpertlevelonly–andthey’reknownasthemostrespectedandvaluedengineeringteambasedinChicago,servingemergingtoenterpriseorganizationsaroundtheglobe.That’swhyclientstrustMindsightasanextensionoftheirITteam. Visitusathttp://www.gomindsight.com. AboutTheAuthors MikeCzerniakistheCloudPracticeManageratMindsight,anITServicesandConsultingfirmlocatedintheChicagoarea.With20yearsofexperienceininformationtechnologyandthecloud,Mikehashelpedhundredsoforganizationswitharchitecting,implementing,anddeployingcloudsolutions.Forthelast5years,MikehasfocusedonprovidingMindsight’scustomerswithguidanceinapproaching–andmanaging–thecloud.MikeisAWS,MicrosoftAzure,VMwarecertified,andremainsdeeplyinvestedinprovidinganagnostic,consultativevoicefororganizationsontheircloudjourney.Inhisfreetime,Mikeenjoysbikingwithhis9-yearoldson,recentlycompletinga50-milebikeride!. SiobhanClimerwritesabouttechnologytrendsineducation,healthcare,andbusiness.Withoveradecadeofexperiencecommunicatingcomplexconceptsaroundeverythingfromcybersecuritytoneuroscience,Siobhanisanexpertatbreakingdowntechnicalandscientificprinciplessothateveryonetakesawayvaluableinsights.Whenshe’snotwritingtech,she’sreadingandwritingfantasy,hiking,andexploringtheworldwithhertwindaughters.Findherontwitter@techtalksio. WhatIsCloudStoragePart1:AnOverviewOfCloudComputingBasics Share FindUsOnFacebook FindUsOnLinkedIn FindUsOnTwitter RelatedArticles WhatIsIaaS,PaaS,andSaaS?ExamplesandDefinitions:ACloudReport HybridCloudSecurity:ACloudReport OptimizingCloudCosts:ACloudReport ViewAllBlogPosts SubscribetoOurBlog Subscribe Subscribe ©Copyright2022Mindsight ContactUs GETINTOUCHWITHUS FillouttheformbelowtogettheanswersyouneedfromoneofMindsight'sexperts.