SaaS vs. PaaS vs. IaaS: Examples & How to Tell Them Apart

A good example of PaaS is AWS Elastic Beanstalk. Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers over 200 cloud computing services such as EC2, RDS, and S3. Most of these ... ArticlesEcommerce SaaSvsPaaSvsIaaS SaaSvs.PaaSvs.IaaS:WhatYouNeedtoKnowSeeWhatOpenSaaSCanDoForYourBusinessDownloadGuideI'mreadytostartbuildingoralreadyhavemyownecommercestore.TryBigCommerceIhavequestionsandwouldlikeguidancefromanecommerceexpert.TalktosalesTABLEOFCONTENTS TheKeyDifferencesBetweenOn-Premise,SaaS,PaaS,IaaS The3TypesofCloudComputingServiceModelsExplained TheFinalWord FAQsAboutSaaSvsPaaSvsIaaS Withtheincreasedpopularityofcloudcomputingandservices,businessesacrosstheglobearemovingawayfromthetraditionalon-premiseservicesthattheyhavecometorelyon. Cloud-basedserviceshavetransformedhowbusinesseshaveworked,allowingthemtouseITinfrastructures,platforms,softwareandapplicationsviatheInternetandonlinehotspots.  Fororganizationswhoareconsideringmovingtheirecommercebusinesstothecloud,therearethreeimportanttermstobeawareof: InfrastructureasaService(IaaS). PlatformasaService(PaaS). SoftwareasaService(SaaS). IaaS,PaaSandSaaSarethethreemaintypesofcloudcomputingavailabletoday.  Theseplatformshavegrownsignificantlyoverthelastdecade,withitsworldwiderevenueincreasingfromaround$90billionin2016tomorethan$312billionin2020.  Withgrowthlikethis,cloudcomputingisquicklybecomingthenormasbusinessesbegintophaseouton-premisesoftwarealtogether. TheKeyDifferencesBetweenOn-Premise,SaaS,PaaS,IaaSNotsolongago,mostofacompany’sITsystemswereon-premisesandcloudswerejustwhitefluffythingsinthesky.Now,everyonecanutilizecloud-basedplatformsfornearlyallyoursystemsandprocesses.SaaS,PaaSandIaaSpresentthreemodernbutdifferentwaystodescribehowyoucanusethecloudforyourbusiness.  Itisimportanttorememberthatmostbusinessesusingcloud-basedplatformsuseacombinationofSaaSandIaaScloudcomputingservicemodels,andmanyengagedeveloperstocreateapplicationsusingPaaS,too. SaaSSaaSplatformsinvolvesoftwarethatisavailableviathird-partyovertheInternet. ExamplesofpopularSaaSprovidersinclude:  BigCommerce. GoogleWorkspace,Salesforce. Dropbox. MailChimp. ZenDesk. DocuSign. Slack. Hubspot. PaaSPaaSfocusesprimarilyonhardwareandsoftwaretoolsavailableovertheinternet. ExamplesofpopularPaaSprovidersinclude:  AWSElasticBeanstalk. Heroku. WindowsAzure(mainlyusedasPaaS). Force.com. GoogleAppEngine. OpenShift. ApacheStratos. AdobeMagentoCommerceCloud. IaaSIaaSworksprimarilywithcloud-basedandpay-as-you-goservicessuchasstorage,networkingandvirtualization.ExamplesofpopularIaaSprovidersinclude:  AWSEC2. Rackspace. GoogleComputeEngine(GCE). DigitalOcean. MicrosoftAzure. Magento1EnterpriseEdition*. The3TypesofCloudComputingServiceModelsExplained1.IaaS(InfrastructureasaService).IaaS,alsoknownascloudinfrastructureservices,providesenduserswithcloud-basedalternativestoon-premise,physicalinfrastructure,allowingbusinessestopurchaseresourceson-demandinsteadofthemorecostlyventureofhavingtobuyandmanagehardware.IaaScharacteristics.IaaSisscalableandoffersbusinessesgreaterflexibilitythanon-premisesolutionsthroughthecloud.IaaSbusinessestypicallyprovideservicessuchaspay-as-you-gostorage,networkingandvirtualization.IaaScloudserversaretypicallyofferedtobusinessesovertheinternet,whetherthroughadashboardoranAPI,ensuringusershavecompletecontrolovertheircomputinginfrastructure. IaaSplatformsare: Highlyflexibleandhighlyscalable. Accessiblebymultipleusers. Cost-effective. IaaSadvantages.Maintainingon-premiseITinfrastructurecanbecostlyandlabor-intensiveasitoftenrequiresasignificantinitialinvestmentinphysicalhardware.YouwillalsoprobablyneedtoengageskilledexternalITcontractorstomaintainthehardwareandkeepeverythingworkingandup-to-date.WithIaaS,youcanbuywhatyouneed,asyouneedit,andpurchasemoreasyourbusinessgrows. IaaSsolutionsarehighlyflexibleandscalableandcanbereplacedwheneverneededwithoutlosingmoneyonyourinitialinvestment. AnotheradvantageofIaaSisitputscontrolovertheinfrastructurebackinyourhands.YouwillnolongerneedtoplacetrustinanexternalITcontractor—youcanaccessandoverseeIaaSproductsyourselfifyouwish,withoutbeinganITwiz. IaaSdisadvantages.TherearecertainlimitationsandconcernswhenitcomestotransitioningtoIaaS,including:Legacysystems:Beforeafullmigrationtothecloudiscompleted,anylegacytechnologyorapplicationsshouldbereviewedforcompatibility.Therearemanyoldersystemsthatarenotdesignedforcloud-basedservicesandmayneedtobeupgradedorreplaced.  Security:Withthemovefromon-premisetothecloud,therecouldbenewsecuritythreats,whethersourcesfromthehostorothervirtualmachines(VMs).Itiscriticalthatorganizationsreviewandresearchup-to-datesecuritythreatsandtheirremediationstrategies. InternalTraining:Withanewsystemcomesalackoffamiliaritywithitsintricacies.Businessesshouldprepareadditionaltrainingandresourcestoensuretheirusersknowwhattheyaredoing.WhentouseIaaS.IaaSisbeneficialtobusinessesofallshapesandsizes.Itallowscompletecontroloveryourinfrastructureandoperatesonapay-as-you-usemodel,whichfitsintomostbudgets.WithmostIaaSplatforms,yougetaccesstoongoingsupportandhavetheoptionofscalingupyourrequirementsatanytime. UtilizingIaaSisanexcellentwaytofuture-proofyourbusiness. IaaSnon-ecommerceexample.AgoodexampleofIaaSisAWSEC2.EC2deliversscalableinfrastructureforcompaniesthatwanttohostcloud-basedapplications.EC2usersdonotownthephysicalservers—AWSprovidesvirtualservers. Usersonlypayfortheusageoftheservers,savingthemthecost—andassociatedongoingmaintenance—ofinvestinginphysicalhardware. IaaSecommerceexample.AdobeCommerce(Magento)canbeusedeitheron-premiseorIaaS,dependingonhowthemerchantchoosestohosttheirstore.InthecaseofIaaS,themerchantispayingMagentoforthelicensingofthesoftwareandthenusingathird-partyvendorforthebestwebhostingsuchasRackspace. Merchantsareabletopayforahostingplanthatmeetstheirownneedswithoutthecostofmaintainingtheirownphysicalservers.ThemerchantisstillresponsibleforinstallingandmanagingupdatestotheirMagentosoftware. 2.PaaS(PlatformasaService).PaaS,alsoknownascloudplatformservices,providesdeveloperswithaframework,softwareandtoolsneededtobuildappsandsoftware—allaccessiblethroughtheinternet. Oftenseenasascaled-downversionofIaaS,PaaSgivesitscustomersbroaderaccesstoservers,storageandnetworking,allmanagedbyathird-partyprovider. PaaScharacteristics.PaaSdeliveryiscomparabletoSaaSmethods,withthemaindifferencebeingthatcustomersarenotabletoaccessonlinesoftwarebutanonlineplatform. PaaSprovidesthatplatformforsoftwaredeveloperstocreate,allowingthemtoconcentrateonthesoftwareitselfinsteadofanyexternalissues.  PaaSplatformsare: Accessiblebymultipleusers. Scalable—customerscanchoosefromvarioustiersofcomputingresourcestosuitthesizeoftheirbusiness. Builtonvirtualizationtechnology. Easytorunwithoutextensivesystemadministrationknowledge. PaaSadvantages.PaaSisprimarilyusedbydeveloperswhoarebuildingsoftwareorapplications.APaaSsolutionprovidestheplatformfordeveloperstocreateunique,customizablesoftwaremeaningthatdevelopersdon’tneedtostartfromscratchwhendevelopingapplications—savingthemtimeandmoneyonwritingextensivecode. PaaSisapopularchoiceforbusinesseswhowanttocreateuniqueapplicationswithoutspendingafortuneortakingonalltheresponsibility.It’ssimilartothedifferencebetweenhiringavenuetoputonashowvs.buildingoneyourselftoputonashow. Thevenuestaysthesame,butwhatyoucreateinthatspaceisunique. PaaSdisadvantages.LikeIaaS,therearecertaindrawbackstousingPaaSthatcompaniesshouldbeawareof,including: Integrations:WithPaaS,youmayencounterchallengeswhenintegratingnewapplications.Thisistiedintoissuesrelatedtolegacysystemssincethereareoftenaspectsofthesesystemsthataren’tbuiltforthecloud.  Datasecurity:Usingthird-partyserversforyourdatacouldpotentiallyleadtoadditionalsecurityrisks.Securityoptionsmayalsobelimitedsinceyouwillhavetofindasolutionthatcanintegratewiththethird-partysystems. Runtime:PaaSsolutionsmaynotbefullyoptimizedforthelanguageandframeworksyourbusinessusesandfindingaspecificallytailoredsolutionmaybedifficult. Operationallimitations:CustomizedcloudoperationsmaynotbecompatiblewithPaaSsolutions,especiallythosewithmanagementautomationworkflows.Thiscaninhibityouroperationalcapabilitiesandlimitthefullscopeofyourbusiness.  WhentousePaaS.PaaSisoftenthemostcost-effectiveandtime-effectivewayforadevelopertocreateauniqueapplication.PaaSallowsthedevelopertofocusonthecreativesideofappdevelopmentasopposedtothemenialtaskssuchasmanagingsoftwareupdatesorsecuritypatches.Instead,theirtimeandbrainpowercangointocreating,testinganddeployingtheapp. PaaSnon-ecommerceexample.AgoodexampleofPaaSisAWSElasticBeanstalk.AmazonWebServices(AWS)offersover200cloudcomputingservicessuchasEC2,RDS,andS3.MostoftheseservicescanbeusedasIaaS,andmostcompanieswhouseAWSwillpickandchoosetheservicestheyneed. However,managingmultipleservicescanquicklybecomedifficultandtime-consumingforusers.  That’swhereAWSElasticBeanstalkcomesin.Itworksasanotherlayerontopoftheinfrastructureservicesandautomaticallyhandlesthedetailsofcapacityprovisioning,loadbalancing,scalability,andapplicationhealthmonitoring. PaaSecommerceexample.AdobeCommerce(Magento)isthemostcommonexampleofPaaSforecommerce.ItenablesthemerchanttobundletheirhostingaspartoftheirpackagewithMagento.MerchantsevaluatingMagentogothroughascopingprocesstodeterminetheirhostingneeds,bundledintotheirmonthlyplan.YouwillhavefullaccesstoeditthesourcecodeoftheirMagentostoreandcanfullycustomizetheapplication. Anyplatformupdates,securitypatchesandgeneralmaintenancetotheirstorewouldbethemerchant'sresponsibility. 3.SaaS(SoftwareasaService).SaaS,alsoknownascloudapplicationservices,isthemostcommonlyusedservicewithinthecloudmarket.SaaSplatformsmakesoftwareavailabletousersovertheinternet,usuallyforamonthlysubscriptionfee.Theyaretypicallyready-to-useandrunfromausers’webbrowser,whichallowsbusinessestoskipanyadditionaldownloadsorapplicationinstallations.  SaaScharacteristics.SaaSisdeliveredthroughtheinternetasafullfunctionalservice,accessibleviaanywebbrowser.WithSaaS,vendorsmanagethedata,serversandstorage,ultimatelyeliminatingtheneedforITreviewandstreamliningbusinessprocesses.SaaSplatformsare: AvailableovertheInternet. Hostedonaremoteserverbyathird-partyprovider. Idealforsmallbusinessesorstartupswhocannotdeveloptheirownsoftwareapplications. Scalable,withdifferenttiersforsmall,mediumandenterprise-levelbusinesses. Inclusive,offeringsecurity,complianceandmaintenanceaspartofthecost. SaaSadvantages.WithSaaS,youdon’tneedtoinstallandrunsoftwareapplicationsonyourcomputer.Everythingisavailableovertheinternetwhenyoulogintoyouraccountonline.Youcanusuallyaccessthesoftwarefromanydevice,anytime—aslongasthereisaninternetconnection.Thesamegoesforanyoneelseusingthesoftware.Allyourstaffwillhavepersonalizedloginssuitabletotheiraccesslevel.YounolongerneedtoengageanITspecialisttodownloadthesoftwareontomultiplecomputersthroughoutyourofficeorworryaboutkeepingup-to-datesoftwareoneverycomputer.It’salltakencareofintheCloud. Anotherkeyadvantageisthepaymentstructure. MostSaaSprovidersoperateasubscriptionmodelwithafixed,inclusivemonthlyaccountfee.Youknowpreciselyhowmuchthesoftwarewillcostandcanbudgetaccordinglywithoutworryingabouthiddensurprises. Subscriptionscanpotentiallyincludemaintenance,complianceandsecurityservices. SaaSprovidersalsoofferout-of-the-box,simplesolutionstosetupifyouneedabasicpackage,withmorecomplexsolutionsforlargerorganizations.Youcouldhavethebasicsoftwareupandrunningwithinamatterofhours–andyou’llhaveaccesstocustomerserviceandsupportalongtheway.SaaSdisadvantages.LikeIaaSandPaaS,therearelimitationsandconcernsaboutSaaS,including:DataSecurity:Withdataprimarilylocatedinoff-premiseservers,securitycouldpotentiallybecomeanissue.EnsurethatyouhavetherightsecuritysolutionsinplaceandarecomfortablewithwhicheverSaaSserviceyouareusing.  Interoperability:IntegrationswithexistingapplicationsandservicescanbeaconcernsincemanySaaSappsarenotdesignedforopenintegrations.Findingaservicewithintegrationcapabilitiescanbedifficult,andattemptingtocreateyourowncanbeworse.  Customization:SaaSservicestypicallyallowminimalcustomizationforfeatures,capabilitiesandintegrations.Thiscanforcecompaniestoinvestsignificantresourcesintomanagingoraddingcustomizationcapabilities. Lackofcontrol:WithaSaaSsolution,businessesoftenhavetohandoverultimatecontroltothethird-partyserviceproviders—givingthemthekeystofunctionality,performanceandevendata.Youwillwanttoensurethatyoutrusttheproviderusedorhavetheabilitytoreviewyourinformationremotely.WhentouseSaaS.SaaSplatformsareidealforwhenyouwantanapplicationtorunsmoothlyandreliablywithminimalinputfromyou.Takeyouremailserver,forexample. Youwanttoknowthatyoucancontinuetosendandreceiveemailswithoutneedingtofiddlewithyouremailsettingsorworryaboutupdates.Imagineifyouremailserverwentunderbecauseyouforgottoupdateit?That’ssimplynotanoptionintoday’smarketplace. IfyouuseSaaSapplicationstorunyouremailinbox,thechancesofsomethinggoingwrongareverysmall,andifsomethingdidgowrong,itwouldbeuptotheSaaSprovidertofindasolution. You’renotonlypayingfortheSaaSapplications/products—you’repayingforpeaceofmind. SaaSnon-ecommerceexample.GoogleWorkspace— formerlyknownasGoogleGSuite—isoneofthemostpopularSaaS-basedinfrastructureservices.TheupgradefromGSuitecameasaresultofamoreintegratedexperienceacrossGoogle’sbroadersuite,whichalloweditscustomerstobetterconnectwiththeirvarioustools. TheGoogleWorkspacesuitefeaturesapplicationspeopleareawareof,suchasGmail,GoogleCalendar,GoogleDocsandmore. SaaSecommerceexample.AnexcellentexampleofaSaaSecommerceplatformisBigCommerce.BigCommerceisoneoftheleadingSaaSecommerceplatformsformid-marketandenterprisebrands.Ithasallthebenefitsassociatedwithmulti-tenantSaaS—easeofuse,high-performance,andcontinuousupdates—coupledwithplatform-wideAPIsthatenablebusinessestocustomizetheirsitesandintegratewithexternalapplicationsandservices.   BigCommerceprovidescompleteshoppingcartsoftwareandhostinginfrastructuretotheuser,allowingbusinessestocreateanonlineshopwithinminuteswithoutworryingaboutcoding,hostingorsoftware. TheBigCommerceplatformalsohasregularupdatesthatautomaticallyrolloutforusers,andsoftwarelicenses,upgrades,andhostingcostsareallcoveredinthemonthlysubscriptionfee.TheCompetitiveAdvantageofOpenSaaS:Future-ProofYourBusinesswithFlexibleEcommerceBuildaflexible,scalablebusinessthat’sreadyforanything.DownloadNowTheFinalWordUltimately,whatarethedifferencesbetweenIaaS,PaaS,andSaaS?IaaSistheretoprovideyouwithmaximumflexibilitywhenitcomestohostingcustom-builtapps,aswellasprovidingageneraldatacenterfordatastorage. PaaSismostoftenbuiltontopofanIaaSplatformtoreducetheneedforsystemadministration.Itallowsyoutofocusonappdevelopmentinsteadofinfrastructuremanagement. SaaSoffersready-to-use,out-of-the-boxsolutionsthatmeetaparticularbusinessneed(suchasawebsiteoremail).MostmodernSaaSplatformsarebuiltonIaaSorPaaSplatforms. TheincreasingpopularityofIaaS,PaaS,andSaaShasreducedtheneedforon-premisehosting.Asbusinessesandtechnologycontinuetomerge,migratingtothecloudbecomesparamountfororganizationslookingtoremainonthecuttingedge. Theseclouddeliverymodelsgiveuserschoices,flexibilityandoptionsthaton-premisehostingsimplycannotprovide.FAQsAboutSaaSvsPaaSvsIaaSWhatisthebestoption,SaaSorPaaSorIaaS?Theanswerisdependentonyourbusiness.Eachcloudservicemodeloffersdifferentfeaturesandfunctionalities. Ifyouwantout-of-the-boxfeatures,withoutthehassleofinstallations,thenSaaSmaybethebestoptionforyou.  Ifyouneedaplatformdesignedforbuildingsoftwareproducts,thenPaaSwouldhelpyourbusinessimmediately.  Ifyouarelookingforahighlyflexible,scalableservice— whilemaintainingcontrolofitsinfrastructure — thenIaaSistherightchoiceforyou. WhatdifferentiatesPaaSfromSaaS?ThemostsignificantdifferencebetweenPaaSandSaaSisthatSaaSproductsarefullymanagedbyanothercompany,fromtheserverstothedataitself.WithPaaS,youareabletousethecloud-basedplatformasafoundationforbuildingsoftware. Ifyouwanttocreateyourownapplicationsforyourbusiness,thenPaaSplatformsarethebestoption. WhatisthedifferencebetweenIaaSandPaaS?ThegreatestdifferencebetweenIaaSandPaaScomesfromwhocontrolsthesystem. WithIaaS,administratorsgainmoredirectcontroloveroperatingsystems.Ontheotherhand,usersgaingreaterflexibilityandcontroloverproprietaryapplicationsorprogramswithPaaS. VIEWMOREHowdoestheSaaSmodeldifferfromtheIaaSmodel?WithbothIaaSandSaaS,thecloudserviceprovidersmanageservers,networking,virtualizationandstorage. However,unlikeSaaS,thosewhouseIaaSarestillresponsibleformanagingsomeaspectsoftheirbusiness,includingapplications,runtime,middlewareanddata.SaaSisthemoreout-of-the-boxoption,whileIaaSmaintainsasmalllevelofcontrol. 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