SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS: What's The Difference & How To Choose

As opposed to SaaS or PaaS, IaaS clients are responsible for managing aspects such as applications, runtime, OSes, middleware, and data. However ... June15,20199minutereadStephenWatts,MuhammadRaza Thecloudisahottopicforsmallbusinessesallthewaytoglobalenterprises,butremainsabroadconceptthatcoversalotofonlineterritory.Asyoubegintoconsiderswitchingyourbusinesstothecloud,whetheritbeforapplicationorinfrastructuredeployment,itismoreimportantthanevertounderstandthedifferencesandadvantagesofthevariouscloudservices.Thoughas-a-servicetypesaregrowingbytheday,thereareusuallythreemodelsofcloudservicetocompare:SoftwareasaService(SaaS)PlatformasaService(PaaS)InfrastructureasaService(IaaS)Foreachofthese,we’lllookattheconcept,benefits,andvariances.We’llalsohelpyouunderstandthekeydifferencesamongSaaS,PaaS,andIaaS—soyoucanbestchooseoneforyourorganization.(Moreinterestedincloudsetup?Learnmoreaboutpublic,private,andhybridclouddifferences.)Keydifferences CommonexamplesofSaaS,PaaS,&IaaSPlatformTypeCommonExamplesSaaSGoogleWorkspace,Dropbox,Salesforce,CiscoWebEx,Concur,GoToMeetingPaaSAWSElasticBeanstalk,WindowsAzure,Heroku,Force.com,GoogleAppEngine,ApacheStratos,OpenShiftIaaSDigitalOcean,Linode,Rackspace,AmazonWebServices(AWS),CiscoMetapod,MicrosoftAzure,GoogleComputeEngine(GCE)SaaS:SoftwareasaServiceSoftwareasaService,alsoknownascloudapplicationservices,representsthemostcommonlyutilizedoptionforbusinessesinthecloudmarket.SaaSutilizestheinternettodeliverapplications,whicharemanagedbyathird-partyvendor,toitsusers.AmajorityofSaaSapplicationsrundirectlythroughyourwebbrowser,whichmeanstheydonotrequireanydownloadsorinstallationsontheclientside.SaaSDeliveryDuetoitswebdeliverymodel,SaaSeliminatestheneedtohaveITstaffdownloadandinstallapplicationsoneachindividualcomputer.WithSaaS,vendorsmanageallpotentialtechnicalissues,suchasdata,middleware,servers,andstorage,resultinginstreamlinedmaintenanceandsupportforthebusiness.SaaSAdvantagesSaaSprovidesnumerousadvantagestoemployeesandcompaniesbygreatlyreducingthetimeandmoneyspentontedioustaskssuchasinstalling,managing,andupgradingsoftware.Thisfreesupplentyoftimefortechnicalstafftospendonmorepressingmattersandissueswithintheorganization.SaaSCharacteristicsThereareafewwaystohelpyoudeterminewhenSaaSisbeingutilized:ManagedfromacentrallocationHostedonaremoteserverAccessibleovertheinternetUsersnotresponsibleforhardwareorsoftwareupdatesWhentoUseSaaSSaaSmaybethemostbeneficialoptioninseveralsituations,including:Startupsorsmallcompaniesthatneedtolaunchecommercequicklyanddon’thavetimeforserverissuesorsoftwareShort-termprojectsthatrequirequick,easy,andaffordablecollaborationApplicationsthataren’tneededtoooften,suchastaxsoftwareApplicationsthatneedbothwebandmobileaccessSaaSLimitations&ConcernsInteroperability.IntegrationwithexistingappsandservicescanbeamajorconcerniftheSaaSappisnotdesignedtofollowopenstandardsforintegration.Inthiscase,organizationsmayneedtodesigntheirownintegrationsystemsorreducedependencieswithSaaSservices,whichmaynotalwaysbepossible.Vendorlock-in.Vendorsmaymakeiteasytojoinaserviceanddifficulttogetoutofit.Forinstance,thedatamaynotbeportable–technicallyorcost-effectively–acrossSaaSappsfromothervendorswithoutincurringsignificantcostorinhouseengineeringrework.NoteveryvendorfollowsstandardAPIs,protocols,andtools,yetthefeaturescouldbenecessaryforcertainbusinesstasks.Lackofintegrationsupport.Manyorganizationsrequiredeepintegrationswithon-premiseapps,data,andservices.TheSaaSvendormayofferlimitedsupportinthisregard,forcingorganizationstoinvestinternalresourcesindesigningandmanagingintegrations.ThecomplexityofintegrationscanfurtherlimithowtheSaaSapporotherdependentservicescanbeused.Datasecurity.LargevolumesofdatamayhavetobeexchangedtothebackenddatacentersofSaaSappsinordertoperformthenecessarysoftwarefunctionality.Transferringsensitivebusinessinformationtopublic-cloudbasedSaaSservicemayresultincompromisedsecurityandcomplianceinadditiontosignificantcostformigratinglargedataworkloads.Customization.SaaSappsofferminimalcustomizationcapabilities.Sinceaone-size-fits-allsolutiondoesnotexist,usersmaybelimitedtospecificfunctionality,performance,andintegrationsasofferedbythevendor.Incontrast,on-premisesolutionsthatcomewithseveralsoftwaredevelopmentkits(SDKs)offerahighdegreeofcustomizationoptions.Lackofcontrol.SaaSsolutionsinvolveshandingcontrolovertothethird-partyserviceprovider.Thesecontrolsarenotlimitedtothesoftware–intermsoftheversion,updates,orappearance–butalsothedataandgovernance.CustomersmaythereforeneedtoredefinetheirdatasecurityandgovernancemodelstofitthefeaturesandfunctionalityoftheSaaSservice.Featurelimitations.SinceSaaSappsoftencomeinastandardizedform,thechoiceoffeaturesmaybeacompromisingtradeoffagainstsecurity,cost,performance,orotherorganizationalpolicies.Furthermore,vendorlock-in,cost,orsecurityconcernsmaymeanit’snotviabletoswitchvendorsorservicestoservenewfeaturerequirementsinthefuture.Performanceanddowntime.BecausethevendorcontrolsandmanagestheSaaSservice,yourcustomersnowdependonvendorstomaintaintheservice’ssecurityandperformance.Plannedandunplannedmaintenance,cyber-attacks,ornetworkissuesmayimpacttheperformanceoftheSaaSappdespiteadequateservicelevelagreement(SLA)protectionsinplace.ExamplesofSaaSPopularexamplesofSaaSinclude:GoogleWorkspace(formerlyGSuite)DropboxSalesforceCiscoWebExSAPConcurGoToMeetingPaaS:PlatformasaServiceCloudplatformservices,alsoknownasPlatformasaService(PaaS),providecloudcomponentstocertainsoftwarewhilebeingusedmainlyforapplications.PaaSdeliversaframeworkfordevelopersthattheycanbuilduponandusetocreatecustomizedapplications.Allservers,storage,andnetworkingcanbemanagedbytheenterpriseorathird-partyproviderwhilethedeveloperscanmaintainmanagementoftheapplications.PaaSDeliveryThedeliverymodelofPaaSissimilartoSaaS,exceptinsteadofdeliveringthesoftwareovertheinternet,PaaSprovidesaplatformforsoftwarecreation.Thisplatformisdeliveredviatheweb,givingdevelopersthefreedomtoconcentrateonbuildingthesoftwarewithouthavingtoworryaboutoperatingsystems,softwareupdates,storage,orinfrastructure.PaaSallowsbusinessestodesignandcreateapplicationsthatarebuiltintothePaaSwithspecialsoftwarecomponents.Theseapplications,sometimescalledmiddleware,arescalableandhighlyavailableastheytakeoncertaincloudcharacteristics.PaaSAdvantagesNomatterthesizeofyourcompany,usingPaaSoffersnumerousadvantages,including:Simple,cost-effectivedevelopmentanddeploymentofappsScalableHighlyavailableDeveloperscancustomizeappswithouttheheadacheofmaintainingthesoftwareSignificantreductionintheamountofcodingneededAutomationofbusinesspolicyEasymigrationtothehybridmodelPaaSCharacteristicsPaaShasmanycharacteristicsthatdefineitasacloudservice,including:Buildsonvirtualizationtechnology,soresourcescaneasilybescaledupordownasyourbusinesschangesProvidesavarietyofservicestoassistwiththedevelopment,testing,anddeploymentofappsAccessibletonumeroususersviathesamedevelopmentapplicationIntegrateswebservicesanddatabasesWhentoUsePaaSUtilizingPaaSisbeneficial,sometimesevennecessary,inseveralsituations.Forexample,PaaScanstreamlineworkflowswhenmultipledevelopersareworkingonthesamedevelopmentproject.Ifothervendorsmustbeincluded,PaaScanprovidegreatspeedandflexibilitytotheentireprocess.PaaSisparticularlybeneficialifyouneedtocreatecustomizedapplications.Thiscloudservicealsocangreatlyreducecostsanditcansimplifysomechallengesthatcomeupifyouarerapidlydevelopingordeployinganapp.PaaSLimitations&ConcernsDatasecurity.OrganizationscanruntheirownappsandservicesusingPaaSsolutions,butthedataresidinginthird-party,vendor-controlledcloudserversposessecurityrisksandconcerns.Yoursecurityoptionsmaybelimitedascustomersmaynotbeabletodeployserviceswithspecifichostingpolicies.Integrations.Thecomplexityofconnectingthedatastoredwithinanonsitedatacenteroroff-premisecloudisincreased,whichmayaffectwhichappsandservicescanbeadoptedwiththePaaSoffering.ParticularlywhennoteverycomponentofalegacyITsystemisbuiltforthecloud,integrationwithexistingservicesandinfrastructuremaybeachallenge.Vendorlock-in.BusinessandtechnicalrequirementsthatdrivedecisionsforaspecificPaaSsolutionmaynotapplyinthefuture.Ifthevendorhasnotprovisionedconvenientmigrationpolicies,switchingtoalternativePaaSoptionsmaynotbepossiblewithoutaffectingthebusiness.Customizationoflegacysystems.PaaSmaynotbeaplug-and-playsolutionforexistinglegacyappsandservices.Instead,severalcustomizationsandconfigurationchangesmaybenecessaryforlegacysystemstoworkwiththePaaSservice.TheresultingcustomizationcanresultinacomplexITsystemthatmaylimitthevalueofthePaaSinvestmentaltogether.Runtimeissues.Inadditiontolimitationsassociatedwithspecificappsandservices,PaaSsolutionsmaynotbeoptimizedforthelanguageandframeworksofyourchoice.SpecificframeworkversionsmaynotbeavailableorperformoptimallywiththePaaSservice.Customersmaynotbeabletodevelopcustomdependencieswiththeplatform.Operationallimitation.CustomizedcloudoperationswithmanagementautomationworkflowsmaynotapplytoPaaSsolutions,astheplatformtendstolimitoperationalcapabilitiesforendusers.Althoughthisisintendedtoreducetheoperationalburdenonendusers,thelossofoperationalcontrolmayaffecthowPaaSsolutionsaremanaged,provisioned,andoperated.ExamplesofPaaSPopularexamplesofPaaSinclude:AWSElasticBeanstalkWindowsAzureHerokuForce.comGoogleAppEngineOpenShiftIaaS:InfrastructureasaServiceCloudinfrastructureservices,knownasInfrastructureasaService(IaaS),aremadeofhighlyscalableandautomatedcomputeresources.IaaSisfullyself-serviceforaccessingandmonitoringcomputers,networking,storage,andotherservices.IaaSallowsbusinessestopurchaseresourceson-demandandas-neededinsteadofhavingtobuyhardwareoutright.IaaSDeliveryIaaSdeliverscloudcomputinginfrastructure,includingservers,network,operatingsystems,andstorage,throughvirtualizationtechnology.ThesecloudserversaretypicallyprovidedtotheorganizationthroughadashboardoranAPI,givingIaaSclientscompletecontrolovertheentireinfrastructure.IaaSprovidesthesametechnologiesandcapabilitiesasatraditionaldatacenterwithouthavingtophysicallymaintainormanageallofit.IaaSclientscanstillaccesstheirserversandstoragedirectly,butitisalloutsourcedthrougha“virtualdatacenter”inthecloud.AsopposedtoSaaSorPaaS,IaaSclientsareresponsibleformanagingaspectssuchasapplications,runtime,OSes,middleware,anddata.However,providersoftheIaaSmanagetheservers,harddrives,networking,virtualization,andstorage.Someprovidersevenoffermoreservicesbeyondthevirtualizationlayer,suchasdatabasesormessagequeuing.IaaSAdvantagesIaaSoffersmanyadvantages,including:ThemostflexiblecloudcomputingmodelEasytoautomatedeploymentofstorage,networking,servers,andprocessingpowerHardwarepurchasescanbebasedonconsumptionClientsretaincompletecontroloftheirinfrastructureResourcescanbepurchasedas-neededHighlyscalableIaaSCharacteristicsCharacteristicsthatdefineIaaSinclude:ResourcesareavailableasaserviceCostvariesdependingonconsumptionServicesarehighlyscalableMultipleusersonasinglepieceofhardwareOrganizationretaincompletecontroloftheinfrastructureDynamicandflexibleWhentoUseIaaSJustaswithSaaSandPaaS,therearespecificsituationswhenIaaSismostadvantageous.StartupsandsmallcompaniesmaypreferIaaStoavoidspendingtimeandmoneyonpurchasingandcreatinghardwareandsoftware.Largercompaniesmayprefertoretaincompletecontrolovertheirapplicationsandinfrastructure,buttheywanttopurchaseonlywhattheyactuallyconsumeorneed.CompaniesexperiencingrapidgrowthlikethescalabilityofIaaS,andtheycanchangeoutspecifichardwareandsoftwareeasilyastheirneedsevolve.Anytimeyouareunsureofanewapplication’sdemands,IaaSoffersplentyofflexibilityandscalability.IaaSLimitations&ConcernsManylimitationsassociatedwithSaaSandPaaSmodels–suchasdatasecurity,costoverruns,vendorlock-inandcustomizationissues–alsoapplytotheIaaSmodel.ParticularlimitationstoIaaSinclude:Security.Whilethecustomerisincontroloftheapps,data,middleware,andtheOSplatform,securitythreatscanstillbesourcedfromthehostorothervirtualmachines(VMs).InsiderthreatorsystemvulnerabilitiesmayexposedatacommunicationbetweenthehostinfrastructureandVMstounauthorizedentities.Legacysystemsoperatinginthecloud.Whilecustomerscanrunlegacyappsinthecloud,theinfrastructuremaynotbedesignedtodeliverspecificcontrolstosecurethelegacyapps.Minorenhancementtolegacyappsmayberequiredbeforemigratingthemtothecloud,possiblyleadingtonewsecurityissuesunlessadequatelytestedforsecurityandperformanceintheIaaSsystems.Internalresourcesandtraining.Additionalresourcesandtrainingmayberequiredfortheworkforcetolearnhowtoeffectivelymanagetheinfrastructure.Customerswillberesponsiblefordatasecurity,backup,andbusinesscontinuity.Duetoinadequatecontrolintotheinfrastructurehowever,monitoringandmanagementoftheresourcesmaybedifficultwithoutadequatetrainingandresourcesavailableinhouse.Multi-tenantsecurity.Sincethehardwareresourcesaredynamicallyallocatedacrossusersasmadeavailable,thevendorisrequiredtoensurethatothercustomerscannotaccessdatadepositedtostorageassetsbypreviouscustomers.Similarly,customersmustrelyonthevendortoensurethatVMsareadequatelyisolatedwithinthemultitenantcloudarchitecture.ExamplesofIaaSPopularexamplesofIaaSinclude:DigitalOceanLinodeRackspaceAmazonWebServices(AWS)CiscoMetacloudMicrosoftAzureGoogleComputeEngine(GCE)SaaSvsPaaSvsIaaSEachcloudmodeloffersspecificfeaturesandfunctionalities,anditiscrucialforyourorganizationtounderstandthedifferences.Whetheryouneedcloud-basedsoftwareforstorageoptions,asmoothplatformthatallowsyoutocreatecustomizedapplications,orcompletecontroloveryourentireinfrastructurewithouthavingtophysicallymaintainit,thereisacloudserviceforyou.Nomatterwhichoptionyouchoose,migratingtothecloudisthefutureofbusinessandtechnology.XaaS:EverythingasaServiceOnetermyou’relikelyseeingmorefrequentlyintheworldisXaaS,shortforEverythingasaService.XaaSreferstothehighly-individualized,responsive,data-drivenproductsandofferingsthatarefullycontrolledbycustomers—andthedatatheyprovideviaeverydayIoT-poweredsourceslikecellphonesandthermostats.Byusingthatdatageneratedoverthecloud,businessescaninnovatefaster,deepentheircustomerrelationships,andsustainthesalebeyondtheinitialproductpurchase.XaaSisacriticalenableroftheAutonomousDigitalEnterprise.RelatedreadingBMCMulti-CloudBlogCloudInfrastructure:ABriefIntroductionHybridCloudSecurity:ChallengesandBestPracticesDataCenterTiers:WhatAreTheyandWhyAreTheyImportant?CloudGrowthin2020:Trends&OutlookOther“asaservice”offerings:AIasaserviceDatabaseasaserviceBusinessProcessManagementasaservice(BPMaaS)FunctionsasaserviceTestingasaserviceDefendingtheWhole,IaaS,PaaS,andSaaSfromMarkNunnikhovenOriginalreferenceimages:   UsetheBMCHelixCloudMigrationSimulatorReducethetime,complexity,andcostsofcloudmigrationsandimprovetheaccuracyofyourplanningwiththeBMCHelixCloudMigrationSimulator,whichletsyoucomparethecostsandresourcerequirementsofleadingserviceproviderstoevaluateandright-sizeworkloadmigrations.Getstarted› Getstarted›ThesepostingsaremyownanddonotnecessarilyrepresentBMC'sposition,strategies,oropinion.Seeanerrororhaveasuggestion?Pleaseletusknowbyemailingblogs@bmc.com.BMCBringtheA-GameBMCworkswith86%oftheForbesGlobal50andcustomersandpartnersaroundtheworldtocreatetheirfuture.Withourhistoryofinnovation,industry-leadingautomation,operations,andservicemanagementsolutions,combinedwithunmatchedflexibility,wehelporganizationsfreeuptimeandspacetobecomeanAutonomousDigitalEnterprisethatconquerstheopportunitiesahead.LearnmoreaboutBMC›Youmayalsolike Abouttheauthor StephenWattsStephenWatts(Birmingham,AL)contributestoavarietyofpublicationsincluding,SearchEngineJournal,ITSM.Tools,ITChronicles,DZone,andCompTIA.ViewallpostsAbouttheauthor MuhammadRazaMuhammadRazaisaStockholm-basedtechnologyconsultantworkingwithleadingstartupsandFortune500firmsonthoughtleadershipbrandingprojectsacrossDevOps,Cloud,SecurityandIoT.ViewallpostsUsetheBMCHelixCloudMigrationSimulator Getstarted›