Types of Cloud Services for SMBs: IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how cloud services have become essential to small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Connecticut. Cloud computing plays an important role in everything from communication tools to productivity apps, as well as other software utilized by today’s organizations.

The cloud has also made it possible for employees to work from home by allowing them to access, synchronize, and share important records, files, information, and workloads. By partnering with a Managed IT Services Provider (MSP) like Charles IT, you’ll learn how cloud computing, specifically private cloud services, can help your business.

Before choosing a cloud service, you need to become familiar with the three main categories of cloud services.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

This cloud solution provides business access to vital web architecture such as storage, hardware, servers, and networking components on-demand, over the internet, and on a pay-as-you-go basis. IaaS provides other services that accompany its components such as detailed billing, monitoring, log access, and security, as well as storage, backups, replication, and recovery. Some organizations choose IaaS because it is easier, faster, and more cost-efficient.

IaaS also enables end-users to scale and shrink resources only when required, which reduces the need for high, upfront capital expenditures. This makes it popular with businesses working on temporary projects. For example, if your business is developing a new software product, it’s more practical to host and test the application using IaaS, as you can easily move from the IaaS environment to a more traditional in-house deployment. You may also deploy your software through IaaS where long-term costs are much lower than investing in your own server and hosting solutions.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers software and hardware tools. It provides a dedicated space to build and test applications and is predominantly used by software and web developers. Businesses that want to develop their own internal software can also utilize PaaS, which is usually on a subscription basis.

With PaaS, you can effectively rent the required infrastructure and pay through your subscription fee. This frees you from the hefty cost of hiring an IT expert. PaaS systems are often simple to use, which means you can develop your apps in-house via a web browser. Additionally, PaaS allows multiple developers to work on the same project across different locations, increasing collaboration and productivity.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS is a method for delivering software applications over the internet on an on-demand and subscription basis. While SaaS might sound complicated, you just need to remember that you actually use this type of software every day when you’re logging in to Office 365 or streaming your favorite shows via Netflix.

SaaS helps businesses host and manage software applications and underlying infrastructure and control required maintenance, including critical software upgrades and security patches. It is a hands-off solution that involves some form of automation to run, making it ideal for businesses that want applications to run smoothly but want little input from their users. And because it runs updates automatically, you can reduce the burden on in-house IT staff.

While there are various types of cloud solutions available, you need to consider your business’s needs and what works best for your budget. You don’t necessarily need to have the most expensive one, but rather, you must choose the one that’s right for you. Find out if Charles IT’s Private Cloud Solution is the one for your business. Reach out to our team or learn more about our Managed Cloud Services by downloading our eBook.