What Type of Cloud Are You Using?
After doing some searching, you have learned about what is the the Cloud. The next step for decision makers is to learn, at a high level, what type of service your company is committing to. When talking to your IT team, sometimes it can be overwhelming to even find out what type of Cloud are you using. Here is a hint, if your ideal of the Cloud is to not have to do any setup or maintenance work, skip to the last paragraph (SaaS)!
Three types of Cloud
There are three types of Cloud services offered by major computing vendors:
- IaaS – Infrastructure as a service
- PaaS – Platform as a service
- SaaS – Software as a service
IaaS – This type of Cloud service is very similar to setting up an site computer infrastructure. The difference here is that your company does not actually purchase the infrastructure but instead rents it as needed from your Cloud provider. According to Forbes, many modern CFO’s prefer this to help improve cash flow. Just like your onsite computers, this service does not include any kind of out of the box setup. Your IT Team will need to setup the infrastructure with Windows Server and install all of the applications, etc. The two most popular providers are Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.
PaaS – Platform as a Service is a pre setup infrastructure where you will only have to choose part of the options. For example, you may receive a pre-configured virtual machine and start installing/deploying applications they need. The organizations do not have to worry about bare bones setup such Windows Server or Linux. This enables faster on boarding and deployment.
SaaS – Lastly, we have Software as a Service. The most common example of this is Microsoft 365 Office apps such as Teams, email, SharePoint, and OneDrive. Your users can register and start using the services without needing to setup several Windows Servers and Microsoft server software. SaaS is very popular among small businesses because it’s easier to setup and manage.
After reading all of this, you probably have some questions about what type of Cloud are you using. We can answer any questions that you are worried about asking your IT department. Setup a free online meeting with us.
