SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS: Comparing The 3 Cloud Services Models

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Table of Contents

SaaS, PaaS, IaaS – these are the essential models of cloud services. Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), the three cloud services are getting immense popularity these days.

Each of them has its own benefits. Service providers offer these three different models for different data, application usage, and development purposes.

The implementations of these models differ as per clients’ requirements. You need to compare the basic differences so that you can understand the need and implementation accurately.

Basic Understanding Of SaaS vs IaaS vs PaaS

SaaS: Software as a Service

What is SaaS?

Software as a Service (or SaaS, as it is commonly known) is one the most commonly used cloud options, if not the most, for online businesses in the market.

It harnesses the power of the internet and uses the same to deliver services, which in turn, are managed by a 3^rd party vendor to the end-users.

Contrary to what people usually think, the majority of applications powered by it are run directly through the web browser, without any need for downloads by the end-users.

The same can be accessed by any device connected to the internet, be it a smartphone or a PC.

SaaS Delivery

Since the model of the business is entirely online and based on the web, the need to have excess IT professionals on board to download and manage applications on each individual’s computer has been eliminated.

As discussed earlier, there is no need to download or install any application on any device to access platforms powered by SaaS. Choosing the right SaaS Pricing Model for your business can increase your chances of getting success.

On the other end, 3^rd party vendors manage all technical issues (and fixes) from their end, helping it to have streamlined maintenance and support for the business without much involvement from the core company.

SaaS Characteristics

A few important characteristics of SaaS:

It is managed from a single location
A remote server is used to host
The service can be accessed using the internet
No upgrading is required from the user end

SaaS Advantages

Since the service is web-based, SaaS business model provides several benefits and advantages to both the employees and business owners by increasing the efficiency of the processes involved.

It also reduces the amount of money spent on heavy and often time-consuming tasks such as installing and managing.

This saves time could be potentially used by employees to spend on more important matters of the company.

SaaS Limitations

Limitations-of-SaaS

Interoperability

Integrating the application to an existing one may be difficult and become a major concern of worry if the SaaS application is not designed accordingly.

In case it is not, the organization may end up without an integrated system or may have to design their integration systems, which is contradictory to why SaaS is used to save money and time.

3^rdParty Vendor Partnerships

Yes, vendors make it easier for the businesses to operate, and hence, most saas development company join hands but it is often difficult to get out of such partnerships.

Many companies face extra costs for importing data from 3^rd party vendors and on top of that, not every vendor follows standard procedures, and hence, despite these issues, companies have to work together because of the contract.

So, knowing the Cost To Develop A SaaS Application becomes vital.

Limited Integration Support

Integration is an essential aspect of every online business out there, the same as in the case of SaaS businesses.

However, due to the partnership with 3^rd party vendors, SaaS companies often receive little to no integration support from the vendor’s end, forcing the company to invest from their end.

Security

Data is an integral part of the SaaS business and large volumes of data may be involved in the exchange between the users, vendors, and the core company.

Transferring such sensitive data requires special attention from all ends since the number of data outbreaks and crime has increased many folds during the last few years.

If the vendor hasn’t opted for strong security options, the core company may suffer from a data breach.

Customizing

It is often the case that applications built on SaaS offer minimum customization. The reason behind this is that one solution cannot check all the boxes and hence, customers may be limited to only a few sets of features and performance as offered by the 3^rd party vendor.

Lack of control

Control, an important part of every business, is not there in SaaS business models. It is not only limited to appearance and updates but also how one can control data. The reason behind this is again the 3^rd party vendors, who always seek major control.

Feature limitations

It is true that SaaS has its limitations and hence, the choice of features may result in compromising security, costs, and/or other core things.

Moreover, there are locked-in partnerships, and concerns of integration may make the future of the business more unclear.

Performance

Performance is something every user seeks but since the service is managed by the 3^rd party vendors, the performance may also get affected to save on bills.

Moreover, any unforeseen circumstances may arise that may break the service but unfortunately, that too has to be managed by the vendors but in all these cases, the users are the ones to suffer more.

When To Use SaaS?

Although it can be used for a wide range of reasons, the primary uses of this service are listed below:

SMEs that are looking to launch an E-commerce platform in a short time
Short projects that require a fast and affordable solution
For applications that are used occasionally
For applications targeting both mobile and Web users

Examples Of SaaS

SaaS E-commerce Example:

BigCommerce would be the most appropriate one in this case.

It provides everything one needs to build an online store without worrying about coding, hosting, or software installations and makes it possible to open a store in a couple of minutes.

The platform is also responsible for releasing updates and fixes at regular intervals for all the users. Like this also find out other examples for PaaS vs IaaS vs SaaS comparison.

PaaS: Platform as a Service

What is PaaS?

Cloud platform models, otherwise called Platform as a Service (PaaS), provides cloud components to certain products while being utilized principally for applications.

PaaS conveys a system for designers that they can expand upon and use to build applications and other custom products.

All servers, networking, and storage can be overseen by the supplier while the developers can keep up the management of the applications.

PaaS Delivery

The main distinction between SaaS and PaaS is, the product isn’t delivered over the web in PaaS. Rather, it provides a platform for building applications.

This platform is directly delivered via the web, permitting the developers to concentrate on building the products without worrying over OS, framework, or any updates.

PaaS permits organizations to plan and make applications that are consolidated with the PaaS with special programming fragments, called middleware which are versatile and available as they take on certain cloud features too.

PaaS Characteristics

Expands on virtualization, so resources can undoubtedly be scaled up or down according to the requirements in your business
Gives an assortment of administrations to help with the turn of events, testing, and organization of applications
Available to various clients through a similar advancement application
Coordinates web administrations and information bases

PaaS Advantages

Advantages-Of-PaaS

Basic, cost-effective improvement of applications
Exceptionally accessible and versatile
Developers can make and alter applications without the requirement for support
Don’t require a lot of coding

PaaS Limitations

Limitations Of PaaS

Data Collection

Even though companies can run their products using PaaS, the core data will be available to the third-party and remains within the controlled servers that may or may not have the proper infrastructure to deal with security risks.

The security options in 3^rd party controlled servers, as it happens, may be limited as customers may not be able to deploy services with specific hosting policies. This may result in a data breach.

Integrations

Integrations are tougher and often complex to connect multiple points when the data is stored in a data center, which may affect the way apps and services work and adapt.

If the core of the system is built on legacy components, the chances of integration become much more difficult, and hence, would be recommended to not use PaaS due to sheer challenges.

3^rdParty Vendors

Business and technical requirements that drive decisions for a specific PaaS solution may not apply in the future. If the vendor has not provisioned convenient migration policies, switching to alternative PaaS options may not be possible without affecting the business.

Customization

PaaS is not really a plug-and-play type of solution for old systems built on legacy software. It may require a series of serious tweaks, customization, and configuration to make the services just work at a minimum pace.

This requirement may result in a very complex IT system that may underclock the performance of the system altogether, which is exactly the opposite of the purpose of using PaaS.

Runtime Complications

In addition to the limitations listed above, the solutions may not even be optimized for the language and frameworks of the choice, which may further result in a total breakdown of the system during operations.

If the specific framework is an outdated one, the versions of PaaS for the same may not be available or perform optimally with the PaaS service. Hence, eliminates the purpose of PaaS in the first place.

Operational Complexities

It is a known truth that customized cloud operations, management automation workflows don’t work properly with PaaS solutions and often leads to limited operational capabilities for end-users.

When To Use PaaS?

Implementing this is beneficial in several scenarios. Knowing this in detail helps you to understand PaaS vs IaaS vs SaaS comparison.

For instance, it can make the workflows smooth and sleek in case multiple persons are working on the same project and provide great optimization and flexibility to the entire process with ease.

PaaS can also be useful if creating customized web applications is a goal by reducing costs and simplifying challenges rapidly.

Read also: A Guide On How To Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost For A SaaS Company

Examples Of PaaS

E-commerce:

Magento Commerce Cloud is probably the most popular and used example in the world of PaaS for E-commerce.

In this case, the customers of Magento bundle their hosting according to their needs and requirements as part of their bundle package after going through a scoping process.

On the other hand, customers still have full access to edit the source code of their E-commerce store and customize it as and when they wish.

And the customers need to take care of any update, security patches, and maintenance.

Non-E-commerce:

The perfect example of PaaS outside the E-commerce world would be AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

Such services used as IaaS, and most companies who use AWS will pick and choose the services they need, where it works as another layer sheet on top of the infrastructure services and automatically take care of the details of capacity provisioning, application health monitoring, etc.

However, managing multiple different services using it can be difficult and often time-consuming for users.

IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service

What is IaaS?

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is more likely a self-service for controlling and keeping an eye on your computers, networks, storage, etc services providing access to virtual and physical machines and storage.

These services formed with versatile and automated computer resources. Rather than buying types of equipment for through and through for your business, IaaS lets you purchase the resources according to your basic needs.

IaaS Delivery

With virtual technology, IaaS conveys a distributed computing framework, for example, OS, servers, storage, and so on. Cloud servers given to organizations through various APIs and dashboards.

Therefore, the customers get practically full access to the infrastructure. Much the same as traditional data centers, IaaS also never needs to genuinely control or manage each aspect of it and gives comparable features.

IaaS clients are responsible for dealing with aspects such as servers, networking, etc, and so. In any case, in certain spots, services like databases are additionally supplier offers.

IaaS Characteristics

These are the important characteristics of IaaS:

Provides an Infrastructure architecture virtual platform
An essential building block
The cost differs relying upon usage
Profoundly scalable assistance
Customers hold unlimited oversight of the foundation

IaaS Advantages

Advantages-Of-IaaS

Easiest Cloud Computing model
On-demand stability
Easy to control aspects like networking, servers, etc.
Purchase of equipment and other resources available as per requirements
Clients retain complete control of their infrastructure
Quick transition to the cloud

IaaS Limitations

Limitations Of IaaS

Privacy

While the client is in charge of the applications, information, middleware, and the OS stage, security dangers can at present be sourced from the host or other virtual machines (VMs).

Insider danger or framework weaknesses may uncover information correspondence between the host foundation and VMs to unapproved entities.

Legacy systems operating in the cloud

While running legacy apps, the infrastructure not intended to convey explicit controls to make sure about the heritage applications.

Some improvements to legacy applications required before relocating them to the cloud, perhaps prompting new security issues except if sufficiently tried for security and execution in the IaaS frameworks.

Inward resource and preparing

Extra resources and preparation required for the workforce to figure out how to successfully deal with the foundation. Clients will be answerable for information security, backup, and business continuity.

Because of insufficient control into the foundation notwithstanding, checking and the board of the assets might face problems without sufficient preparation and assets accessible in-house.