While most people are familiar with Cloud computing, there is still some confusion over different cloud service offerings – SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Below is a quick summary of each model and how they are different and similar in many ways.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS delivers software over the Internet. Therefore, you do not need to buy, install, maintain or update the software yourself.
- Typical User: End -User
- Management: SaaS providers run, manage, and update the software
- Some examples: Salesforce, Google Apps, Netsuite, Acquia, ZenDesk
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS is a deployment environment in the Cloud, allowing customers to develop applications and services over the internet.
- Typical User: Aimed at Software Development Teams
- Management: Customers manage the applications and services they develop, and PaaS providers typically manage everything else
- Some examples: Amazon Web Services, Azure, Heroku, Venda
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS provides virtualized computing resources over the Internet. In other words, they provide access to computing resources such as processing power, data storage, and networking.
- Typical User: Development Teams
- Management: Customers manage applications, data, middleware etc. IaaS providers manage virtualization, servers, storage etc
- Some examples: Google Compute Engine, Rackspace Open Cloud, IBM SmartCloud
