SaaS, IaaS, PaaS – What’s The Difference?

SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS are essential in modern IT infrastructures and business models. Each model provides different functionalities that help companies effectively manage their resources and focus on core business objectives. This article will help you learn more about the features of each model and consider the available IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS application development solutions provided by modern companies.

What Is SaaS?

Software as a service (SaaS) is a cloud-based service available via subscription. Instead of downloading programs to a laptop, the user needs an Internet connection and a paid subscription. Such software can be anything, from a service for conducting negotiations to a program for calculating employee salaries.

Gmail and Google Docs are great examples of SaaS. Thanks to the capabilities of Google accounts and a text editor, users can connect with other team players to work in real-time, edit texts, discuss data, and make updates.

Let’s say you are working on a remote project for an international company. The head of the HR department asks to send a monthly invoice, which contains the following information: dates of work activity, payment per hour, and number of hours worked. This data is necessary to officially pay the employee’s salary within the framework of the work contract. Previously, in this case, you had to create a table in Excel and enter all the required parameters there. Now, with the advent of SaaS programs, this is done automatically. For example, you can use the Free Invoice Generator service to issue an invoice properly.

And if you want to create a travel blog but write texts much better than your program, you can’t do without SaaS here, either. You can choose website design templates on Wix or WordPress, pay a subscription (usually for a year) for hosting, and manage your blog.

So, among the main features of SaaS:

• this is a cloud model;
• requires a subscription fee, but access to some functions of SaaS may be free;
• access to SaaS requires a good network connection;
• the SaaS solution can automatically do the developer’s work;
• the SaaS solution automatically saves all the information the user works with;
• database support.

What is IaaS?

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a collection of physical and virtual resources that provide consumers with the basic set to run an application and use the cloud.

IaaS includes the following aspects:

• Providers manage huge databases, usually worldwide, and end users do not directly interact with the physical infrastructure, although they use the ordered services.
• IaaS is called a virtual machine. Providers manage the hypervisors, and end users get as much memory and storage as they need.
• Networking in the cloud involves traditional hardware such as routers, which, in the case of IaaS, is programmed via APIs. More complex cases include constructing virtual personal cloud services based on IaaS.

The three main types of cloud storage are block, file, and object databases. Traditional information management centers use block and file storage. In IaaS, a storage model that spreads quickly and provides easy access to data via HTTP/HTTPS is more acceptable.

According to IBM, IaaS is used for testing environments, direct-to-consumer websites, information warehouses, analytics programs, and running software in large companies.

Examples of IaaS are the American cloud infrastructure provider DigitalOcean, its analog – the cloud hosting company originally from Pennsylvania Linode, the hosting provider Rackspace, and the commercial public cloud Amazon Web Services.

What Is PaaS?

Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud service that provides tools for software development, APIs, and codes.

PaaS supports the complete application lifecycle: design, testing, implementation, management, and updating. Because this service is based on the cloud, there is no need to update servers or make changes. The platform is monitored by its creator, and this is included in the cost of PaaS services for the user.

Nowadays, creative agencies, consulting services, and IT teams prefer PaaS because the platform helps them create applications efficiently and in accordance with market requirements.

One example of a PaaS is AWS Elastic Beanstalk. Amazon Web Services offers more than a hundred services, particularly S3, RDS, and EC2. While most of these services can exist on an IaaS basis (meaning AWS customers choose the services they need at the moment), there are challenges. Managing various services can take a lot of time for consumers, and then it is much more profitable to turn to the PaaS model, receiving a platform with ready-made functions for work.

Speaking about the difference in services provided by the three cloud services, the following should be noted:

• IaaS requires payment for services such as storage, networking, and virtualization;
• PaaS allows access to the best hardware and software solutions anywhere in the world;
• SaaS is available to third parties via subscription and online.

In the case of SaaS, users do not need to download software to their computer, just access the network. But businesses need to remember cybersecurity: after all, when storing all data on the cloud, it is necessary to ensure security against hackers. In addition to an antivirus, licensed software, and regular application updates, installing a VPN and accessing unfamiliar sites by changing the IP address is advisable.

Another advantage of SaaS for business is the absence of the need to attract IT specialists who will manage the computer department’s work. The cloud does this work. The development of cloud services, particularly SaaS applications, is a promising idea that will undoubtedly find a response from individuals and companies. However, the development of a SaaS application requires the involvement of a whole team of experienced specialists.

Wrapping It Up

SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS are the three cloud structure models. PaaS will be needed by those who must use various programs but do not want to spend time managing each. IaaS, on the contrary, allows you to choose what you need, pay for use, and work with the required tools. SaaS benefits small companies that perform complex calculations but do not want to pay for massive platforms and open an IT department.

If your goal is to develop a SaaS application, it is worth finding a reliable company to create such applications. Pay attention to Digiteum, a company with more than ten years of experience developing mobile applications, SaaS solutions, MVPs, etc.