Although they have common characteristics, cloud applications are divided into three modalities when the company wants to hire them. Commonly, it is possible to find the systems:
- SaaS — Software as a Service;
- PaaS — Platforms as a Service;
- IaaS — Infrastructure as a Service.
The three modalities interact with cloud technology, but, in practice, they depend on the technologies the company already has. Understand each one of them:
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS are applications that work between the web and cloud technology. By definition, they are applications developed by companies to serve the organization that hires them.
Tools like these are standard for the financial accounting area, with issuers of invoices or cash control.
This system requires internet access but allows company employees to use it simultaneously and exchange information. It is manufactured to facilitate a specific process in the company.
Bringing it to everyday life, SaaS has already entered many people’s lives, from streaming platforms like Netflix to payment systems like PayPal.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS is associated with cloud applications that can be disconnected entirely from web browsers. Existing tools can be adapted and transformed into a cloud application on a cloud computing platform offered by another service.
For this, the offered platform develops several technological resources favoring developers to create new resources. Organizations that want to implement Business Intelligence systems can also explore PaaS.
With the possible adaptations, it becomes much simpler to develop personalized reports that are much more relevant to the organization. To give you an idea, the main differences between a PaaS and SaaS system are:
- Form of access;
- Degree of adaptation;
- Level of relationship with the web environment (in PaaS, the dependency is lower);
- Level of specialization (PaaS demands specialized professionals);
- Scalability: PaaS can be an extremely malleable system, as the company requires.
To simplify, consider that while the SaaS is a ready-made system for an inevitable process of the organization, the platform is the set of tools necessary to develop exclusive strategies for it.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
The IaaS or structure as a service is nothing more than the availability of tools, storage, and other resources with cloud technology.
In this sense, the company can hire a package with the needed applications and not worry about technical aspects.
All data is stored on the servers offered by the provider. The user only enjoys the services without being responsible for their hosting.
The main difference between IaaS and PaaS is that the former offers finished cloud applications to the user.
The applications are available online, as well as in the SaaS system. The main difference is that in the case of Infrastructure as a Service, entire sets of applications are offered aimed at specific functions in the company.
Advantages Of Cloud Applications
By now, you’ve deduced numerous advantages of using cloud applications by companies. Data security and strategic management can be favored with versatile tools that do not require expensive hardware. But what are the advantages observed in practice with cloud computing?
Cost Reduction
The cost reduction caused by the agility of the processes and the economy with servers and storage generates a positive impact on the companies.
In addition to not having to dispose of equipment, migration to the cloud eliminates maintenance costs and losses caused by equipment defects.
Cloud applications, in turn, generate savings when we look at their functionality instead of manual processes.
This promotes an increase in productivity and, consequently, a reduction in costs with the turnover of professionals.
Scalability
The modernization of systems to accompany the growth of companies is essential for them to remain competitive in the market.
Many organizations implement, for example, backbone systems in their infrastructure. On the other hand, with cloud applications, it is optional to install new applications, let alone replace equipment.
The practicality of modifying tools and updating packages to expand functionalities does not limit the optimization and modernization of the company.
The same goes for when it’s time to cut costs: it’s possible to reduce functions when it’s possible to make better use of the system. Consequently, the company has much more control over its cloud functions.
Stability
The companies’ servers that offer cloud computing services are usually much more stable. As they exclusively focus on providing this service, it is much rarer for systems to present inconsistencies.
Thus, the viability of the applications is significantly increased compared to their storage servers. They are tools with greater consistency.
Finally, the container architecture reduces the chances that the software will present bugs in updates and migrations.
In the case of PaaS, the IT team can quickly identify and correct the failures. Due to the large number of users in SaaS scenarios, any problem is reported rapidly and corrected.
Also Read: Why Use Cloud Tools For Data Science?
