Cloud Service Models

• Software as a Service - SaaS
• Platform as a service - PaaS
• Infrastructure as a service
• X as a Service

There are many different service models available, and more being defined all the time, although there are three which are the most common.

Software as a Service - SaaS

Software as a service allows for the delivery of an application that can be widely distributed and accessed.

• An example of this would be Google’s email service, Gmail. This email-based application is fully managed by Google and is accessed over the internet, and there are no requirements to install any software on your local device to be able to use it.

• They are usually simple in their design, focusing on the ease of use to appeal to the wider audience. This offers the least amount of customization to the application itself.

Platform as a service - PaaS

This service offering gives a greater level of management and control to you, as you have access to an application framework that sits on top of the operating system and up.

• The underlying architecture, the host hardware, network components, and operating system are typically managed by the vendor and taken care of from a maintenance and support perspective, which makes this a great deployment service for developers.

• Developers are then free to focus and concentrate on developing great new apps sitting on top of the platform.

Infrastructure as a service

This provides the highest level of customization and management. This service allows you to architect your own portion of the cloud by configuring a virtual network, which is segmented from other networks, allowing you to deploy any resources you require.

• You have the ability to configure instances from the operating system and up, including the type of operating system you install.

• The underlying host is still managed by the vendor for maintenance and security purposes. This service offers the highest level of customization.

X as a Service

There are a number of other service models, such as disaster recovery as a service, communications as a service, and monitoring as a service. There are more of these services that are making their way into the industry.