Increasingly widespread, the Cloud "As a Service" model is gradually overtaking in-house or older solutions. Service providers Cloud now offer storage services, virtual machines, platforms and software that can be accessed directly online. Cost control, delegated maintenance and updates, secure storage... the advantages are numerous. Dive into the new services phenomenon Cloud.

The Cloud "As a Service" model as a lever for digital transformation

The As a Service model concerns all products and services offered by a provider and accessible via an Internet browser. The As a Service solutions are monetized through a subscription system. The model applies to several services: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, DaaS...

To make their services work, providers use online storage spaces, based on the Cloud computing system. To understand how this works, you need to know that Cloud computing corresponds to the architectural model which implies that services run on Cloud and that the as a service model refers to the monetization model.

The As a Service model is an essential component of the digital transformation of companies. Scalable, it adapts to the number of users and the storage space required. The formulas are proposed in packets in order to give the right number of accesses and to pay a price as close as possible to its needs. Designed to adapt to today's and tomorrow's uses, Cloud solutions help companies evolve with their market.

Managed by vendors, AaS tools save user companies from maintenance, upkeep and hosting of operations. Customers do not have to invest or recruit. The competitive nature of the market pushes providers to work in a logic of continuous improvement, allowing them to evolve their services much more quickly than a traditional editor.

Based in Cloud, these solutions are equipped with reinforced security. Protection of data, manipulations and exchanges, everything is controlled to offer the most secure space possible. Some solutions, such as Microsoft Azure, can operate as a hybrid Cloud if users prefer to keep data in their private Cloud .

The last but not least advantage of the solutions is the remote collaborative work. Since everything is recorded on Cloud, employees can work on their assignments wherever they are. The Cloud facilitates multi-site work and long-distance teams.

The different services Cloud As a Service

Within the broad service model Cloud, there are many levels of responsibility. From no maintenance to more demanding management, anything is possible at Cloud.

IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service, the lowest layer of AaaS services. IaaS delivers IT resources to its customers such as storage, servers, processing capacity or network components. By going through an IaaS, companies no longer have to own servers on their premises, they use the online resources delivered by the IaaS. One example is Oracle, which offers space rental in a virtual data center.

PaaS: Platform as a Service, i.e. an infrastructure Cloud on which to develop applications. The platform is based on the infrastructure (or IaaS) and adds middleware applications like an OS or databases. These services help developers to focus on application development, without worrying about the maintenance of machines or operating systems. Among the well-known PaaS services, we find SAP Cloud Platform.

SaaS: Software as a Service, that is to say a software or an application accessible from a browser. The application provider is in charge of everything, from installation to updates. Very popular, SaaS have many examples among which Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office 365, Slack or Salesforce.

DaaS: Data as a Service, i.e. a data provider. The storage and management of data are entrusted to a supplier so that the customer delegates the constraints and risks associated with data management. The European consortium LEADS or the company Informatica offer DaaS.

In the vast world of Xaas (for Everything as a Service), almost every need can be met. The choice of solution depends on the company's needs and the level of responsibility it wishes to assume. Do you have any questions about the most appropriate solution? Ask the experts at Blue Soft.

We have a full article explaining the differences between IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.

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