A Guide to Cloud Computing: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Cloud computing has radically transformed how businesses handle their infrastructure. Among the most widely adopted cloud models are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

Both models have proven valuable for businesses aiming to optimize operations. But what’s the difference between IaaS and PaaS? IaaS allows flexibility in how you manage resources, while PaaS simplifies the development process by taking care of the underlying infrastructure.

In this article, we explore both IaaS and PaaS. Read on to get a clearer view of which cloud-as-a-service model could give your business the edge it needs.

What Is IaaS?

According to Statista, Infrastructure as a Service is now a $180 billion industry. It delivers important computing resources over the cloud, including virtual servers, networking, and storage. Rather than spending on expensive hardware, companies rent it on a pay-as-you-go basis. This allows them to grow their operations without maintaining physical assets.

Benefits of IaaS

Let’s explore some of the main advantages that attract businesses to IaaS.

Scalability

Resource allocation can be a problem for new companies, especially those with smaller budgets. IaaS lets companies scale their infrastructure up or down depending on demand.

Cost Efficiency

IaaS helps businesses save money by eliminating the need to buy expensive hardware upfront. Companies pay for only what they need. This strategy fits businesses engaged in software development outsourcing since those kinds of projects tend to have ever-changing requirements.

Additionally, IaaS providers have monitoring tools that keep track of real-time usage. Companies can stay on top of their consumption patterns, which helps with budget control. They can then avoid unexpected costs and adjust their resource allocation based on their immediate needs.

Disaster Recovery and Security

IaaS comes with built-in disaster recovery tools like failover solutions and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) for security purposes. According to Thales, 40% of the data that most companies store in the cloud is deemed sensitive. This highlights the importance of being able to secure and recover data.

Luckily, IaaS providers are typically stringent in protecting sensitive data by regularly updating their security protocols. This is especially important for companies involved in data analytics engineering services, where data handling calls for strict security practices.

What Is PaaS?

Platform as a Service provides a cloud-based environment where developers create, test, and deploy applications. The core infrastructure is hidden so developers can focus on making apps instead of managing the technical aspects.

Benefits of PaaS

Let’s look at how PaaS benefits businesses.

Accelerated Development Cycles

Thanks to their preconfigured settings, PaaS platforms considerably shorten the time needed to create applications. This feature of PaaS makes it useful for companies that do cross-platform app development.

Cost Savings

PaaS reduces operating costs by eliminating the need for physical infrastructure. Burst, a global digital agency, managed to cut their hosting costs by 60% after switching to PaaS. They also eliminated the need for two in-house DevOps staff, which reduced their overhead expenses.

Encouraging Innovation

PaaS platforms handle the upkeep of infrastructure. Consequently, developers can focus all their efforts on delivering better software. This makes PaaS ideal for companies that do custom application development or custom software development.

As an example, companies that embraced Azure PaaS managed to speed up their development cycles by 50%, allowing them to accommodate increasing customer demands.

Use Cases for IaaS and PaaS

IaaS and PaaS offer versatile solutions that cater to different business needs. Here are some of the key ways businesses benefit from using IaaS and PaaS.

IaaS for Outsourcing Software Development

IaaS has a lot to offer in software development outsourcing. Teams operating across several time zones can easily implement virtual infrastructure, bypassing the need for physical servers. This flexibility makes IaaS ideal for large, global projects. Additionally, IaaS allows organizations to scale successfully without dramatically increasing operational costs.

For example, a cloud computing company called FeNaGo switched to Volico’s IaaS services. The company ended up doubling its operational capacity despite having the same expenses. It even resulted in a 30% expansion in its customer base.

PaaS for Cross-Platform Application Development

PaaS provides a single platform where developers can build code once and distribute it over several operating systems, simplifying cross-platform application development. This saves companies both time and money.

One example of PaaS success is the multinational chemical company Jotun. Jotun migrated to Microsoft Azure to modernize its customer-facing and sales applications. Following this shift, Jotun’s infrastructure expenses fell by 40%. It also improved their uptime, minimized routine maintenance, and sped up development cycles so that the company could quickly provide cross-platform apps to the market.

PaaS for Data Analytics Engineering

Businesses managing big data sets depend greatly on real-time data processing. PaaS solutions, such as those offered by Azure, allow data engineers to manage and process vast amounts of data. For example, Azure Data Factory automates data movement and transformation to easily build scalable ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pipelines.

Additionally, PaaS integrates well with powerful SaaS data analytics tools, further improving its data processing capabilities.

IaaS vs. PaaS: Choosing the Right Model

Whether or not you should choose IaaS or PaaS depends on what your business needs and values the most.

Choose IaaS if:

• Your preferred approach is pay-as-you-go.
• You want total control over your infrastructure.
• Your team is qualified to properly manage and optimize infrastructure.
• Your business requires a highly customizable setup.
• You want the freedom to scale resources as you wish.

Choose PaaS if:

• You have projects with tight deadlines.
• You put innovation at the highest priority.
• You need a platform for developers to quickly build and run applications.
• Your team prefers low-maintenance and preconfigured tools.
• You want to reduce the costs of setting up and maintaining hardware.

Challenges of IaaS and PaaS

It’s not surprising that even though both IaaS and PaaS have many advantages, they come with potential issues.

• For IaaS: Its unfamiliarity and complexity are its major downsides. Businesses new to cloud environments can find it challenging to take full advantage of IaaS. There’s also the ever-present problem of data security.
• For PaaS: Some businesses—especially those with highly specialized projects—may find the limited control over the infrastructure problematic. Vendor lock-in is another issue since switching from a supplier can come with additional costs in the form of fees and penalties.

Future-Proofing with IaaS and PaaS

Both IaaS and PaaS play key roles in helping businesses scale and innovate. Ultimately, the technological needs and objectives of your company will determine which of them is best for you. You can even use both solutions if your project calls for it. Only one thing’s for sure: both will continue to be important going forward in cloud computing.

If you’re thinking of building software for your business, look no further than Taazaa. We’re a software development company with almost two decades of experience across many industries. Our development teams go the extra mile to make sure that your software project is built to achieve—or exceed—your business goals.