Cloud is a hot topic among global enterprises that supports the majority of online businesses. Many companies in different verticals use Cloud computing services to run a business online. Cloud is a big deal in the present worldwide business environment!

 

At present, Cloud is powering modern technologies for mobile app & software development for the business infrastructure deployment.

 

Basically, it refers to data storage and data management, i.e., how and where data is to be stored! More importantly, how to use the data for running businesses for more profits using Cloud!

 

The cloud allows you to run the software, applications, and services online. I mean, instead of running them locally on your devices, you can store data remotely across a variety of different servers online.

 

Cloud is all about real-time usage. Therefore, understanding cloud services is necessary.

 

With the help of internet browsers, you can access online applications, software, services, etc. anytime, anywhere as Cloud allows it.

 

According to Forrester.com, the cloud market will grow $236 billion in 2020, which was $146 billion in 2017.

 

Cloud services are similar to playing online games, where players can play games and communicate with each other from anywhere. The same happens in the cloud!

 

The employees work simultaneously on the same software and track each other's work. Furthermore, the Cloud helps you to collaborate on Google Docs instead of working on one to one Microsoft Word document.

 

But, the main questions are how cloud-based are services built? What technologies are used in it? What are the different cloud services? How are they used? Why is the Cloud skies ahead between other modern technologies?

 

To get answers to these questions, you need to know briefly about SaaS vs. PaaS cloud computing services. Todays’ article is about SaaS vs. PaaS and how they make your business successful online.

 

Also, we would tell you how a SaaS web development services company decides to use SaaS or PaaS for developing Cloud based software and applications!

Introduction To Cloud Services: SaaS Vs PaaS

There are mainly three types of cloud services: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). In this article, we will compare SaaS and PaaS, as their usage is more.

 

Whether it is SaaS or PaaS, each of these has its benefits, variances, and differences. Furthermore, their usage is also different and depends upon the business requirements.

 

PaaS and SaaS are the two main categories of cloud computing!

 

Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

 

While in PaaS, hardware & software tools are directly available on the internet, the SaaS is available via a third-party on the internet.

 

“Today, SaaS accounts for 24% of all enterprise workloads, while PaaS hovers around 32%.”

SaaS and PaaS In Cloud Computing: Definition

Software as a Service (SaaS) is the most commonly utilized option in the cloud market to run an online business. SaaS uses the internet to deliver applications from third-party vendors to users. Nearly 95% of SaaS applications run from internet browsers.

 

It means you neither need to download SaaS applications nor have to install applications on the client-side. It is all about real-time online usage!

 

On the other hand, PaaS delivers a framework for developers upon which they build and create customized applications using cloud components.

 

In SaaS, third-party enterprises manage all the servers, storage, and networking, but in PaaS, the developers maintain and manage the software and applications.

 

"SaaS products are fully managed by a third-party company, right from the data, servers, networks, and applications on them, while PaaS products act as the foundation to build new products on the cloud platform's network."

SaaS and PaaS Solutions Delivery

As the SaaS cloud service model is a web delivery model, it eliminates the need to download and install applications on every IT staff members’ individual computer.

 

SaaS allows the vendors to manage all potential technical issues related to data works, servers & networks, middleware, storage, and streamlines the maintenance and support for business.

 

Though the PaaS delivery model is similar to SaaS, the PaaS cloud services deliver the software over the internet; thus, providing a new platform for creating software.

 

The PaaS platform delivers the freedom to the developers via the internet, while concentrating on the software building and creation without worrying about the operating systems, software infrastructure, version updates, features up-gradation, and storage capacity.

 

PaaS lets the businesses design & create applications by integrating new cloud components in it. Such applications are also known as a middleware as they take on the characteristics of the cloud and become more scalable, flexible, and secure.

Advantages Of SaaS vs PaaS Cloud Computing

SaaS can give you and your business staff, employees many advantages by reducing the time and money tasks like downloading, installing, managing, maintaining, and upgrading software.

 

As SaaS runs in real-time, time of technical staff easily gets saved, they spend more of their time on building issues within the organization.

 

On the other hand, with PaaS, no matter what is the size of your company, PaaS can offer several advantages. PaaS is a scalable, highly available, simple, cost-effective, and easily migratable cloud computing model.

 

Furthermore, in PaaS, the developers easily customize apps and software, significantly by reducing the coding.

 

When To Use SaaS and PaaS?

SaaS cloud services model benefits in the following situations:

l  For startup and small companies who want to launch eCommerce quickly

l  For short-term with quick, easy, simple, and affordable collaboration

l  For the applications that require both web and mobile access

 

Also, there are some other ways where SaaS can be utilized with its full-force such as to manage all business centers from a central location, hosting on remote servers, and when the users aren’t responsible for any hardware-software updates.

 

However, PaaS applications benefit when multiple developers are working on the same development project. Actually, the PaaS helps in streamlining the workflow of the project. As a result, PaaS easily simplifies some challenges of rapid development and deployment.

 

Therefore, it is not wrong to say that PaaS can provide you with exceptional speed & flexibility while you customize your applications.

 

Below are some of the PasS characteristics:

l  As it is based upon the virtualization technology, you can scale up or down the resources as the business requirements changes.

l  Also, it provides many services and assists in the phases of development, designing, implementation, testing, and deployment.

l  PaaS can easily integrate web services & databases.

 

Examples Of SaaS and PaaS Solutions

SaaS Examples: BigCommerce,  Hubspot, Google Apps, Slack, Salesforce, DocuSign, Dropbox, ZenDesk, MailChimp, etc.

 

PaaS Examples: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Magento Commerce Cloud, Heroku, Apache Stratos, Windows Azure (mostly used as PaaS), OpenShift, Force.com, etc.

A Key SaaS and PaaS Difference

PaaS cloud services model-based products allow the developers to build custom online applications without dealing with data serving, storing, and managing.

 

On the other hand, SaaS products are used by those companies who want to create and grow their businesses by using cloud services. Compared to PaaS, SaaS cloud models are scalable, easy to manage, and highly usable.

SaaS vs PaaS: Pros & Cons

One of the biggest advantages of the PaaS model is that it provides a lot of control to IT administrators over the software and applications upon the building.

 

However, one disadvantage of the PaaS model is that you can only control what's built over the PaaS platform. In case, if there's an issue with the OS & hardware, it will also take out the PaaS based software application with them.

 

However, the story with SaaS is quite different!

 

A big advantage of using the SaaS product is its easy setup. The SaaS products are cloud-based products, which don't need any local hosting of software on the servers of your office or business.

 

Just log online, and start accessing the applications!

 

However, this easiness is disadvantageous because while using SaaS products, you have no control over the infrastructure on which the product is running. In turn, it impacts your business processes.

 

Thus, SaaS deployment needs more care and time!

Final Conclusion

Both PaaS and SaaS offer specific features and functionalities to your companies & organizations depending upon their built-in structure. Hence, as per your business requirements, you should know about both.

 

No matter what you choose, we know your online business will ultimately migrate to the Cloud, which is the future of technology and business!

 

SaaS and PaaS are the two available options in Cloud computing. Now the choice is yours whether you need a smooth platform to create customized applications or you want to establish complete control over the entire infrastructure of the software, but without physically maintaining it.

 

For example, if I am interested in creating an app for my business, then I will use PaaS products as it is the best platform to run the app.

 

Finally, I would conclude by saying that SaaS fits best for those companies, who always look for out-of-the-box easily accessible applications and PaaS is best for those companies that believe in building a solution on an existing network.