05-June-2025 |
DEVELOPMENT
As businesses increasingly embrace digital transformation, cloud computing has become the foundation for agility, innovation, and scalability. At the core of cloud services are three essential models: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).
Each model offers different levels of control, flexibility, and management responsibilities—making it crucial to choose the right fit for your organization’s needs.
The diagram below illustrates who manages what across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. The more you move from IaaS to SaaS, the more responsibility shifts from your team to the cloud provider.
White sections: Managed by the customer
Black sections: Managed by the cloud provider
IaaS delivers virtualized computing resources—like servers, storage, and networking—on demand. It offers maximum flexibility, allowing your IT team to build and manage infrastructure while avoiding the cost and complexity of physical hardware.
Ideal for: Custom environments, migrations, testing and development
You manage: Applications, data, operating systems, and security
Examples: Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure VMs, Google Compute Engine
PaaS provides a ready-to-use platform for developing, testing, and deploying applications. It eliminates the need to manage hardware and operating systems, helping development teams focus solely on writing code and launching features faster.
Ideal for: Application development, web and mobile services
You manage: Applications and data
Examples: Heroku, Google App Engine, Azure App Service
SaaS delivers fully functional software applications over the internet. These solutions are ready to use, require no installation or maintenance, and are accessible from any device with an internet connection.
Ideal for: Day-to-day tools like email, CRM, collaboration, and file sharing
You manage: User access and data usage
Examples: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Salesforce
Selecting the right cloud model depends on your business goals and technical capabilities:
Choose IaaS if you need flexibility and control over your infrastructure.
Choose PaaS if you want to accelerate development with minimal infrastructure management.
Choose SaaS for out-of-the-box solutions that are easy to use and quick to deploy.
At Klevret, we help businesses navigate their cloud journey - whether you're modernizing legacy systems or launching a cloud-native application.