It’s been several years now that we’ve been hearing that the cloud is the future of computing. By now, many of us are familiar with cloud storage, having used such services as Microsoft OneDrive. But what exactly are cloud services?
Cloud services are IT services that are based in the cloud—that is, they are stored and administered remotely, rather than locally.
There are four main types of cloud services:
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This allows access to features that would normally be part of your local hardware. It includes storage solutions like Microsoft OneDrive but can also include the use of computational power and networking resources.
• Software as a Service (SaaS): This functions, from the user’s end, much like locally stored software. However, the software is installed and administered remotely.
• Platforms as a Service (PaaS): This provides the hardware and administration for your proprietary code. With PaaS, you can write your own code but leave the logistics of it to others.
• Function-as-a-Service (FaaS): More event-driven than PaaS, FaaS lets you manage app packages as functions while outsourcing the infrastructure and maintenance.
As you can see, there are a range of cloud services available to suit your needs.
Cloud services offer a number of advantages over traditional, locally hosted services:
• Lower costs: Cloud services are billed on a subscription basis, usually either monthly or annually. They don’t require purchase fees, infrastructure maintenance, or upgrade fees.
• Greater flexibility: With cloud services, you pay for only the hardware and software that you need. When you no longer need something, you can cancel that part of the service, eliminating or replacing it as necessary.
• Scalability: As your company grows, you don’t need to purchase additional hardware and software, nor do you need to hire more IT staff. You can increase the size of your cloud services package to meet the size your company is today.
With cloud services, you never have to pay for equipment or services you don’t need.
Implementing cloud services is simple. After all, the whole point of it is outsourcing functions that aren’t part of your core business. Just contact Intech Southwest and let us take it from there! We're proud to partner with top brands like HP Inc., Intel, and Microsoft.
References:
1. https://www.intechsouthwest.com/
2. https://www.citrix.com/glossary/what-is-a-cloud-service.html
3. https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-are-cloud-services
4. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/29017/cloud-services
