Cloud computing technology has become one of the fastest-growing areas of the IT market in recent years. Businesses choose cloud services to reduce costs, improve internal interaction, streamline operations, help with faster decision-making, and ensure more flexibility. When choosing appropriate cloud technology, companies need to consider cloud deployment models and cloud service models.
Businesses are faced with a wide range of offers from cloud providers. Broadly speaking, cloud computing can be provided through three deployment models: public, private, and hybrid; and be based on three service models: SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2016). Companies that are not able to manage and maintain their own cloud, opt for the public cloud where all responsibility for maintenance rests with the provider of the cloud. Organizations that need a secure IT infrastructure that is controlled and operated for the benefit of a single organization, prefer the private cloud that is hosted at the customer’s premises and serviced and managed by their employees. Firms that have seasonal activity may deploy the hybrid cloud where the best qualities of both public and private clouds are combined.
Another decision to make is to select a fitting cloud service that meets the requirements of the company the best. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) suits organizations that can design and manage their own IT infrastructure: create virtual networks, use virtual servers, storage, databases, and install operating systems and develop necessary application software (Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2016). Platform as a Service (PaaS) is preferred by firms that need access to operating systems, database management systems, development, and testing tools. Software as a Service (SaaS) is well-suited for companies that are satisfied with ready-made software solutions.
Businesses of all sizes and industries benefit from cloud computing and should be able to customize cloud solutions. The most significant advantages of cloud computing are its adaptability, flexibility, and availability of on-demand services. For smaller organizations, this is just as important as for larger companies: instead of hiring additional IT staff, they can outsource these services to the cloud provider.
Reference
Rittinghouse, J. W., & Ransome, J. F. (2016). Cloud computing: Implementation, management, and security. CRC press.