Introduction
Recently, many IT/IS companies started to use Saas (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). The three services mentioned above provide a virtualized space that replaces all the required data storage, desktop computing, networking, and many other elements necessary for engineers. The following paper will discuss some issues and considerations that have to be taken into account by IT/IS firms that use SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS on a regular basis.
Items to Consider When Using SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS
The first factor that must be considered by every firm that uses IaaS in its work is that it gives employees an ability to control almost all virtual elements and mechanisms that function as clouds and appear to be adjustable almost to any human needs in computer engineering. The second item implies the fact that people who provide their clients with PaaS can let the latter individuals personally invent and launch a wide range of applications with the use of particular tools and virtual programs (Kavis, 2014). For instance, Microsoft Azure, Google AppEngine, and many other applications perfectly meet people’s needs in this industry.
Finally, the last idea to consider is that SaaS gives its users an ability to access various programs that work only in connection with the World Wide Web (specific programming websites in particular). It is necessary to mention that SaaS providers profit from the difference between the operational cost of infrastructures and the revenues generated from their customers (Kavis, 2014).
How SaaS, PaaS, IaaS Increase ROI and Reduce TCO
This paragraph will explain how such services as SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS are used to reduce IT companies’ ROI (return on investment) and their TCO (Total Cost Ownership). To begin with, it is necessary to state that companies are not required to pay as much for their software when using SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS as they would for final products of identical programs’ developers. Instead, they cover only annual and monthly payments that are significantly cheaper than the first variant. This is one of the ways how IT firms can save their financial means (Kavis, 2014). Also, the more expensive products are supposed to be installed properly and maintained according to particular rules, which require additional costs. Instead, such actions are not necessary for virtual applications that run with the help of SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS.
IT/IS firms’ ROI is increased by the services mentioned above as they provide extra performance and additional capabilities to their users. Also, they offer many variants of ways that let them manage their growth and increasing demands of customers. In turn, all the necessary business calculations or strategies become less complicated when applied to the use of SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS (Kavis, 2014). Therefore, the time required for similar operations with regular software reduces significantly and brings additional profits to IT/IS firms.
Impact on the IT Support Personnel
This paragraph will discuss the impact on the IT support personnel that can emerge when their employers use SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. To begin with, it is necessary to state that the number of employees in the supporting department might be reduced as the services’ simple controlling options and mechanisms are much easier than that of regular programs (Lal & Bharadwaj, 2016). Moreover, all the management can be easily done by users as almost all the necessary instructions can be accessed by them within a single moment. Therefore, the work of IT supporting personnel might not be as critical for organizations as it was before. Instead, these professionals can focus on various business requirements of their firms.
Considerations for IT Companies’ Management
The first consideration that managers of IT/IS organizations must take into account is that various cloud technologies and programs have different options, which might make the working process faster if computer engineers have enough experience. Another item to consider is the increased requirements for security services that are important to prevent all the possible vulnerabilities (Kavis, 2014). In the end, the concern of IT organizations’ managers implies the fact that people who work with the software mentioned above must have specific knowledge and be prepared for the possible difficulties during their working processes. Therefore, all employees are recommended to be trained and provided with a new experience as to their professional activities.
Security Issues
The first issue that must be considered by computer engineers regarding the security of their information in clouds implies data breaches that can emerge even in the most protected environments. It appears that the majority of developers face this problem on a daily basis and report it to their superiors. The second issue is the possibility of account hijacking (Shahid & Sharif, 2015). As all the necessary documents and files are kept online, some advanced users can access them just by applying certain manipulations with passwords or webpage scripts. The last issue is the fact that some employees of IT/IS firms can use their positions to access the personal data of their clients or other people in their interests.
Conclusion
The use of SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS has more advantages over regular software as it does not require much support and financial investments. Cloud computing is a new approach to engineering that makes all the tasks easier for inexperienced workers. Nevertheless, the system presents some security issues that might have an adverse impact on the working process of IT/IS organizations due to the leak of important information.
References
Kavis, M. (2014). Architecting the cloud: Design decisions for cloud computing service models (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Lal, P., & Bharadwaj, S. S. (2016). Understanding the impact of cloud-based services adoption on organizational flexibility. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 29(4), 566-588. Web.
Shahid, M. A., & Sharif, M. (2015). Cloud computing security models, architectures, issues and challenges: A survey. The Smart Computing Review, 35(1), 602-616. Web.