Cloud computing has a vital role in managing company workloads in today’s technology-oriented world. It is a broad concept which includes a wide range of models from SaaS, PaaS, to IaaS. Each business today wants to adopt cloud services that suit the aim of the organisation. It’s certainly a challenging task to choose a suitable cloud service and you need to weigh multiple criteria before making a final decision. When you intend to use cloud services for your company then understanding the key differences between all those cloud models is important. Here we addressed all the SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS advantages and disadvantages which will give you a perfect understanding of which model to choose for your company. Simply browse through the information below and review all comparisons made with relevant examples that will make the definition of these cloud models extremely clear:

Advantages of SaaS:

• • • It doesn’t involve any hardware and set up cost as users don’t need to install any software or hardware in their device.
    • You can get automate software upgrades on a regular basis. If there are any technical issues or bugs, the vendor will look after them and you can focus on your goal instead of worrying about maintenance.
    • The cloud service of SaaS is easily accessible from the location of your choice where internet services are available.
    • SaaS services can be availed from any device as you can get going simply after log in. You can even have the flexibility to access cloud-based services from mobile devices with the help of apps.
    • When it comes to scalability, there is nothing that can match the SaaS model.
    • The pricing structure of SaaS services follows the subscription model. So, users can easily estimate in advance what their monthly or yearly service cost will be. If you want any additional functionality then you have an option to update your plan.
    • It is very easy to customize as adopting all services of SaaS is a cakewalk for you. Users don’t need to have any special technical skills in order to get going.
    • The services of SaaS are quite affordable when compared with on-premises software.
    • It is a perfect fit for small and medium businesses that don’t rely on a huge IT team.
    • The vendor looks after all issues related to software and infrastructure.

Disadvantages of SaaS:

• • • User doesn’t have any control over the hardware that looks after the data.
    • Only a vendor has access to parameters of software that a client is using.
    • Sometimes users face restrictions over a range of services.
    • In order to avail services of SaaS for your business, you need to have sufficient internet connectivity.
    • In a few cases, staff may access application of SaaS without taking approval from IT which means the data stored is less secure.
    • Sometimes, you may find it difficult to integrate SaaS applications with the tool or software which your organization is using.
    • Users may need to pay subscription fees even though they have accessed services on an occasional basis or never.
    • In the case of SaaS, there is also a high chance of vendor lock-in.

Advantages of PaaS:

• • • PaaS demands a lesser amount of time and average skills for management. The biggest benefit of PaaS over other cloud computing models is that it can catalyse the development of new applications.
    • In the case of PaaS, server-side elements required for computing infrastructure are offered by the vendor. It means development department doesn’t need to worry about installing, updating and maintaining them. This allows them to centralize all their focus on executing projects with top quality and high speed.
    • PaaS cloud model supports several programming languages that gives software developers a chance to execute multiple projects on a similar platform.
    • For remote teams, PaaS also offers amazing exposure to get collaborated with core teams. Most of the organizations have specialists who work as a freelancer from a distant location. PaaS cloud model gives them easy access to main software from any place of their choice at any time.
    • PaaS offers software companies all the resources they require to develop applications and they don’t need to hire any extra staff for doing this. All middleware and hardware are offer, upgrade and maintain by the vendor which means organizations don’t need to hire dedicated staff to install servers and manage the operating system.
    • PaaS is the perfect option for app development teams which are focusing on developing cloud-based apps. It is mostly accept and appreciate by DevOps teams.
    • In the case of PaaS, resourcing can be easily increased or decreased according to business needs. It is highly scalable. The database and web services are also perfectly integrated into the PaaS.
    • The expenses involved in developing, testing and realizing apps are quite low when compared with other cloud-based models. The amount of time required for coding is also significantly low in case of PaaS.
    • If you want to migrate to the hybrid cloud, then you can do it smoothly on the virtue of PaaS.

Disadvantages of PaaS:

• • • The client has zero control over the virtual machine that looks after the data.
    • When compared with IaaS, you will find PaaS solutions less flexible.
    • PaaS may incur you unexpected charges depend upon your requirement.
    • It provides low customer control and less flexibility than IaaS.
    • PaaS cloud model does require basic coding skills and programming knowledge to deploy it successfully into the system.
    • You may face a few data security concerns while deploying PaaS cloud model.
    • In certain cases, compatibility issues for infrastructure can be observe as you can’t make every single component cloud enabled.
    • You must heavily rely on the support of the vendor.

Advantages of IaaS:

• • • First of all, the biggest advantage of IaaS lies in customization and flexibility it provides. Some of the vendors even provide different kinds of storage and computing options that let users choose performance parameters that match their specific requirements. Most of the vendors offer an alternative of metal servers that let users install cloud servers simply the way they desire.
    • So, IaaS comes with high customization ability that lets the user to easily install cloud services which they can match with the data center of the organization. On the virtue of this facility, users can easily migrate their apps to the cloud and deploy them very easily. Clients can create a hybrid cloud environment and integrate existing data with their software or tools.
    • Out of all three cloud models, the issue of vendor lock-in is extremely low in the case of IaaS. It is consider as one of the dynamic and highly flexible cloud models.
    • The cost incurred on services is directly proportional to the amount of consumption. What it means that you can keep a check on the cost as you will be charged only for the resources or services you use.
    • In the case of IaaS, the user gets total control over the infrastructure which is not the case with other cloud models.
    • Multitenant architecture is another benefit that comes with IaaS that allow you to use a single element of hardware for multiple users.
    • As the installation of hardware is done on an automate basis, you will find IaaS extremely convenient to use.
    • In most of the cases, the management workload is virtualize, which means they can save a significant amount of time and focus on their other tasks.
    • IaaS means you don’t need to worry about the security. The vendor is responsible for the safety of your vital data and they give a total guarantee about its security. All the hardware infrastructure is keep under specially design and well-protect data centres.

Disadvantages of IaaS:

• • • The IT team of the organization needs to look after the issues such as IT slack. Besides this, IaaS demands a certain level of technical skills and time from developers that will increase the overall cost of the organization. All these factors make expenses of IaaS highly unpredictable.
    • Sometimes, IaaS is more costly than other cloud platforms as you need to take the entire hardware infrastructure on lease.
    • Any form of vendor outages means users can’t access any form of data until the services resume. Any problems occurred related to the virtual machine is also the responsibility of the user.
    • Organizations need to give sufficient amount of training to their IT team to make them familiar with the management of entire infrastructure.