IaaS or Infrastructure as a Service is simple – raw computing power and lots of it, as and when you need it. You then load up your software on the top of this. ICONZ is an example of a pure play IaaS provider, as is RackSpace in the USA. PaaS o
IaaS or Infrastructure as a Service is simple – raw computing power and lots of it, as and when you need it. You then load up your software on the top of this. ICONZ is an example of a pure play IaaS provider, as is RackSpace in the USA.
PaaS or Platform as a Service is IaaS with some clever software – generally proprietary – that enables developers to do stuff in the cloud and turn things into SaaS, although not always. Microsoft Azure is an example of a PaaS provider
SaaS or Software as a Service is again nothing new. In the 90s this was called ASP or Application Service Provider. This is where you subscribe online to a software package without buying and loading the software on a local PC, MAC or server.
There are literally thousands of these for personal and business use. SaaS providers are generally clients of IaaS or PaaS providers. Salesforce.com and Xero are two good examples of pure play SaaS providers.
(Source: ICONZ New Zealand chief executive Sean McDonald)
