Cloud computing, simply put, is the delivery of computing services. That includes servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence over the Internet (“the cloud”) with a clear goal of enabling faster innovation, more flexible usage of resources and economies of scale. You typically pay only for the cloud services you use, which consequently helps to decrease operating costs, helps to run the infrastructure more efficiently, and scale according to the current needs of your business.
There are three main service models of cloud computing – often visualized in a pyramid where each level of the service model is more specialized than the one before, but it is built on the same basic structure. The one at the bottom (IaaS) is more versatile and customizable fitting to many applications, the one at the top (SaaS) is more specialized and fitting to specific tasks.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is similar to traditional computer hardware (servers, networks, operating systems), but instead of buying the physical hardware, company can purchase the infrastructure as a virtual service through an IaaS provider. These resources are usually easy to scale and offer the customer a complete control over the infrastructure. Examples of IaaS include Amazon Web Services and Google Compute Engine.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) stands for a platform allowing companies to develop, run, and manage solutions without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure that is typically connected with developing and launching an app. Developers can therefore focus on the software without having to manage operating systems, software updates, and other infrastructure matters. PaaS examples include Microsoft Azure, the Google App Engine.
- Software as a Service (SaaS) represents a complete software solution which you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service provider. Put simply, you rent the use of the particular solution for your organization. Instead of having to install the solution, the users can connect to it over the Internet, usually with a web browser. All of the underlying infrastructure, middleware, app software, and app data are located in the service provider’s data center. The service provider manages the hardware and software, and ensures the availability and security of the app and your data. Examples of SaaS include Salesforce, Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite.
Today, the basic division is often enhanced by a fourth dimension – FaaS, going even more specific.
- Function as a Service (FaaS) allows customers to execute code responsively without having to allocate processing resources ahead of time. It enables the customers to develop, to run and to manage application functionalities without the need to build and maintain complex infrastructures. This way of app development is often used when building microservices applications and it enables the achievement of the so-called serverless architecture. FaaS examples are AWS Lambdas, Azure Functions.
Another way to divide cloud computing is based on the deployment model.
Cloud deployment describes where the infrastructure for the deployment is hosted and who has access and control to it. There are four deployment models:
- Private cloud – an exclusive cloud for the organization, can be on-premise but also off premise
- Public cloud – cloud infrastructure is available to the general public and it is owned by the company selling cloud services
- Community cloud – the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns
- Hybrid cloud – the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public)
This division of clouds defines also the deployment strategy used.
We provide our customers with cloud consulting services, cloud infrastructure services, cloud application development and cloud application migration services. On top of that we are active in the field of IoT (Internet of Things).
Our cloud migration service can help you move towards digital business operations in the cloud. Migrating your in-house servers including services & applications running on them to the cloud can provide you with several cutting-edge advantages for your business. It is however very crucial to perform the transition properly and according to the specific requirements. As every business has different needs, we also follow a slightly different process for each individual cloud migration. With our cloud-native development, we help you to build and run applications that fully exploit all advantages of the cloud computing model. Our cloud-native computing service uses: open-source software stack to be containerized, dynamically orchestrated and microservices-oriented.
