Cloud Project

SaaS: Software-as-a-Service

• Also known as an on-demand software, SaaS is an application that can be accessed from anywhere on the world as long as you have a computer with a web browser and an Internet connection. The simplest forms of SaaS are your Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail email accounts. You can access this cloud-hosted application without any additional hardware or software, which provides you great flexibility to conduct your business. Most software-as-a-service providers will offer you security features such as SSL encryption, a cryptographic protocol that ensures secured information transfers online.

PaaS: Platform-as-a-Service

• A PaaS is a platform for developers to write and create their own SaaS. SalesForce’s Force.com is an example of a Platform-as-a-Service. A PaaS provides developers necessary tools not only to create and test but also to host and maintain created applications. The most well known PaaS is Facebook. The popular social media site is a Platform-as-a-Service for third parties to create, host, and maintain social apps that can be accessed by the platform users. On the corporate side, McDonald’s application development team is a frequently cited example of a large corporation that is using a Platform-as-a-Service to save costs and become more effective in app development.

IaaS: Infrastructure-as-a-Service

• Also known as Hardware-as-a-Service, IaaS is computing power that you can rent for a fee for a limited period of time. When you hear somebody refer to the advantages of scalable computing power from cloud computing, they are referring to IaaS. Amazon.com is a major force in this field. Amazon EC2’s infrastructure provides the computing power behind major online services such as Foursquare and SmugMug. When using IaaS, companies can rely on the cloud to determine the necessary computing power at all times. Instead of investing in servers and being stuck with them, organizations using IaaS have the flexibility of only paying for the computing power that they need. Therefore, it is not a surprise that IaaS is a great alternative for startups with limited funds.

Project

• You will be assigned Saas, Iaas, or PaaS• Provide:– What is cloud technology– A detailed explanation of what SaaS, IaaS, or Paas

is– Give examples of products currently used– Explain how it would benefit a company– Talk about the future of the technology