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Cloud Computing Service Models

cloud computing service models

Cloud computing service models are a journey I embarked on twenty years ago.

Nearly twenty years ago, I was an executive with a large, global IT services provider. We did a lot of outsourcing. One of the challenges in outsourcing was that every client wanted a unique service for infrastructure and particularly, software. The culture in most organizations was simply one of: “We are special. We must build or customize our information systems uniquely.” Technical staff believed this because, well, it was their jobs. Executives believed this because it was a competitive difference.

For a few years, my job was to help design and market standardized services. Services that could be used by many clients rather than just one. There was a lot of cultural push-back to this idea, both in client organizations and our own. Many people just did not see how you could have a standard offering for a data center or help desk, let alone information systems.

Now, twenty years later, the outsourcing train has left the station. We call it cloud computing and everyone is doing it. In part, cultural change just takes time, typically a generation. In part, service providers have finally learned how to do standard, utility services much better.

Three cloud computing service models have evolved.

  • Infrastructure as a Service is the easiest to understand. Quite simply, you don’t need to own hardware when you can just use it and only pay for what you need. This is part of a greater trend to an asset sharing economy.
  • Platform as a Service is the hardest to understand, mostly because it is the most technical part. It means using network-based tools to develop solutions. PaaS is the home of much middle-ware, or pieces of software that connect things together. In many ways, it is the modern equivalent to solving the Tower of Babel problem.
  • Software as a Service is the most familiar cloud service model for consumers. We all use these and they work. Organizations are starting to adopt SaaS. Early adoption has been around “under the hood” systems like e-mail. Packaged software vendors are rushing their offerings to the cloud, e.g. Microsoft Office 360.

Cloud Computing Service Models are Confusing

Confusion abounds. It is humorous that while cloud computing is about standard, utility solutions, there is actually very little standardization in the cloud space. The cloud computing service models described in this article were derived by the U.S. federal government through the National Institute of Science and Technology. NIST believes that cloud computing can provide massive cost savings and increased service agility. But we still need to make progress in understanding what we are doing and better address issues of trust and interoperability

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