IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS: what is the difference between the cloud service models?

What are IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS?

IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS stand for Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. These are three ways to consume IT services via the cloud, primarily distinguished by how much management remains with you as the customer versus the provider. With IaaS, you manage the most yourself and only purchase the physical infrastructure; with SaaS, you manage almost nothing and use ready-made software. PaaS falls in between. This classification is often represented as an ascending scale of control and responsibility.

What is IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)?

With IaaS, you rent the underlying infrastructure (servers, storage, and networking) via the cloud instead of purchasing and managing it physically yourself. The provider takes care of the physical servers, virtualization, storage, networking, and the surrounding data center. You manage everything above that layer: the operating system, middleware, runtime environment, data, and applications. This gives you the most freedom and control of the three models, but also the most responsibility for the management and maintenance of everything running on that infrastructure.

Well-known examples of IaaS include Fundaments IaaS, Amazon EC2, and virtual machines on Microsoft Azure.

What is PaaS (Platform as a Service)?

PaaS goes a step further than IaaS: in addition to the infrastructure, the provider also supplies the operating system, runtime environment, and middleware. This means you don't have to worry about patching servers or managing an operating system; you can focus almost entirely on building, deploying, and managing your own applications and data. PaaS is therefore particularly attractive to development teams that want to build and deploy quickly, without the added burden of infrastructure or platform management.

Well-known examples of PaaS include Microsoft Azure App Service, Google App Engine, and Heroku.

What is SaaS (Software as a Service)?

SaaS meaning: with Software as a Service, you purchase ready-to-use software via the internet, usually through a subscription, without needing to manage any of the underlying infrastructure, the platform, or the application itself. The provider is responsible for everything: from the servers to the application updates. You simply log in and use the software; you may manage your own user settings and the data you input.

Well-known examples of SaaS include Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Google Workspace.

IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS: the difference at a glance

De kern van het verschil tussen IaaS, PaaS en SaaS zit in de verdeling van beheer tussen u als klant en de provider:

In short: the higher up in this overview, the more control and management remains with you; the lower down, the more of that responsibility lies with the provider, and the less internal IT expertise is required to use the service.

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Which model is right for your organization?

The as-a-service model that fits best depends primarily on how much control you need and how much management you want (or are able) to handle yourself:

•   IaaS is a great fit for organizations that require maximum control over their environment, such as those with custom applications, specific compliance requirements, or an in-house IT team that handles management.

•   PaaS is a great fit for development teams that want to build and deploy quickly, without spending time managing servers and operating systems.

•   SaaS is the right choice when you simply need a functional application (such as email, CRM, or collaboration software) without the need for management or development.

In de praktijk gebruiken de meeste organisaties een combinatie: SaaS voor kantoorapplicaties, IaaS of PaaS voor eigen software en maatwerkapplicaties. Ook binnen die keuze voor infrastructuur speelt vaak nog de vraag of u dit in een private, public, hybrid eof multi-cloud omgeving wilt afnemen.

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IaaS at Fundaments

If you choose IaaS, Fundaments offers a fully sovereign, virtual data center environment in Dutch Tier 3+ data centers: flexibly scalable, with 24/7 support and complete control over your production environment. Want to know more about what this can mean for your organization? Check out our IaaS service page.