Saas, PaaS, and IaaS Explained - Examples, Comparison and Scenarios

Cloud computing is transforming the way users and businesses interact with mobile devices and computers. Gone are the days when people used racks of disk drives, expensive data centers, and even large IT support teams to manage and store a wide variety of their data. 

Due to the rise of modern and more innovative technological trends, cloud computing becomes an excellent substitute for the centralization of computer services under one server when tested and established properly. 

“Cloud is all about inexpensive yet rapid innovation. It brings the speed and convenience, the vitals to improving operations and yielding digital success within the virtual space.” ~ Parteek Goel, Automation Manager, BugRaptors. 

If you’re a person who is planning to move your business to the cloud or ready to acquire the benefits that cloud computing offers, you need to understand the three service models of cloud computing Saas, Paas, and IaaS solutions, their comparisons, testing process, and other information in detail. 

3 Most Important Service Models of Cloud Computing : Saas, Paas & Iaas

• Saas

Definition: Saas refers to Software as a Service that is a software licensing and delivery model in which software licensing is provided based on subscription, and it is hosted from the center. Saas (Service Software) is also popular as cloud application services, “software plus services” by Microsoft, and an “On-demand software” that is used by businesses in the cloud market.

Saas aims to deliver applications via the internet, which are further managed by third-party vendors like Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Zoho, Google G Suite, SAP, and more.

Saas users can work on the procured software without worrying about how the underlying software or infrastructure is maintained. The procured software or procurement software is a kind of business software used to automate organizational purchasing functions. Software functions can involve:

• Issuing and evaluating tenders.
• Selecting and ordering the product or service.
• Raising and approving purchase orders.
• Payment of invoices.
• Receiving and matching the invoice numbers and orders.

It allows the procurement department to ensure that nothing can be ordered without proper approvals. It also assures that the performance for the same type of product will be the same whether it is bought by a single user or multiple users.

The best part of Saas applications that are sometimes called hosted software, on-demand software, or web-based software, is there is no need to install and maintain the software. One can simply access it from the internet and work without worrying about complex hardware and software management.

Furthermore, Saas applications operate on the servers of SaaS providers, in which they manage access to the application and ensure to provide the proper availability, security, and required performance to its users. 

SaaS Examples

The common examples for SaaS (Software as a service) are GoToMeeting, Salesforce, Dropbox, Google Workspace (formerly suite), Gmail, Cisco WebEx, SAP Concur, MailChimp, DocuSign, Hubspot, Slack, ZenDesk, BigCommerce, etc.

SaaS Users in Cloud Computing

The most-commonly available cloud computing services or Saas products are widely used by companies for developing and growing their businesses. There are numerous Saas tools available on the internet for small businesses that one can use for content curation, document collaboration, email marketing, customer relationship management, performing fundamental business functions of accounting, increasing productivity, and knowledge management.

Saas software are beneficial for distributed global teams, mostly those who don’t work in close physical proximity.

Advantages of SaaS (Software as a Service)

• Obtain Access to App’s Data from Anywhere & Anytime

The benefit of using Saas in cloud computing is that you can access the information from anywhere, like from mobile devices or internet-connected computers, due to data storage in the cloud.

• Data Security

For using Saas-based applications or software, you need to hire onboarding expertise to manage the in-built security issues in mobile computing as the service provider already ensures the security of your data without concerning the type of device you will use.

• Greater Flexibility

Saas has become the hot-selling business model as it offers greater flexibility to every consumer and the Saas business owner. It allows you to run the SaaS business on unique verticals and make it easier for you to differentiate your product from others.

• Direct Access from Web Browsers

Saas apps can be directly used from the web browser, so you don’t need to take any hassle of downloading and installing software. Some Saas apps may require plugins to provide you extra features. Still, you don’t need to purchase or install anything. All you need to do is use the client software for free.

• Easily Accessible Sophisticated Applications

As you’re clear with that, there is no need to purchase, install, update, or maintain hardware, middleware, or software to access the SaaS apps. SaaS applications for enterprise use are very sophisticated.

• Easy Customization

In the modern world, each user's purpose is to get the customized app because it allows streamlining of the business processes without affecting the basic infrastructure. The architecture of Saas is prepared well, so the unique customization feature is provided to each Saas user and company.

Saas providers make the upgrades in customization more frequently to help you adopt the software with low risks and costs.

Related Read : How To Achieve Speed and Scale With Cloud Test Automation

• PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Paas is a Platform as a Service that is a complete development and deployment environment with resources in the cloud, which allows you to deliver everything from simple to sophisticated cloud-based apps. Like Saas, you need to purchase the PaaS from the cloud service provider and pay-as-you-go basis, and finally, you can access the resources over a secure internet connection.

PaaS involves infrastructure that are servers, storage, and networking, including development tools, middleware, database management systems, business intelligence (BI) services, and more. PaaS is specially designed to support the full web application lifecycle from building, testing, deploying, managing to updation.

With PaaS, you are free from buying and managing expensive and complicated software licenses, the underlying app’s infrastructure, middleware, development tools, container orchestrators like Kubernetes, or other resources. Furthermore, PaaS delivers a framework to developers that they can expand and use it to create tailor-fit applications. A third-party provider or enterprise can manage all servers, networking, and storage. On the other hand, developers need to maintain the management of the PaaS applications.

PaaS Examples

Windows Azure, OpenShift, Magento Commerce Cloud, Heroku, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Apache Stratos, Force.com, Netflix, Facebook, Google App Engine are the best examples of the platform as a service model.

PaaS Users in Cloud Computing

The end-users of PaaS (Platform as a Service) in cloud computing are tech-geeks, developers. Semi-technical persons, programmers, or can be anyone who knows about working with PaaS-based tools and platforms.

The PaaS service company is responsible for all the operational activities, their management, and maintenance of their own product life cycle. Developers can use the PaaS environment for development.

Advantages of PaaS (Platform as a Service)

The middleware, business tools, and development tools are the additional features of PaaS that give you more advantages like:

1. More Manageable & Efficient Application Lifecycle

PaaS has all the abilities to support the complete lifecycle of the web application. Whether it is the matter of building, testing, managing, deploying, and updating with the same integrated environment, the lifecycle of PaaS applications is efficient and more manageable. 

2. No Installation Needed

PaaS is an intermediator of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS), in which you get access to a cloud-based environment to build and deliver customized applications without any integrated development environment and installation that further costs you more expense.

3. Multi-Platform Support

The advantage of PaaS in cloud computing is that you can quickly get multi-platform support for the development because some service providers provide the option to make the cross-platform app fully compatible with various mobile devices, computers, and browsers.

4. Remote Working Support

As access to the development environment is given over the internet, the development teams can get ease to work together on projects even while working from home or from anywhere.

5. Minimize the Coding Time

Paas development tools are designed to save your coding time because it has already available and pre-coded app’s components into the platform, such as directory services, search, workflow, security features, and many more.

• IaaS

“The cloud system infrastructure services (IaaS) segment is forecast to grow by 30.5 percent in 2023 compared to 2022” ~ Statista 

IaaS is defined as Infrastructure as a Service, an instant computing infrastructure supplied and managed over the internet. It offers a standardized way of obtaining on-demand computing capabilities over the web. Its resources involve networks, storage, processing power, and virtual private servers. IaaS in cloud computing is one of the types, including platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and serverless. 

Unlike PaaS, you will pay for what you use. There is no worry of buying and managing own physical servers and other data center infrastructures. You will get a separate service component for each resource and pay rent until you need it. Azure, which is a cloud computing service provider, manages the infrastructure for you. Still, you need to purchase, install, configure, and manage your own software such as middleware, operating systems, and applications with the IaaS (Information as a Service) model. 

IaaS allows end-users to scale and shrink resources based on their needs and eliminates the requirement for buying unnecessary owned infrastructure. The cloud provider hosts the infrastructure components in an IaaS service model, which are traditionally present in on-premises data centers. It contains storage and networking hardware, servers, and virtualization. 

IaaS providers also offer a wide array of services to support those infrastructure components involving security, detailed billing, monitoring, load balancing, log access, Clustering, and storage resilience, such as backup and recovery. 

IaaS Examples

The examples of IaaS in cloud computing are Rackspace, Cisco Metacloud, Linode, DigitalOcean, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Computer Engine (GCE), IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, CenturyLink Cloud.

Advantages of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

• Higher-level of Security

A cloud service provider can provide security features for your data and applications if the service agreement is appropriate.

• Disaster Recovery & Improves Business Continuity

When it comes to considering the IaaS in cloud computing, you can have the right service level agreement (SLA), minimize the cost, use the data and applications throughout the failure or any disaster.

• Rapid Innovation

It takes minutes or hours to launch a new product or very innovative computing infrastructure rather than days, weeks, or months. Apart from that, IaaS allows you and your team to focus on your company’s core business instead of thinking about IT infrastructure.

• Faster Access to New Apps

As in the Iaas service model, you don’t need to take the headache of setting up infrastructure before development. All you have to do is get the new app’s infrastructure access with IaaS.

• No Troubleshoot Problems

With IaaS, there is no need to upgrade and maintain the software and hardware. Even, there will be no troubleshooting issues occurring in the app. With the right service agreement in your place, you can experience better results because the service provider ensures you that your SLA (service level agreement) will fulfill all your needs, which you want in terms of reliability, stability, and supportability.

Differences: Iaas vs PaaS vs Saas

The difference between IaaS, Paas, and Saas features are mentioned below:

IaaS Features

• Internet connectivity
• Dynamic scaling
• GUI and API-based access
• Automated administrative tasks
• Platform virtualization technology
• Affordability
• Multiple users accessibility

Paas Features

• Web-based user interface
• Multi-tenant architecture
• Load balancing and failover
• Scalability, adaptability, and flexibility
• No infrastructure investments
• Virtualization technology-based build
• Allows easy integration of databases and web services
• A variety of services offering for the development, testing, and deployment of apps

SaaS Features

• Availability on the internet
• Data security
• Subscription-based billing
• Application security
• Audit
• Automated provisioning
• Cost-saving
• Easy to use
• Multi-tenancy model
• High availability
• Single sign-on
• Infrastructure elasticity

Several Types of Testing in the Cloud:

• Testing of the Whole Cloud

In this process, the cloud is checked as a whole entity, and the testing is done based on its features. One can get this testing done from end-users, Cloud and SaaS vendors.

• Testing within a Cloud

The tester thoroughly checks all the internal features present in the cloud, and then testing is carried out. This type of testing is performed only by cloud vendors.

• Testing across cloud

There are three ways to get such types of tests done: private cloud testing, public, and hybrid cloud testing.

• SaaS-based Cloud Testing

As per the application requirements, both functional and non-functional testing can be carried out.

• Other Types of Cloud Testing

In SDLC (software development life cycle), there are numerous testing types like unit testing, component testing, integration testing, smoke testing, regression testing, sanity testing, system testing, and user acceptance testing.

Similarly, the other types of cloud testing are availability testing, performance testing, compliance testing, live upgrade testing, scalability testing, security, and multi-tenancy testing.

Challenges Occur in Cloud Testing

• Data privacy and security
• Data migration
• Enterprise application integration
• Interface compatibility validation
• Live upgrade testing simulation

Difference Between Traditional and Modern Cloud Testing

The primary testing objective of conventional cloud testing is to check the application's usability, interoperability, and compatibility. Based on the given specification, the system's quality is verified by the company to meet the functional and performance criteria. Nevertheless, the biggest aim of modern cloud testing is to confirm the quality of functions and performance of clouds, SaaS, and applications so that users can acquire as many benefits while working in a cloud environment.

Traditional-based cloud testing is expensive due to fulfilling the hardware and software requirements. On the flip side, current cloud testing allows you to pay for what you use. Previously, it was essential to validate the functions and features of the system. With the latest one, you need to perform the testing on the end-to-end application functions either on cloud or SaaS.

The conventional-based cloud testing relies on a configured and pre-fixed testing environment of the test lab. But, modern cloud testing can be done on an open public test environment using diverse computing resources. When it comes to testing the security features, the traditional process allows conducting security testing based on servers and privacy. In contrast, the modern cloud testing approach helps perform real-time testing of security features as per SaaS and cloud vendors.

Worth Read : How To Accelerate Cloud Migration With Automated Testing

SaaS-based integration testing is possible with the trendy cloud testing. In the traditional time, you need to check the architecture, components, and functions while performing any software integrations. Conventional testing enables you to conduct performance and scalability testing on a fixed test environment. Having said that, you are allowed to get the performance and scalable testing done based on the real-time scenarios and virtual-based online test data.

Cloud-Based Application Testing

Well, companies use different forms of clouds such as IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. They also use the combination of IaaS and SaaS cloud computing service models to achieve a competitive edge.

Mainly, there are three scenarios involved in the testing of cloud-based applications:

• Some part of the application is migrating into the cloud.
• An application is fully developed on the cloud itself.
• An application has been thoroughly integrated into the cloud.

The testing methodology can be made based on these scenarios. One may need to consider the network, virtualized infrastructure, business logic, application, data, and end-user experience for the cloud testing.

Moreover, cloud-based apps' testing requires proper business workflow, exception mechanisms, disaster recovery scenarios, and simulating failure scenarios. In the case of enterprise and cloud application integration scenarios, one needs to focus on testing comprehensive integration testing, billing mechanism testing (for SaaS), and API testing.

Scenarios that include partial or full migration of an application into the cloud require testing for data security, data migration, and data privacy. As a tester, you need to confirm cloud-based applications' accuracy with their attributes like elasticity, multi-tenancy, interoperability, security, etc.

To validate cloud-based applications' security, it is essential to call for cross-site scripting, user access & roles testing, script injection, multi-tenancy isolation testing, cookie & session isolation testing.

Keep in mind, there is no specific approach developed for cloud testing because every company has unique requirements that they can demand anything while migrating their data into the cloud. Factors like cloud architecture design, compliance, and non-functional requirements should be taken into account to ensure complete and successful testing.

Get Cloud Testing Services (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS) from Us

We, BugRaptors, have a team of both manual and automation testers who can perform testing on all cloud software models (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS) within the time limit that you have set for us. With our cloud testing services, you can ensure better functionality, better usability, scalability, data safety, even remove as many defects from any cloud service model. We guarantee quality and satisfy your cloud testing needs under one roof. Give us your details here.