Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing model that allows outsourcing of equipment to support operations, hardware, servers and storage. The equipment owner is also the service provider who takes responsibility for the housing, running and maintenance of this equipment. A business benefits from enrollment in an IaaS program because the program expands existing IT resources.
Then and Now
Computing at this level is quite different from the emergence of internet services in the early 1990s. Add to that the various platforms available through cloud computing and business today can reap major benefits from the management and low cost availability. Cloud computing allows your business to operate without physically expanding the on-site infrastructure to accommodate growth, which would add expenses to the capital budget.
Today, the chain of command is changing and people within the links of that chain have tasks and titles that are new and not needed before the year 2000. Cloud infrastructure has grown at a higher rate of 40% from 2000-2015 and offers the consumer more choices than previously available. Companies that use the cloud have three possibilities to pursue: SaaS, PaaS and IaaS.
Plentiful, with a Chance of Expansion
As web services expand, technical advances in each of the Services will multiply. Next on the market is Mobility as a Service (MaaS) with more pathways to the cloud in production. Separating the three cloud computing services would allow multiple benefits for the user:
• Improvement in productivity
• Increase in system up-time
• Reduction of energy use
• Increase in energy savings
IaaS Demand
Public cloud use is very crowded, which is forcing some providers to re-access this offering. There are currently four major players in this segment of cloud computing: Amazon, Goole, IBM and Microsoft. All four recently dumped billions of cash into research and development of their pathways to the cloud.
None of the four offers the option of managed services and one of the providers, Rackspace, made a decision to leave IaaS to the Big Four with deep pockets and re-enter the industry as a managed services provider. Rackspace found competitive price reductions with the Big Four an impossible situation – as did GoGrid when they gravitated to the field of Big Data in 2012.
The element of choice remains alive because of specializations by smaller providers in this industry. As prices go down and small providers find it hard to compete, they will need to develop an exit strategy from IaaS marketplace. Consumers could be seeing cloud consolidation when smaller providers work to prepare exit strategies … to somewhere other than pure IaaS.
Reaping the Benefits of IaaS
The Forrester Consulting Firm conducts and analyzes polls/surveys for companies that need opinions from clients as they expand managed services. The firm found one enterprise with three active data centers within their infrastructure management venue. In the space of thirteen months that company was able to achieve 100% return on investment (ROI).
We can help you recognize and transform your business capability and efficiency when you contact us for more information. You will also receive a further explanation of benefits and features of IaaS so you can make a professionally informed decision before implementing this aspect of cloud computing.