Most likely that you have heard of Software as a Service, the original “as a service” idea, and you are certainly using this type of service on a daily basis either on your smartphone, tablet or by accessing your online bank account.
The “as a service” world has expanded dramatically in the last decade and we are looking now at a plethora of services that reside “in the cloud”, whatever the type, location or reliability of the cloud may we be talking about.
Here is a top of “as a service” I put together that a business these days should not ignore:
- UCAAS or Unified Communications as a Service. The UCaaS industry is led by email, collaboration, conferencing and telephony. (Skype, WebEx, NetMeeting, CallTower, Cypress ..)
- BAAS or Backup as a Service. Basically, backup to the cloud. (Amazon, Windows Azure, Iron Mountain ..)
- DBAAS or Database as a Service (Daas). Virtually, all major database platforms are "up in the cloud today. This is a service that cannot be ignored. (Amazon RDS, Windows Azure SQL ..)
- IAAS or Identity as a Service. Identity and access management, administration, audit and verification for cloud based services (Google, IBM, Windows Passport Services, Verizon Business)
- SAAS or Storage as a Service. Also serving the loved and appreciated CDN (content delivery network) and powering BaaS. (Amazon S3, Windows Azure Storage, Google Docs ..)
I am planning to update this list and provide some insight into the ups and downs of using this and that service. I am personally concentrating on two major cloud solutions out there: Amazon and Windows Azure.
For the iCloud crowd, you have to appreciate the fact that Apple starts with the user and then figures out the technology part. The experience is great!
