Software Services
IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS stand for Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. But that doesn’t exactly tell us what these services do. A IaaS is a service provided by a company, group, community, or government that provides basic computer networking, load balancing, content delivery networks, routing, commodity data storage, and virtualized operating system hosting. A PaaS is when a platform provided by a company that develops software applications for the underlying infrastructure of a business, and a Saas is software that provides a solution to the systems clients. (1) All of these software systems help a business run more efficiently and this is demonstrated by the following cases which I have researched.
A Saas system can help companies cut costs, grow without adding staff, and make existing functions become more efficient to better serve customers. (2) An article published in BusinessWeek perfectly illustrates how an Saas system can help. In this case a small business named Starr Tincup was in 500,000 dollars in debt, after adopting an Saas system they not only got rid of their debt, but also became profitable. After consulting with a company who provides Saas software services, the small business owner decided to cut 75% of his sales staff that weren’t running efficiently. The new software allowed the sales and marketing to be managed by just one person. This move cut down the payroll amount that the company had to pay per month. Instead of paying employees, he now paid the software company monthly. This system also made the business more automated so that the owner and employees of the company could free up time to focus on other things that generate more revenue. With this simple move, Starr Tincup found ways to automate their sales as opposed to putting in man-hours. “Starr Tincup now uses Vtrenz ($1,000 per month) to manage marketing and Salesforce.com ($100 per month) to automate sales. "This does not even add up to one fourth of one person's salary to get someone who understands sales and marketing," (3). Everything just mentioned gives the company a strong competitive advantage against everyone else in their industry. It allows companies to operate on a higher level of functioning which can lead to becoming a big player in their given industry.
However, SaaS systems are not the only way for a struggling business to get ahead. The other software services that a small business can take advantage of is IaaS and PaaS software. These types of software operate off of cloud computing. Which allows companies to “rent” the software as opposed to buying and installing it. This saves time and money for the company. Some of the companies that provide infrastructure services are Google, IBM, and Amazon.com. (4) IaaS operates on a “Pay as you go” model to ensure that a business only pays for what they are using. Which is another convenient way for companies to minimize loses and secure profits. Honestly, the only way I can see these systems becoming improved is if they offered them to companies for cheaper. According to vmwarehosted.com ( a cloud hosting site) prices run from $344 a month for a small business startup program, $199 a month for Storage Cloud, and $69 for a single windows server. (5) If these services were offered for cheaper I feel like more businesses would take advantage of it. Also, if these service providers advertised more they would be able to obtain more business. These systems are not very well known in the world of small business because they are fairly new. If Google, IBM, and Amazon were more aggressive with advertising they could easily obtain more business.
IaaS, PaaS, and Saas software systems are the future for small business, “According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) October 2008 report, projected Cloud IT Spending in 2012 will be $42 Billion; a growth of about 27% from 2008. IDC forecasts that Asia Pacific spending on IT cloud services to grow fourfold, reaching $3.6 billion by 2013.”In my opinion, every company should be taking advantage of these software services. They are affordable, and allow companies to cut cost, increase productivity, and increase time, which is by far one of the most valuable assets to a business.
Sources:
1. http://www.cloudave.com/9239/the-confusions-of-iaas-paas-and-saas/
2. http://www.theappgap.com/how-saas-might-just-save-your-small-business.html
3. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_72/s0812025631431.htm
5. http://www.vmwarehosted.com/
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