Journey to the Cloud: Navigating the Transformation – Part 3 – Source: www.govinfosecurity.com

Cloud Security
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Security Operations

Nikko Asset Management’s Marcus Rameke on SaaS or PaaS vs. IaaS or On-Premises HCI

CyberEdBoard

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September 21, 2023    

Part 1 of this three-part blog series discusses the requirements for a shift to the cloud, and Part 2 details the preference for on-premises HCI over traditional three-tier architecture data centers and IaaS and why moving the workload to SaaS or PaaS is preferable.

See Also: OnDemand | SaaS: The Gaping Hole in Your Disaster Recovery Plan

In Part 3, we will discuss why opting for SaaS or PaaS over IaaS is a sensible decision for most businesses, why cloud solutions are preferable to on-premises HCI, and how to achieve environmental sustainability.

Embracing SaaS or PaaS in the Cloud

As organizations seek to capitalize on the potential of cloud computing, choosing the suitable cloud model becomes crucial. Cloud computing offers three primary service models: infrastructure as a service or IaaS, platform as a service or PaaS, and software as a service or SaaS. While each has advantages, we will investigate why opting for SaaS or PaaS over IaaS is a sensible decision for most businesses.

Before diving into the reasons for choosing SaaS or PaaS over IaaS, it’s essential to understand the differences between these cloud service models:

• SaaS: Software as a service is a cloud computing model in which software applications are provided over the internet. Users can access these applications through web browsers without needing installation or maintenance.
• PaaS: Platform as a service provides developers with a platform to build, deploy and manage applications without worrying about the underlying Infrastructure. It provides the necessary tools, development frameworks and services to streamline the application development process. Infrastructure as code and containers, mainly when managed through Kubernetes, play crucial roles in PaaS by automating the management of infrastructure and enabling consistent, portable application deployments. This combination allows developers to focus on writing code and delivering value without being burdened with the complexities of infrastructure management.
• IaaS: Infrastructure as a service delivers virtualised computing resources over the internet. It offers virtual machines, storage and networking, allowing users to build and manage their infrastructure.

Advantages of SaaS and PaaS over IaaS

Simplified management and maintenance: One of the key benefits of opting for SaaS or PaaS is the reduced burden of management and maintenance. With IaaS, businesses must manage the entire infrastructure, including updates, security patches and scaling. In contrast, SaaS and PaaS providers handle these responsibilities, freeing up resources for other critical tasks.
• Cost-efficiency: SaaS and PaaS are generally more cost-effective than IaaS in the long run. By leveraging the shared Infrastructure and services of the cloud provider, organizations can avoid significant upfront hardware costs and ongoing infrastructure maintenance expenses.
• Faster time-to-market: SaaS and PaaS accelerate application development and deployment. With preconfigured environments and development tools readily available, developers can focus on building innovative features, reducing the time to market for new products and services.
• Scalability and flexibility: Cloud-based SaaS and PaaS solutions offer effortless scalability. As business requirements change, organizations can easily adjust their resource allocation and scale their applications up or down to meet demand. IaaS also provides scalability but involves more hands-on management and potential complexities.
• Security and compliance: SaaS and PaaS providers invest heavily in security measures to protect their client’s data and applications. This level of expertise is often beyond the capabilities of individual organizations, making cloud services a safer option. Also, reputable cloud providers adhere to industry standards and certifications, ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Enhanced collaboration: SaaS applications often facilitate real-time team collaboration, regardless of physical location. PaaS, however, fosters collaboration between development teams and enables seamless integration with various development tools.

Why Cloud Solutions SaaS and PaaS Are Preferred Over On-Premises HCI

Hyper-converged infrastructure combines computing, storage and networking resources into an integrated system. While HCI has its merits, cloud computing – such as SaaS and PaaS – offers several advantages that make it a better choice for many businesses:

Scalability and elasticity: Cloud services offer unmatched scalability and elasticity, allowing organizations to adjust their resources to accommodate changing workloads quickly. On-premises HCI may have limitations in terms of expansion, requiring additional investments in hardware and infrastructure.
• Cost-efficiency: Cloud computing eliminates the need for upfront capital expenses associated with hardware purchases. Also, businesses can pay only for the resources they consume, making it a more cost-efficient model than on-premises HCI, which often requires over-provisioning to handle peak loads.
• Geographic reach: Cloud services enable businesses to reach customers and users globally without needing physical infrastructure in different regions. This geographic reach is crucial for businesses targeting an international audience.
• Disaster recovery and business continuity: Cloud providers often have data centres spread across multiple regions, ensuring redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities. This level of resilience is challenging and expensive to replicate with on-premises solutions.
• Focus on core competencies: By shifting the responsibility of infrastructure management to cloud providers, organizations can focus on their core competencies and strategic initiatives rather than dealing with infrastructure maintenance.

Achieving Environmental Sustainability

Sustainability is part of everything they do. Aging hardware and software consume unnecessary power and resources, ultimately increasing carbon footprints. By decommissioning and recycling obsolete systems responsibly, organizations can align their cybersecurity efforts with sustainable practices, minimising their environmental impact.

Some organizations have achieved great sustainability results by using combination of cloud and hyper converged infrastructure as an example that provides huge electricity savings, due to several factors such as smart storage efficiency storage – savings up to 98% – that equal fewer storage units required and with flash-based solid-state drives or SSDs that use less than 50% of the power consumption of traditional storage hard drives.

Hyper-converged infrastructure collapses the stack by removing silos. It uses less hardware to support the workloads on HCI vs. traditional, three-tier architecture – for example, by using three units instead of 16 units to achieve the same results. Less hardware and cooling are required, reducing power consumption.

The cloud is a remarkable tool that champions environmental sustainability. Replacing traditional on-premises servers and solutions reduces energy consumption and carbon emissions. Cloud service providers can optimise resource allocation, maximising the utilisation of hardware and minimising energy waste. This streamlined approach significantly reduces the carbon footprint associated with data storage and processing.

Furthermore, the cloud enables scalability and elasticity, allowing organizations to scale their computing resources up or down as needed. This flexibility eliminates the need for organizations to maintain excess hardware capacity that often remains underutilised. As a result, less energy waste is generated and contributes to a more sustainable way to operate your business. Cloud-based collaboration and communication solutions also minimise the need for extensive travel, reducing our carbon footprint.

Cloud solutions offer many environmental benefits, from energy conservation and reduced energy waste to fostering remote work and, in some ways supporting renewable energy. Embracing the cloud enhances operational efficiency and demonstrates a commitment to preserving our planet for future generations. By harnessing the power of the cloud, we can pave the way toward a more sustainable and greener future.

Conclusion

Organizations should carefully evaluate their specific needs and goals when considering cloud adoption. This article is a simplified view of a cloud journey. While IaaS can be a suitable choice for some use cases, SaaS and PaaS generally offer more benefits in terms of simplified management, cost efficiency, scalability and enhanced security. Moreover, cloud computing, such as SaaS and PaaS, outshines on-premises HCI with its superior scalability, global reach and disaster recovery capabilities. But investing in HCI can be the right path until you achieve the proper maturity to migrate to the cloud; it all depends on your specific requirements and maturity on your journey to the cloud.

As technology evolves, the cloud computing landscape will undoubtedly transform, offering even more compelling reasons for businesses to embrace cloud-based SaaS and PaaS solutions while leaving the complexities of infrastructure management in the hands of expert cloud service providers and providing great sustainability benefits.

Rameke is an evangelist for learning and an activist for change in the information technology sector. He manages all aspects of IT for Nikko Asset Mangement New Zealand. Rameke is recognized as one of New Zealand’s Top 50 Technology Leaders, and he was awarded the prestigious CIO 50 award for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2021 by CIO New Zealand. In 2019, he was selected as one of the top 150 IT leaders in New Zealand by the CIO Leaders’ Summit.