Cloud as a Service
What is Cloud as a Service?
Cloud as a Service is a model of hosting cloud services via servers owned by cloud compute providers. It is a service because the compute does not occur on a company’s own servers. This effectively allows for increased scalability options, while simultaneously providing flexibility of costs as most providers offer a method of only paying for what you use. Cloud as a Service enables companies to immediately scale when required, reduce workloads for IT, avoid overprovisioning costs, benefit from support within the service provider’s team, and experience a simplified environment.
How does Cloud as a Service work?
Cloud as a Service works exactly as it sounds—a cloud compute provider establishes services for companies to subscribe to, on a pay-as-you-go basis. Cloud platform services deliver a framework for companies and developers to create their applications and orchestrate their own services through said applications.
Cloud as a Service essentially provides location-independent availability, with options of moving anywhere. This service is not restricted to any specific place, and it is safe and reliable no matter where you operate. Working on a payment model, Cloud as a Service is beneficial for both organizations and customers as it provisions services on an as-needed basis, unrestricted by architecture.
With Cloud as a Service, customers receive a simple, unified, digital experience across both private and public clouds. There is virtually unlimited flexibility, as data is hosted with overages available depending on the fluctuating needs of your organization. This gives customers the freedom to choose how and where to place their data, which tools to build their apps, and how much they will spend for the service.
What are the benefits of Cloud as a Service?
The key benefit to Cloud as a Service is the ability of companies to compete. It empowers greater agility, flexibility, and speed of transformation. The three benefits of cloud as a service revolve around:
Scale
When necessary, your organization can scale up or down in minutes, rather than the months it typically takes when services are not provisioned through a cloud compute services provider. With a pay-as-you-go usage model, there is no longer any need for intimidating conversations or guessing games about how much storage you really need. Service providers commonly offer up to a 20% overage to support your organization when you really need it. You will be charged for what you actually use, instead of paying up front for too much or too little storage. The ability to scale very, very quickly is needed in today’s landscape—to compete, you need the option of building quickly and efficiently, with minimal security concerns or latency issues.
Simplicity
To run your operations smoothly and effectively, you need simplicity. Organizations today require the option and availability to build, go, and move without the worry of whether or not resources are available in the correct location. For instance, if there is a need to run on public or private cloud, or within a containerized or data-lake environment, you need the simplicity of infrastructure that provides what you need, where you need it.
Speed
To maintain pace with the competitive nature of organizations today, you need your processes to run at speed. Making quick and efficient changes not only promotes ease of use and peace of mind for your teams, but also helps you stay ahead of the competition. Speed is a critical element of the cloud services architecture as it actually enables your data insights to be where they need to be, at the right time.
What are the challenges of Cloud as a Service?
Businesses are under great pressure to innovate and accelerate digital transformation, but some legacy approaches to cloud service providers include outdated complexities, vendor lock-in, and lack of flexibility. A significant challenge to cloud as a service includes the ever-growing need for hybrid cloud environments. Additionally, new applications are being natively architected to run in the cloud. This poses the concurrent need for hybrid cloud environments.
Security is another challenge of Cloud as a Service, with many existing debates concerning guaranteed data security and protection capabilities within a cloud environment. Concerns about security stem from issues with authentication and credentials, data breaches, and hackers targeting accounts, user interfaces, and APIs. Most organizations are hesitant or skeptical to have their sensitive data live in an unknown location, with third-party oversight. Many feel this scenario restricts visibility and control.
Another key challenge lies in lack of expertise and governance. Most organizations do not have the full level of resources available for a rapidly growing and innovating cloud architecture. Just as quickly as companies move workloads into the cloud, the cloud environment is rapidly changing. This proves to be a challenge for most, as there is a constant need to learn the new tools required to maintain the cloud environment where all your workloads now live. IT teams are also challenged by these rapid changes, as they remove a level of control over operations within the data architecture. For IT to effectively oversee compliance, risks, and quality management, they must have increased visibility.
How HPE can help you in Cloud as a Service?
The cloud promises speed, agility, and cost savings—but also requires solving difficult challenges surrounding compliance, security, and cost management. HPE Hybrid Cloud Solutions can help your business navigate complexities and transform your digital landscape, all while keeping your data safe and secure. Innovate faster with the cloud experience, anywhere you want.
Get hybrid cloud with HPE GreenLake edge to cloud platform to modernize your data. With data protection cloud services and breakthrough analytics, HPE GreenLake provides you with the control and agility you need so customers can accelerate innovation. With a host of services offered through the HPE GreenLake platform, you can experience innovation and security in every part of your organization’s data infrastructure and workloads.
Scale up immediately, extend your team, and simplify your environment with HPE Cloud as a Service. And now, you can leverage consumption-based IT with the partnership of HPE GreenLake and Nokia Software. Leading the 5G revolution with private cloud as a service, Nokia Software maximizes performance and reduces capital expenses. All while reducing our environmental footprint. With HPE 3PAR storage and HPE BladeSystem compute, you can enjoy all the perks of hybrid cloud, as a service.