Well, that’s a very basic question as far as cloud computing is concerned, but a very pertinent one for business owners. Now, before we go into why it is beneficial for you to go for infrastructure as a service, we would like to ask you (considering that you have a medium-sized business), what would you say if you were offered the entire information technology infrastructure of some global IT giants such as Oracle, Microsoft or Google etc.?
No, that’s not going to happen because these companies are not planning to lease out their men and machines, but what if they did? And, that too for a price you can afford? Of course, you would have taken up such an offer without thinking twice for your business, right? That is exactly what infrastructure as a service (IAAS) is all about. Let’s find out how.
Infrastructure as a service is an integral component of cloud computing and the very essence of cloud computing is probably best reflected in IAAS. One of the basic reasons why medium and large sized businesses are shifting to cloud computing is definitely cost and also the ability to not worry about the entire infrastructure are a part of it going AWOL when no one’s watching. In the case of infrastructure as a service, you being the business owner would just have to take everything you require to run your business on lease from a cloud computing service provider and they are going to be responsible for maintenance, upgrades and installation. You just have to pay for whatever you use and that’s it. You don’t have to worry about software licenses, hardware installation and maintenance and as a matter of fact keeping an entire IT department in place to run the show.
So, is it just peace of mind and nothing else? Of course not! Infrastructure as a service not only gives you peace of mind but also minimizes your costs you would have otherwise spent on developing and maintaining your infrastructure. The cost gets minimized because you don’t have to pay for an entire hardware or software system when you just need a part of or when you need it For just a couple of days. It is more like paying for whatever you want to eat and in whatever amount you want to eat - not for the entire buffet!
Now, what exactly does that mean for your business? That simply means you would have more money and time to devote to your business and on the occasion that your business fails to churn profits for you, you can just cancel your subscription and never have to worry about what to do with the hardware and software. This almost definitely also means that you have less headache about data security and paying for an entire IT department to do odd jobs.
The entire idea is to run the business on an auto-mode and if you can combine infrastructure as a service with software as a service, that is going to make the job even simpler for you. And, trust me, if you can read between the lines and can perfectly calculate your requirements, you can actually save a ton of money.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
