ERP from the cloud is a variant of the business software offering that is increasingly attracting the interest of SMEs. The opportunities behind the (various) operator models are manifold. SMEs in particular see cloud computing as an opportunity to concentrate fully on their core business and leave the tedious IT work to others.
In this way, in-house IT resources are losing ground to managed cloud environments. Although many companies still operate their own IT today, the path towards the cloud has already been taken and is becoming increasingly popular. Only 26 per cent of decision-makers are still planning to expand their own resources.
At the same time, there is still some confusion about the terms cloud and SAAS (Software as a Service). Some of the basic terminology will therefore be explained here:
What is cloud computing?
The basic idea is to transform traditional products into web services. Cloud computing is not a fixed product term, but encompasses various aspects of computing, such as network infrastructure, software and data storage. All of these products are offered as a service where you only pay for what you actually use. The user's data is stored externally and is accessible via the Internet. The service provider manages the user's entire infrastructure and/or software so that the user has time to concentrate fully on their core tasks and business. processes to be able to concentrate the data. Many providers store the data in different data centres that are geographically separated from each other and located at different sites. In this way, users can access their data in the data cloud via another data centre in the event of power outages or natural disasters.
What is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) in the Cloud?
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS for short) is the backbone of the Computing in the cloud. Instead of buying expensive data centre infrastructure, users simply rent space in a virtual data centre from an IaaS provider. They gain access to this virtual data centre via the internet, the so-called 'cloud'. This segment of cloud computing provides the basics of IT, with users only paying for the equipment they use: CPU cores, RAM, hard drive space and data transfer. Think of ProfitBricks, Amazon EC2 or Rackspace Cloud, for example. All three providers allow users to rent virtual servers.
What is Platform as a Service (PaaS) in the Cloud?
Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is a solution for providing, testing, using and managing customised applications as a cloud service. This pillar of cloud-based services is gaining popularity as it allows users to focus entirely on application development. With PaaS, there is no need to buy or manage the underlying structure; PaaS providers often partner with IaaS providers to host the respective platforms on a flexible infrastructure foundation from development to utilisation.
What is Software as a Service (SaaS) in the Cloud ?
Software as a Service (SaaS) describes the use of software online from the cloud instead of buying it and installing it locally on the computer. SaaS products can be categorised into two areas: User products and enterprise applications. Common examples of SaaS user products are Gmail and Google Docs; both are free to use and can be accessed via a web browser. Well-known SaaS applications for companies include Netsuite and Salesforce.com. These programmes enable companies to use individual company segments, such as Sales & Marketing, more efficiently via the Internet. SaaS providers utilise multi-tenancy to keep infrastructure costs low. The software is accessible to all registered users and is automatically updated and modified without incurring additional costs. The SaaS provider manages the entire infrastructure at one or more locations. This reduces costs for the provider, allowing them to offer software usage at a significantly lower price than the expensive initial investment at the customer's premises by means of a monthly usage fee. SaaS programmes can be developed using PaaS applications, which in turn run on IaaS.
What is virtualisation?
The term "virtualisation" keeps cropping up in connection with current IT topics relating to cloud-based services. Virtual machines are increasingly conquering data centres and virtualisation is often described as the key and decisive step on the way to an optimal IT infrastructure for companies of all sizes.
What is a private cloud?
The private cloud is a special server environment that is only provided for one user (a company or organisation) and is usually operated in-house. Access is either via the internet or an in-house intranet.
What is a Hybrid Cloud?
The hybrid cloud is a combination of hardware hosted by the user on site and a service provider in the public cloud. In this hybrid form of both approaches, certain services are operated and processed in-house, while others are available from a public cloud provider via the internet.
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