How Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Can Help Your Business
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing solution that provides businesses with physical IT equipment, like servers. IaaS providers manage these resources on behalf of the client, reducing the burden on teams to maintain and upgrade their equipment. IaaS offers many benefits to businesses, typically enabling them to increase efficiency, improve security, and scale bandwidth as the company grows.
In this article, we’ll explore the key benefits of IaaS and explain which businesses can gain the most from this solution.
Benefits of IaaS
1. Reduced Risk
IT infrastructure can be extremely costly in terms of initial expenditure and maintenance. IaaS enables businesses to outsource their infrastructure to a third-party provider, turning infrastructure into a monthly operational expense (OpEx) rather than a significant capital expenditure (CapEx).
The IaaS provider is responsible for upgrading, maintaining and troubleshooting the infrastructure they supply. This can potentially save the enterprise money, but more importantly, allows risk to be quantified and managed through the purchase of set service levels.
2. Security
Protecting company infrastructure can be complicated and time-consuming. IaaS providers are highly experienced in sourcing and implementing state-of-the-art security technologies to ensure your company data is as safe as possible. Outsourcing your IT infrastructure to a third-party provider adds an extra layer of protection to your critical resources and data, making your business less vulnerable to cyberattacks.
3. Scalability
IaaS enables businesses to rapidly and easily scale their data processing capabilities. Firms can instantly add capacity during busy periods and reduce bandwidth when it isn’t needed. Many providers offer pay-as-you-go pricing structures so that clients only pay for the bandwidth they use.
This flexibility is ideal for growing businesses. IaaS enables companies to better understand their bandwidth requirements without needing to invest in expensive equipment that may prove to be either redundant or insufficient in the future.
IaaS might be right for your business if:
You want to avoid risks associated with managing IT Infrastructure.
IT infrastructure is becoming increasingly important and complex for businesses to manage. Often, it is difficult for companies to recruit professionals with the experience and skills needed to maintain these assets, making a solution like IaaS particularly appealing.
Outsourcing infrastructure management to an IaaS provider gives teams the peace of mind that their equipment is in the hands of professionals. As stated earlier, IaaS providers can overlay your infrastructure with high-level security measures that are difficult for businesses to implement on their own. IaaS can also help teams save money on costly infrastructure and negates the need to hire staff to manage these investments.
Your business will likely need to scale or change quickly.
IaaS enables teams to quickly increase or decrease bandwidth according to their needs. Smaller or newer companies usually have modest requirements, and it can be challenging to forecast future capacity needs. This uncertainty makes it unwise to invest in expensive IT infrastructure and manage it independently. Partnering with an IaaS provider is ideal for growing businesses or teams that experience demand fluctuations throughout the year, as it enables them to easily scale their requirements without purchasing redundant infrastructure.
IaaS might NOT be right for your business if:
Saving money is your key priority.
Although we’ve outlined some ways IaaS can save businesses money, this is not always the outcome. IaaS providers usually charge customers based on usage and the connectivity required to access their infrastructure virtually. Because of this pricing structure, fees can vary significantly depending on the Service Level purchased by the business.
While IaaS may help some companies reduce expenditure, this solution is better suited to teams looking for greater security and flexibility rather than teams hoping to reduce network costs.
You want to avoid latency.
IaaS providers are often located in high-demand areas and service multiple businesses simultaneously. This large volume of traffic can mean that it takes longer for businesses to access or transfer data to their infrastructure, or in other words, add latency.
While this delay is usually minor and suitable for most businesses, latency can be detrimental to several industries, including customer service, telecommunications or healthcare. If your business operations can be significantly disrupted by minor latency, IaaS may not be suitable for your business.
Procure with Cloudscene
Cloudscene is a free digital procurement platform that helps network buyers search, find and connect with telecom providers. Businesses can use Cloudscene to find network solutions such as rack colocation, cloud connectivity, cybersecurity, ethernet, dark fibre, wavelength, IP transit and internet access.
Simply outline your requirements, time frames and budgets so that we can connect you with a provider that meets your specific needs. Explore our directory to find an IaaS provider for your business today, or get in touch with our friendly team to learn more about the platform.
