Some basic differences

™

While people in the IT industry may enjoy debating about whether SaaS and cloud are different, most corporate decision-makers view them as sharing similar attributes and offering similar business benefits. According to Gartner, cloud is not just a buzzword; it does have a distinct meaning separate from SaaS.

Whereas C.C. has more potential for mass customization than SaaS, cloud does not particularly compete directly with SaaS. Amazon AWS and Force.com are unlikely to be in competition with each other because they segment the market into the high-end and low-end of mass customization respectively, and customers choose one or the other according to their needs.

However, both compete against on-premise software, offering many of the same benefits such as mass customization. But unlike SaaS, C.C. does not compete head-to-head for final end-user applications. Competition exists for components at each layer of the technology stack - from storage to user interface. As a consequence, they compete on architecture as much as they do on outsourcing. While SaaS adoption is usually driven by functional executives, cloud computing adoption is normally driven by IT executives.

Another interesting take is that of Brenda Michelson of Elemental Links, Inc. She created the "cloud-o-gram" diagram, her interpretation of the C.C. space. Her cloud-o-gram has four inter-related areas: cloud computing offerings, cloud environment, cloud computing environment offerings and customer-provider agreements. There are five categories of cloud offerings: "for the cloud", "about the cloud", "on the cloud", "of the cloud", as well as the C.C. environment itself. SaaS is an offering on the cloud. IaaS and PaaS are offerings of the cloud.

The salient difference between SaaS and cloud computing is that SaaS has largely been about Internet applications used by people, whereas cloud computing is about Internet application components used by other computers. You could look at it as Websites vs. Web Services. SaaS is a fully formed end-user application that is not located on your premises, whereas cloud is computing infrastructure and services that you can rent.

Gartner offer a tutorial for understanding the relationship between SaaS and cloud computing. You can use this research to understand cloud computing and its impact on SaaS providers.

What do you think? Can you think of any more differences between the two? Your opinions are welcome!

Today, we are the part of a digital revolution, with organizations going digital at a pace that's unlike what we have ever witnessed before. This phenomenon is termed as digitization and it is revolutionizing the way organizations work. With software fast replacing manual systems, IT solutions are currently in demand and every organization is looking for a good IT solutions partner to help them digitize their business.

However, the truth is that not all IT solution providers are the same when it comes to skills, approach and expertise and this makes it necessary that one has a few pointers in mind before choosing an IT solutions firm to work with. Here are a few things that are common to good IT service and solutions firms and indicate that you are in safe hands when it comes to software solutions for your firm.

1] Expertise Across Different Platforms

It's a fact that majority of computers and systems used in organizations run on Windows OS, but Mac devices also exist, so do other operating system such as Ubuntu and Linux. So, in such a scenario, it becomes extremely important for your IT solutions provider to provide support across multiple platforms, along with the capability of managing and configuring your workstations for seamless performance. While some platforms offer you the benefit of being economical, others offer higher levels of security. So, your IT solutions partner should have the desired expertise to decide which platform to go with, depending on the requirement at hand.

2] Familiarity with the Latest Trends

In the highly competitive market, an organization has to design products and solutions that cater to the current market trends. So, the least you can expect from your IT solutions partner is to be updated with all that's new so that you don't have to put in inputs. Your IT partner aws managed services provider should be passionate about all the latest updates in the tech world, including the product and software launches by Google, Apple and Microsoft. Not just that, the professionals you intend to work with should also be enthusiastic enough to figure out if the latest software on the block can be used for the benefit of your business. Is your tech partner familiar with cloud technology, for instance? If they don't have much clue about Amazon's AWS, Apple's iCloud or Microsoft's Azure, just don't think twice before you run the other way. Cloud is the next big thing and good IT solutions providers are expert in implementing cloud technology.

3] Certifications of Quality

Certifications of quality are a great proof that the IT solutions provider you're interacting with, knows their job very well. For starters, if it's a CMMi Level 5 company, then you can rest assured that they are implementing all the quality processes and adhering to the highest quality standards. You can also look for the entire series of ISO and SSE certifications among others.

In addition to the 3 key factors listed above, there are other factors that can be considered, such as their list of clientele and their portfolio of past work. Also, before you choose to work with an IT service provider, just research on their fields of expertise. After all, irrespective of their level of expertise, what really matters, is that they can design solutions that cater to the needs of your business.