SaaS/IaaS/PaaS cloud engagement models

For almost every new technology and trend in business and technology initiatives, there are standards developed around it. Along with the Open Cloud Manifesto, there are some use cases for cloud computing defined in a white paper entitled Cloud Computing Use Cases 2.0 pioneered by the Cloud Computing Use Case group. Let's now take a look at cloud NIST definitions as for the three major cloud service models. Because, whenever the cloud topic is involved, it is in the context of these services models, which are Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Let's break them down and look at their defining characteristics:

• SaaS: SaaS is related to an application that is served and consumed over the wire, where the consumer itself has no control over the runnable software in terms of the operating system, network infrastructure, and hardware; so it is more like a black box for the consumer. The consumer only uses the service provided but does not control nor have knowledge of the behind-the-scenes mechanics.

• PaaS: PaaS is related to the consumer having a little bit of control over the hosting environment for the application it consumes and runs. So the platform can be an application framework; but still the consumer does not have any control over the hardware, network, storage, and operating system for that hosting environment.

• IaaS: IaaS is related to the consumer having control over the deployed resources as a whole in terms of storage, operating system, hardware in general, and in some cases even networking.

How WP and WEF in the cloud can help your initiative, and the value added will vary depending on what phase of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) you are addressing. Regardless, if you are planning a new infrastructure or portal migration, or a POV, the level of value the cloud brings can vary. However, the return on investment (ROI) can be achieved in all phases of the SDLC.

How are WP and WEF represented in the IBM business SmartCloud and Amazon Cloud? For those interested in the new cloud delivery model of provisioning portal development, integration, system test (user acceptance and performance), and production environments, the IBM SmartCloud has a plausible and viable solution. Based on the starting guide, we will walk you through the whole process. For the purposes and scope of this chapter, we will focus on the development environment only.