"Back in 1955 IBM announced the 704 model and created the marketing idea of ""renting"" the mainframe, and began the first PaaS (Platform-as-a-Structure) structure. Only, at the time, they did not know that they had created the first PaaS structure: but it was the heyday of the ""timeshare"" mainframe computer, and IBM made hay.
The IBM that Founded the Colocation Dynasty
The company would go on to used their worldwide-computer-superpower status to gain what would become the world's largest foothold (now well into the multi-billion-dollar range) in the data center industry.
During the rise of the modern-day data center, in the 1990s and the takeover of the Internet that brought about a new class of centralized computing called Application Service Providers (ASP). ASPs provided businesses with the service of hosting and managing specialized business applications. Customers loved the idea: reduce costs through a central administration of their data. And the ASP (headed on the East Coast by USI and on the West: Futurelink.)
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) essentially became the 2nd and most widely-used ""aaS"" in the business, and was built on the ASP model. The acronym appears to have first made its indelible mark in an article called ""Strategic Backgrounder: Software As A Service"" (internally published in February 2001 by Software & Information Industry Associations' (SIIA) eBusiness Division.) In the next months, the term DBaaS (Database as a Service) emerged as SaaS' subset.
In effect, that internal document would become the basis of the nomenclature of the Cloud, and provided a blueprint of things to come, for both service providers and those needing of services quickly adopted the ""as-a-service"" mentality, so much so, that since 2001 there is now a long list of services (and sometimes multiple letters in use, see: ""D"") and leaders in each section.
BaaS (BackUp-as-a-Service): Think of backups and you probably think Symantec, and you'd be right, clearly the leader in the BackUp service industry, Symantec allows a user the freedom of unlimited backups and the product's reputation. Some smaller companies, like Backblaze, Crashplan, SugarSync and Zoolz are gaining traction in the industries for their lightning-fast customer service, inexpensive cost and the ease of being completely cloud-based. For most user, the end of the back-up-tape era is over.
BaaS (aka MBaaS for Mobile-Backend-as-a-Service): Web and mobile apps require a similar set of features for the backend (push notifications, social network integration and cloud storage, for example. Each of these services has its own API (Application Programming Interface) - and must be individually incorporated into an app - a very time consuming process for app developers. Enter Baas or MBaas: providing that necessary information highway between the front end and the backend. Simply put: the service is a model for developers to link their app to the backend cloud storage and APIs. Current frontrunners in the backend game; Appcelerator, Buddy, Cocoafish, FatFractal, Kii Corp., Kinvey, Parse, and StackMob: although with Apache throwing their Hadoop-framework hat into the game with Usergrid - that's probably going to get most user's votes: as they say ""Build an App, not a Server.""
NOTE: MBaaS might be the most unique cloud-based service yet: as it is distinct from all other services as it specifically addresses the cloud-computing needs of web and mobile app developers by providing a unified means of connecting their apps to cloud services.
The Newest Wave in Call Centers is a CCaaS CCaaS (Contact-Center-as-a-Service): New spin on an old concept in the service game. CCaaS allows companies 4 essential aspects that the original call center did not: the first one being flexibility (the solution can be deployed via the Cloud - so the savings in man-hour implementation can be huge.) With industry giants like Cisco and Verizon blazing the trail: they don't require large capital outlay, provisioning is usually on-demand - so scale it up or scale it down, and most service plans allow for you to pay for only what you use.
DaaS (Data-as-a-Service): After the massive migration to the cloud, it's safe to say that DaaS is here to stay. In a way, Data-as-a-Service is the essence of the Cloud. Hosted Cloud services are DaaS companies. The Cloud is just too inexpensive, the scale just too elastic and the needs just too vast for most companies and individuals to use. The Cloud-Based database is the database of the now.
DaaS (Desktop-as-a-Service): Quite simply: Desktop-as-a-Service is a cloud service in which the back-end of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is hosted by a cloud service provider. Multi-tenant in nature and usually purchased on a subscription basis, Desktop-as-a-Service offers an affordable for small to mid-size business (SMBs) that want to provide their end users with all the advantages of VDIs - but find the full-scale deployment of a VDI too cost prohibitive.
DBaaS (Database-as-a-Service): See Data-as-a-Service: the two walk hand in hand and mean essentially the same thing: whether hosted, public or private Cloud - DBaaS is a subset of Data-as-a-Service. The last three tend to be dominated by the tech giants VMware (owned by EMC) and Citrix.
DRaaS (Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service): The replication and hosting of physical or virtual servers by a service provider after the event of a man-made or natural catastrophe - typically DRaaS requirements and what the company expects are documented in a service-level agreement (SLA) and the third-party vendor provides failover to a cloud computing environment. Once again, this service is a favorite of SMBs. Latisys and Windstream are two of the most trusted names in Disaster Recovery, but last month in April of 2014, VMware jumped into the DRAAS market - and is a positive step towards a completely cloud-based DRaaS structure.
When Disaster Strikes Having a DRaaS is a Data Lifesaver
Check back for Part Two of ""as-a-service"" services, and for all things data center 24/7 visit us at datacenters.com or call one of our data center specialists at (877) 406-2248."
