Other types of service models for public cloud
Most public cloud services combine aspects of multiple service models. Other types of service models have been developed to handle different needs — such as DaaS, BPaaS, CaaS and FaaS.
As-a-service models using public cloud
Not all ‘as-a-service’ models use public cloud — but they are often used with public cloud.
In addition to SaaS, PaaS and IaaS, other examples of service models using a pay-per-use structure are those that help government organisations with:
- desktop infrastructure
- outsourcing business processes
- container-based virtualisation
- serverless computing using functions.
Desktop as a Service — desktop infrastructure
Desktop as a Service (DaaS) allows government organisations to use desktop infrastructure without having to operate and maintain its underlying technologies.
The New Zealand government has an example of the DaaS service model.
Business Process as a Service — outsourcing business processes
Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) allows government organisations to outsource certain activities that go into achieving strategic goals.
BPaaS uses a mix of automation, standardising and labour to fulfil the tasks of business processes. Government organisations buy the services needed instead of packages.
Container as a Service — container-based virtualisation
Container as a Service (CaaS) allows government organisations to package and deploy applications in different environments with few, if any, changes to their code.
Containers are packages that hold everything the application needs to run — such as its:
- dependencies
- software libraries
- configuration files.
This is also called ‘container-based virtualisation’.
Virtualisation is the base upon which software runs. This base is the simulation of either:
- software
- hardware, or
- both.
Function as a Service — serverless computing using functions
Function as a Service (FaaS) allows government organisations to build and run applications while the service provider manages the infrastructure — such as operating systems and servers.
With FaaS, you can create applications using microservices, which each focus on one part of the larger application. Developers create functions within microservices that:
- have their own databases
- can be written in different languages
- uses different software libraries
- are only activated when events occur.
FaaS is easier to deploy because:
- each function operates in isolation to the rest of the application
- it’s serverless in the sense that the service provider handles allocating resources when events activate each function.
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