Businesses thrive when they get a lift, especially to the cloud. Cloud computing has made a profound impact on how companies work. By 2025, over 100 zettabytes of data will be stored in the cloud. It serves as a switch to power your business without worrying about putting together in-house servers.
More specifically, cloud computing enables the delivery of computing services like servers, databases, analytics, networking, storage, software, and intelligence over the internet.
Despite its booming growth in the past few years, it continues to draw attention. With an extensive list of benefits, from cost-effectiveness to high performance, cloud computing is slowly but surely winning over businesses across industries.
We have curated a detailed list of cloud computing use cases for your reference. Let us dive in and check out the top 8 use cases of cloud computing, their features, benefits, and everything else you need to know.
Before getting into this topic, check out the interesting topic - Real World Applications of Cloud Computing.
Top 8 Use Cases for Cloud Computing
According to Forbes, 83% of the businesses moved their workload to the cloud in 2020. This data underlines how cloud computing has become essential, nonetheless, the norm.
Through this list of top 8 cloud computing use cases, we aim to highlight how the benefits of using the cloud can change the digital game.
Let us dig into the details of modern cloud computing architecture.
1. Backup as a Service (BaaS)
Every cybersecurity professional knows about the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies of data on 2 devices with 1 offsite. But why must we go the extra mile to make copies of our data?
Losing your data to hardware failure or encountering vulnerabilities are parts of working with technology.
BaaS is a cloud-service model where developers can outsource the back-end functionalities of their mobile or web applications.
BaaS helps in proper and seamless front-end management and provides an enhanced experience to the users. It can avert a business from the monetary damage caused by losing all the data.
Backups and updates are automated, removing the need for manually saving, labeling, and tracking information.
2. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Businesses with pre-established infrastructure use IaaS (or HaaS) to outsource resources like servers, processing, networking, storage, and virtual machines. They typically hire cloud IaaS services on a pay-as-you-go basis.
It is one of the most common cloud computing use cases; it subtracts the managerial layers by computing and storing everything in one place.
In addition, it provides a collection of physical and virtualized resources that can help users receive the basic building blocks required to run enterprise workloads and applications remotely.
Furthermore, it helps avert the high cost of installing and maintaining on-premise data centers. It allows and employs a perfect system to scale up the processes according to the demand.
IaaS is not only cost-effective but also resource-effective, ensuring higher productivity.
3. Platform as a Service (PaaS)
When businesses scale multifold, the internal framework needs to be restructured. To increase productivity, you can sign away the role of managing the operating system software to PaaS.
PaaS is a fully-furnished development environment in the cloud. It offers all the resources needed to enable users to deliver functional and customized applications.
PaaS providers and products are typically concerned with software development.
It is one of the topmost use cases of cloud computing. It saves the time and effort of managing the computing and storage infrastructures. It also enables collaboration and cooperation within the team as off-site, and remote editing and formatting are possible.
Moreover, the model shares similarities with serverless computing and function-as-a-service architectures, ensuring proper security.
4. Software as a Service (SaaS)
Would you rather stream your favorite movie or buy a DVD? Most would proceed with the more comfortable option of subscribing to a platform, the difference being that they access a movie catalog rather than a movie.
This analogy relates to why SaaS has been so popular for several years. Eliminating the cost of exhaustive hardware installation, SaaS introduced an easier method of acquiring the hardware that businesses need.
All you require is any modern device with internet access, and you are good to go. SaaS ensures flexible scalability of the enterprise’s hardware requirements and is cost-effective.
Below is the table comparing the most common use cases of cloud computing – IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS:
| IaaS | PaaS | SaaS |
| Target Audience | System Administrators | Developers | End users
|
| Features | - A virtual data center for data storage.
- Building platforms for testing, deployment, and development.
| - Virtual tools and the platform to test, deploy and develop apps and services.
| - Web software and apps to facilitate the completion of business tasks.
|
| Managed by Provider |
| - Servers
- Storage
- Networking
- OS (Operating System)
- Middleware
- Runtime
| - Servers
- Storage
- Networking
- OS
- Middleware
- Runtime
- Applications
- Data
|
| Managed by User | - OS
- Middleware
- Runtime
- Application
- Data
|
| - |
| Example | AWS (Amazon Web Services) | Microsoft Azure | Google Drive |
5. Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
No one is thrilled about downtimes. A panic state is launched when your business goes offline, even for a few minutes. This is where DRaaS helps: it ensures that downtime is dealt with swiftly.
First, DRaaS brings back the system online and backs up the data. Then, it uses SaaS to provide DR orchestration before restoring system control.
Downtime may result from a cyberattack or a natural disaster. Anything which can result in a massive power outage can be tackled with the fail-safe mode of DRaaS.
Apart from being extremely cost-effective for a small-scale or medium-sized enterprise, it is also a nifty solution to modern-day problems.
The best part? Businesses squander the entire in-house installation effort if a disaster never knocks on the door. But, with DRaaS, businesses can easily prevent such loss.
You can even join the Architecting on AWS Accelerator Certification Training to get more information about cloud computing architect in detail.
6. Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
With the growing use of mobile phones and portable devices, the introduction of DaaS makes perfect sense. On-site devices show scalability and operational constraints. Performing monitoring and flexibility is simple by switching to a cloud-based platform.
DaaS, also called hosted desktops, runs on the virtual desktop infrastructure principle. It is entirely cloud-based and comprises computing, storage, and networking.
It is also useful for software developers who require multiple devices, contractual workers whose desktops need to be decommissioned, remote employees, and educational facilities with custom privileges for each desktop.
The global attack of COVID was enough to brush our memories about the need for fully-equipped virtual systems. DaaS expands the horizons of security as the data is secure in a professionally-hosted environment.
7. Hybrid Cloud & Multicloud
While these terms are used interchangeably, hybrid refers to two or more different types of clouds, and multi-cloud is used for different cloud networks that are of the same kind.
Besides choosing a cloud service provider, businesses must choose between the three types of clouds: public, private, and hybrid.
While small businesses typically use the public cloud, MNCs and reputed companies choose private or hybrid cloud. Multicloud is when a varying number of the same type of clouds are used in conjunction based on the requirement. is when a varying number of the same type of clouds are used in conjunction based on the requirement.
You can easily dodge vendor lock-in with the help of a hybrid system. Cross-platform data sharing gives you the best of all the features available on different platforms. In addition, it ensures ease and flexibility.
8. Big Data Analytics
Analyzing customer behavior is the primary job of each business. When it comes to big data analytics, powerhouses like Meta and Amazon have already paved the way.
The likes, dislikes, patterns, trends, and consumer choices are stored and sifted through. Cloud computing brings forth a platform that can support massive volumes of data and make its analysis a lot easier. This is big data analytics.
Data-driven decisions determine the future outcomes for the company at every scale. It helps businesses iterate their marketing strategies according to what their audience prefers.
In addition, it helps in encouraging a customer-first attitude by facilitating personalization. If you want to build a career in the cloud computing sector, you can find more direction with the KnowledgeHut cloud computing certification program.
Also, check out our blog post on cloud computing technologies for more information.
Conclusion
Cloud computing services have been available in the market for over two decades, and it is undoubtedly a growing market.
However, despite numerous benefits like increased efficiency, high performance, improved flexibility, and budget-friendliness, many businesses remain unaware of the workings of cloud computing.
Use cases of cloud computing include storage, disaster recovery, and backup. In addition, there are several other uses of cloud computing, namely, communication, social networking, testing, and development.
The list of benefits of cloud computing is endless and keeps growing. Whether you are tech-savvy or a newbie, cloud computing is the way forward for millions of people. Ready, set, the cloud!
