Infrastructure as a Service

What infrastructure as a service means: From design to day-2

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) refers to a cloud-based delivery model where an external service provider offers IT teams with virtualized IT resources. A radical departure from on-premises data centers of the past, infrastructure-as-a-service models offer IT teams, developers, and platform engineers a more scalable and efficient way of managing and deploying critical IT infrastructure.

Today, an increasing number of businesses are adopting infrastructure as a service. Infrastructure as a service is often seen as a solution that can help IT teams optimize costs, drive efficiency, and achieve scalability and flexibility without performance compromises. And keep in mind that that infrastructure as a service doesn’t just optimize application design and deployment—it’s also integral to maintaining healthy Day-2 operations, the post-deployment maintenance phase.

By opting for infrastructure as a service models, enterprises can focus on their primary business objectives and leave their cloud infrastructure in the hands of experts with cutting-edge tools, knowledge, and capabilities. In addition to a plethora of IT advantages, infrastructure as a service is a major strategic enabler.

As a market, infrastructure as a service is a true behemoth. It’s currently valued at $190 billion globally and projected to nearly quadruple by 2032. According to Gartner’s research, businesses around the world will spend more than $232 billion on infrastructure as a service, and that’s just in 2025. That’s also a whopping 29.1% increase in just one year.

Any meaningful discussion of infrastructure as a service also has to include platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS), as these three models collectively define most of the current cloud architecture out there. Let’s look at the breakdown between the three cloud computing models:

How does infrastructure as a service work?

In this section, we’ll anatomize infrastructure as a service to understand how it functions. Listed below are key attributes and operational features of infrastructure as a service.

• Ad-hoc virtualized cloud resources: In infrastructure-as-a-service models, service providers virtualize various cloud resources, which teams can obtain from them on an on-demand basis. Whether it’s virtual machines, storage, or something else, teams can procure and configure them as needed.
• Self-service mechanisms: Access to cloud infrastructure isn’t usually an issue in these models. Instead of interacting with the cloud provider directly, end-users can quite easily commission and deploy cloud resources through API-driven self-service portals.
• Pay-as-you-go pricing: Infrastructure as a service has different cost models compared to legacy on-premises pricing structures. With infrastructure as a service, users don’t pay for resources they don’t use, just for what they need, and only when they need it.
• Integrable with other cloud services: The virtualized cloud computing resources that IT teams use in infrastructure-as-a-service models can be seamlessly attached to other components of the cloud. This spans SaaS and PaaS offerings, along with other cloud-native platforms and tools.
• Multi-tenant architecture: In infrastructure-as-a-service models, providers use a single instance (or tenant) to share virtualized resources with multiple customers. To ensure protection and privacy for every user, cloud providers apply strong security controls for each tenant.
• Automatic load balancing and scaling: When multiple users tap into the same resources and underlying infrastructure, it may theoretically result in performance inconsistencies. However, infrastructure as a service typically self-optimizes when it comes to load balancing and scaling, which means the infrastructure automatically scales when demands are higher.

What gains and efficiencies stem from infrastructure as a service adoption?

Now that we have a solid grasp on what infrastructure as a service constitutes, let’s take a look at what advantages it can provide.

• Increased cost efficiency: Infrastructure as a service removes the major costs associated with on-premises models, including the underlying hardware and infrastructure maintenance costs. As mentioned above, with infrastructure as a service users just pay for the resources they need, so there are no unnecessary or additional expenses.
• Boosted productivity: Since cloud providers are responsible for the management of the underlying and backend infrastructure, teams can focus on their essential duties and tasks. This also frees up teams to work on more creative and strategic tasks, which is always a major productivity booster.
• Accelerated software development: With infrastructure as a service, platform engineering and DevOps teams can quickly and seamlessly provision and utilize critical development resources and infrastructure. Developers can increase the speed that they build, deploy, and fine-tune applications with more streamlined provisioning processes.
• Minimized latency: Since most infrastructure-as-a-service providers distribute computing resources across multiple data centers around the world, there are minimal lags or delays, enhancing user experience. That’s because no matter where a user is located, there are probably servers nearby.
• Optimized resource utilization: Environments built using infrastructure as a service are typically resource efficient. Features like autoscaling, dynamic resource allocation, and auto-provisioning ensure that users don’t use more than an iota of resources than they need.
• Reinforced security: With infrastructure-as-a-service providers taking on most security responsibilities, users don’t have to worry about cyberattacks or other disruptive incidents. Top infrastructure as a service providers have access to cutting-edge cybersecurity tools, the latest threat intelligence, and cybersecurity experts. An added benefit of enhanced security via infrastructure as a service is a healthier compliance posture.
• Expanded flexibility: Infrastructure as a service enables teams to make quick changes to their IT architecture if needed. This is particularly beneficial if there are spikes in demand or if the infrastructure needs to be altered to align with new use cases and changing objectives.
• Enhanced scalability: In the past, when demand spikes, teams either had to invest in more heavy-duty infrastructure or accept inevitable performance drops. With infrastructure as a service, teams can easily increase or decrease the volume of cloud resources they procure, whether that’s due to gradual growth or unexpected surges.
• Streamlined day-2 operations: For IT teams, the heavy lifting often begins after applications are deployed. Infrastructure as a service can help IT teams and developers optimally monitor, manage, and fine-tune live applications. Whether it’s launching a new iteration of an application or performing simple updates, infrastructure as a service makes day-2 operations cheaper, quicker, and more efficient.
• Improved innovation capabilities: Without the burden of infrastructure management, every team, from developers and platform engineers to more senior executives, can focus on strategy, creativity, and innovation. Therefore, infrastructure as a service doesn’t just help with the speed of software delivery; it plays a major role in introducing new and forward-thinking software products.
• Extended global reach: Previously, if a business wanted to set up operations in another country or region, it would have had to build or procure local data centers. Infrastructure as a service can be a major contributor to creating a larger global footprint, quickly, sustainably, and economically.

What complications and constraints arise when implementing infrastructure as a service?

Even though infrastructure as a service can benefit teams in profound ways, no cloud computing model is free of challenges. In this section, let’s take a look at some issues that might crop up while adopting infrastructure as a service.

• Complexity in building environments: In-house platform engineering teams deficient in advanced cloud expertise and skills may find it difficult to manage and provision cloud resources in infrastructure-as-a-service models. Similarly, developers new to infrastructure as a service may struggle to utilize the new model optimally.
• Challenges with integration: One of the benefits of infrastructure as a service is that it can integrate with other cloud services. However, integrating with legacy systems and on-premises infrastructure might become a major technical challenge. Navigating these integration challenges could potentially undercut other gains that come with infrastructure as a service.
• Complex day-2 demands: Teams may face a diverse range of technical issues during day-2 operations. If these issues aren’t addressed, all the hard work during application design and deployment can come undone. For teams without advanced tools or cloud skills, day-2 hurdles can be especially challenging to overcome.
• Security posture management: The ease of deploying new resources in an infrastructure-as-a-service model means that teams can inadvertently expand the overall attack surface and introduce new risks.
• Vendor lock-in: While infrastructure as a service should ideally provide flexibility and scalability, disproportionately relying on one cloud service provider might have the opposite effect. Furthermore, not being able to easily weave in or migrate to services from other providers can seriously limit progress.
• Navigating service-level agreements (SLAs): No two cloud services will have the exact same SLAs, which means that IT teams will have to carefully navigate the intricacies of each contract. Even minor misinterpretations may spiral into significant security breaches or regulatory lapses.
• Supply chain risks: Supply chain attacks are at an all-time high, which means infrastructure-as-a-service users are susceptible to numerous risks associated with their third-party providers. These risks are especially challenging because users don’t always have complete supply chain visibility.
• Customization limitations: While there’s no denying that infrastructure as a service offers a lot of flexibility, there still may be limitations for some use cases. Since complete customization and dedicated infrastructure are unaffordable for many, infrastructure as a service provides a cost-effective compromise between control and affordability.
• Complex cost models: Even though infrastructure as a service is fundamentally a pay-as-you-go model, users have to navigate a few complexities around costs. For example, teams need to know how granular pricing models work. They should also keep a look out for discounts and packages that can reduce spending.

While the challenges of infrastructure as a service may seem ominous, it’s crucial to remember that all IT and cloud computing models have their own set of challenges. To sidestep these challenges, IT teams can use the help of a robust infrastructure management platform, such as Quali Torque.

Summary

For cost efficiency, performance, and scalability, infrastructure as a service is the go-to model for numerous IT teams. Infrastructure as a service can enrich every phase of the application lifecycle, from the build phase to deep into day-2 operations. However, to make the most of infrastructure as a service, platform engineers, DevOps teams, and site reliability engineers must mitigate a few risks.

To address these risks and maximize infrastructure as a service models, teams need an end-to-end infrastructure management platform. Enter Quali Torque. Backed by AI-driven tools and capabilities, Quali Torque reinforces cloud infrastructure governance.

From optimizing day-2 operations to automating infrastructure management, Quali Torque can help teams make the most of infrastructure as a service in the cloud. Crucially, it lets them do so in a way that’s simpler, faster, safer, and cheaper. In a nutshell, infrastructure as a service is a cloud governance powerhouse.

Want to see how Quali Torque can help you leverage infrastructure as a service to drive cloud governance and day-2 operations? Visit our playground now.