Cloud services are fast becoming a household word now. If you don't know the difference between PaaS,IaaS and SaaS then that's okay because many people really don't.

The cloud is really a metaphor for the Internet, and cloud computing is really about using the Internet to access applications, data, or services that are stored or run on remote servers.

Any company that uses an Internet-based approach to computing, storage, and development can technically be called a company engaged in the cloud. However, not all cloud companies are the same. Not everyone is a CTO, so sometimes it can be a bit of a headache to see some of the words behind cloud technology.

Cloud is also layered

Any company that offers its services on the Internet can be called a cloud computing company. Actually cloud computing is searched in several layers, which are (Infrastructure)-as-a-Service, Platform(Platform)-as-a-Service, Software(Software)-as-a-Service. infrastructure is at the bottom, platform is in the middle and software is at the top. Some other soft layers can be added on top of these.

IaaS:-as-a-Service (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)

The first layer is called IaaS, or sometimes Hardware-as-a-Service. A few years ago, if you wanted to run some enterprise applications in your office or on your company's Web site, you'd need to buy servers, or some other expensive hardware, to control local applications to get your business running.

But now with IaaS, you can outsource the hardware elsewhere.IaaS companies will provide off-site servers, storage, and networking hardware that you can rent. Saving on maintenance costs and office space, companies can utilize this hardware to run their applications whenever they want.

Some of the big IaaS companies include Amazon, Microsoft, VMWare, Rackspace, and RedHat.But again, each of these companies has its own specialties, for example, Amazon and Microsoft give you more than just IaaS, they'll also rent out their computing power to host your site.

PaaS: Platform-as-a-Service

The second tier is what's called PaaS, or in some cases middleware. All of your company's development can take place at this layer, saving time and resources.

PaaS companies offer a variety of solutions for developing and distributing applications online, such as virtual servers and operating systems. This saves you money on hardware and makes collaboration between decentralized studios easier. Web application management, application design, application web hosting, storage, security, and application development collaboration tools.

Some of the big PaaS providers are Google AppEngine, Microsoft Azure, Force, Heroku, EngineYard, and more recently AppFog, Mendix, and StandingCloudSaaS: Software-as-a-Service

These are the most popular PaaS providers. SaaS:Software-as-a-Service

(Software-as-a-Service)

The third tier is also known as SaaS. This tier is the one that is in touch with your life every day, and most of it is accessed through a web browser. Any application on a remote server that can be run over the web is SaaS.

The services you consume are accessed entirely from web pages such as Netflix, MOG, GoogleApps, Box.net, Dropbox or Apple's iCloud in these categories. Even though these web services are used as business and entertainment or both, this is considered part of cloud technology.

Some SaaS apps for business include Citrix's GoToMeeting, Cisco's WebEx, Salesforce's CRM, ADP, Workday, and...

Some SaaS apps for business include Citrix, Cisco, and Cisco.