What is Storage as a Service (STaaS)?
Every day, businesses worldwide process $2 billion in transactions. More than $9 trillion transacted annually are digital, showing how valuable digital transformations are to modern business. Powering modern businesses are managed services, such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Storage as a Service (STaaS). Understanding the differences is critical to building a tech stack that works for your teams while also helping business leaders manage expenses. Today we talk about Storage as a Service (STaaS). STaaS is a managed service where a service provider maintains a physical data center that supports clients with storage space and computing resources. STaaS is a more cost-effective method of deploying storage resources, especially for SMEs, than on-premises storage infrastructures. This article explores why businesses are implementing STaaS, some of the benefits, and how the whole thing works.Why Implement STaaS?
Data storage has always been a costly yet vital expense for all sizes of businesses. STaaS initially found a home in SME operations, where leaders need data storage and computing resources but don’t have a massive budget for on-premises storage solutions. While SMEs were the target of STaaS, today, even large enterprise-level organizations benefit from cloud storage services. Businesses of all types use STaaS as redundant storage systems, a secure platform for data transfers and disaster recovery. Decision makers and managers use STaaS to deploy resources that replace on-premises storage solutions instantly. They may also use it as a way to customize workloads and storage capacities for specific departments, allocating resources where they are in need. STaaS may not be an ideal storage solution for the largest or most resource-heavy organizations. These organizations demand high-performance storage infrastructure with total customizability, ultra-low or no latency resources, and complex file access methods. Storage solutions from several providers like Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS) can come with significant drawbacks, like shared server space or noisy neighbors. Remove those drawbacks by partnering with a service provider that values performance. Summit Hosting’s data storage comes with dedicated servers and less than 1% downtime. Try a demo today to see how Summit Hosting beats out the big names!What are the Benefits of STaaS?
Managing expenses is always challenging, and many leaders are turning to tech for help saving money. Like other managed services, STaaS is a tool that can save businesses money on expenses through a subscription-based model. Companies undergoing a digital transformation to cloud services and cloud storage can see these benefits:- High-level backup and recovery – A service provider includes data backup and recovery services as part of a service level agreement (SLA). A STaaS provider can assist with backup and recovery through on-staff IT operations, redundant storage resources, and high-speed data transfers to expedite disaster recovery.
- Exceptional scalability – On-site data centers are arduous to scale when your business needs more resources. Using STaaS for your storage infrastructure means you can scale on-demand, letting the provider manage components and heavy lifting without on-site equipment.
- Optimizes storage to be cost-effective – Storage resources aren’t cheap, but through STaaS, storage costs don’t have to be prohibitively expensive. Through SLAs and monthly operations expenses, you can avoid bulk cap-ex charges that eat away at profit while maintaining optimized performance.
- Improved security – Your storage provider has a vested interest in keeping your data safe. That means up-to-date security features and equipment to ensure maximum data protection. At Summit Hosting, we provide multi-factor authentication (MFA), virtual private networks (VPNs), EV SSL encryption, and servers that are SSAE-18 certified, just to name a few security protocols.