There has been a marked change in the way networks have evolved over the years: starting from analog lines to digital and then the Internet era. Now however, there is a new trend where IT and telecom seem to have merged. So it is no more IT services running over telecom networks, it is now a combination of both. One of the offshoots of this is the Infrastructure as a Service - IaaS
Traditionally the infrastructure or the hardware was always fixed: like your computer at your home or your laptop or a web server in a data center, etc. You had multiple services like software solutions for emails, web browsing, etc that you could run on this fixed infrastructure.
But now the whole idea is changing. You do not have to rely on fixed infrastructure anymore. Now you may wonder how is that possible. You cannot replace a personal computer or a web server, can you? Absolutely right, you cannot replace them, they just have to be there no matter what.
But the IaaS concept says that they just need not be collocated in the area where the user is using the services. So you need not have the webserver running in a single location to serve all the users. It could be distributed across the network anywhere.
For example, you want to collaborate and create a presentation. Typically you would have created it on your laptop and shared it with colleagues. They would then add their slides and send it back to you. Now with IaaS, forget the presentation solution.
None of you need to have the software installed on your local machines. Just log on to a server on the cloud that has all the features and start collaborating and creating the presentation. You can not only create the presentation but also store it and share it with others. No one needs to own the infrastructure to open and view the slides. As long as you can connect to the virtual cloud infrastructure it can do everything for you.
In conclusion, the IaaS is a great concept in modern world. No need to worry about having the infrastructure to use and deliver services. There are other companies that can create the cloud for you and you just need to access their infrastructure as a service. All you need to do is look for this service and start using it.
