PaaS powers a new era of app development

There is no doubt that cloud computing services have become mainstream and a core part of the ICT strategy for businesses both large and small. Over the last two years, platform as a service (PaaS) has also seen a surge in uptake, with PaaS accounting for almost a quarter of public cloud revenue in 2012, according to Market Monitor.

Moreover, research indicates that the PaaS segment will continue to skyrocket, with Gartner estimating a sharp incline in PaaS adoption, and predicts an increase in spending in this area to over $2.9 million by the year 2016. Gartner also says by this time, every business will run part or all of its business software on PaaS.

Rick Parry, CEO of AIGS, adds that this dramatic increase is due to companies looking to lower infrastructure costs, as well as speed up the application development process. "PaaS is becoming a must-have for businesses. PaaS is becoming increasingly relevant, and using PaaS for application development and deployment, is revolutionising the process."

He says the cloud market has grown and matured, and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) are mainstream, and essentials to most organisations. "Now that these two areas are widely used, organisations are eyeing PaaS with new interest."

According to him, there are several reasons why PaaS is enjoying such a rapid uptake, not least of all the financial benefits. "Since the global recession, companies are having to do a lot more with less. Cost savings have become a major draw card, and PaaS allows technical departments to do a lot more, with a lot less. Moreover, PaaS helps reduce development time, by as much as half."

PaaS offerings enable the deployment of applications without the associated expense and complexity of having to buy and maintain the necessary hardware and software, as well as the associated provisioning hosting capabilities, he says.

A fast-growing demand for bespoke and niche applications is also driving PaaS adoption, he explains. "As companies try to boost profitability and become more innovative and agile following the recession, they are turning to apps. Hand-in-hand with this is the need to develop and deploy applications faster, and get them to the market faster."

Apps are developed to meet the business requirements, and alongside this, the need to concurrently boost the speed and quality of software releases. PaaS done correctly allows exactly that, and developing bespoke apps to meet the business needs is the primary driver propelling PaaS adoption.

"PaaS provides a seamless and smooth environment, without which, app development becomes far more difficult."

He describes PaaS as a type of cloud computing service that offers a platform and a solution stack as a service. "With PaaS, the developer will create apps using tools and perhaps libraries from the provider. The developer also has the ability to control the software deployment and the configuration settings. The PaaS provider provides the necessary hardware and services required to host the applications, such as networks, servers and storage."

He said by using PaaS, developers can create process extensions to existing apps or develop new apps from scratch to meet their business objectives. "PaaS helps smooth the path for the deployment of applications without the expense and difficulties of having to buy and manage the associated hardware and software. However, lowered costs and complexities are only the tip of the benefits iceberg. Friction points are removed, and apps are easily and quickly designed and deployed. Operations are simplified and automated. PaaS provides a quick and flexible platform where new apps and initiatives can be propelled forward, and have their value realised."