How can PaaS help in solving business problems?

Today, most business houses facing challenges related to cloud infrastructure are turning to PaaS (Platform as a Service). Organisations consider PaaS to be a reliable tool for resolving their issues because of the speed at which it allows developers to create, test and deploy apps. The cloud and PaaS providers in the market also address another fundamental problem developers face – the need for in – house software and hardware for extending the use of existing apps or deploying their own apps utilizing common APIs.
Although some companies have tried experimenting with Software as a Service (SaaS) too, there has been a steady increase in the number of organisations resorting to PaaS. A recent study reports that cloud computing around the world will produce $20 billion by 2016, with Platform as a Service being at the forefront. Even now, it accounts for one-fourth of the aggregate cloud market revenue. Today, an increasing number of both small and large businesses look for public cloud options because:

1. Most industry experts are of the opinion that although a formalised process is integral to innovative breakthroughs, the ability to fail quickly, learn the lesson, and try again is also equally important. This is exactly what Platform as a Service does – it enables developers to test their theories fast and with minimum investment, before they go for large scale deployment of the project under development.
2. Platform as a Service providers ensure that businesses can leverage their data better by providing them with a toolkit that their development teams can use for creating apps. For e.g., a firm’s sales team wants to leverage insights for winning more deals against their rivals, for which need to access the data they have been collecting and storing in a database within SharePoint. With Azure APIs and PaaS, developers can create an app to make the data easily accessible to the sales team in an understandable format.
3. For organisations looking for ways of increasing the utility of their existing apps, PaaS creates opportunities for app developers for collaborating on projects, and testing and deploying projects on current platforms. Platform as a service helps organisations trying to overcome business challenges in a different way using a known platform.

As hybrid configurations of conventional servers, public cloud services and private cloud emerge as the new infrastructural norm, and businesses strive to learn how best to apply cloud technology, PaaS providers continue to create industry – specific offerings to cater to the needs each individual industry. A study conducted by IDC (International Data Corporation) forecasts that industry-specific Platform as a Service will witness a tenfold growth by 2016. It also suggests that horizontal PaaS will start commoditising. Some of these forecasts have come true, especially in regulated industries. PaaS solutions for such industries come with built – in compliance regulations, thus ensuring that developers can focus more on solving business issues, while PaaS providers keep the regulatory controls updated.

Although PaaS, as a solution, is still evolving, it does show significant potential in solving critical business problems.