Imagine you are setting up a business. There’s already a lot to do — from ensuring that all your paperwork is in order, to renting out a workspace for your team. On top of this, you also have to set up your on-premise servers and infrastructure, build your apps, and ensure that all of this hardware is continuously maintained, and its software is up to date. Not only does this get expensive but it is also a significant time commitment for most companies.
Now, what if we told you that you could opt for a service where your IT personnel are able to run, deploy, and manage business apps on the cloud, without you having to invest in on-premise hardware? And we haven’t even told you the best part yet! When security upgrades are needed, your team won’t have to put in any additional work. Your service provider does all of that for you. Everything we just described is possible thanks to Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Read on to learn about what Platform as a Service is, and if it’s something your business should consider using.
What is PaaS in Cloud Computing?
In recent years, the cloud has completely revolutionised the way apps are built and managed by businesses across the world. In the simplest of terms, PaaS, or Platform as a Service, can be referred to as a digital environment on the cloud that can be used to develop business apps with ease.
With PaaS, businesses can develop new apps by deploying custom code or using a point-and-click interface within a browser. This eliminates the need for businesses to build, maintain, and secure their own infrastructure and servers.
Advantages of PaaS
Now that you know what Platform as a Service is, here’s a look at some of its benefits:
- Lower costs
One of the biggest benefits that PaaS offers is that it lowers the costs involved in app building for businesses. By offering the software infrastructure on a month-to-month basis, and covering all of the necessary maintenance and security upgrades regularly, PaaS makes for a far more cost-effective alternative for businesses. - Shorter coding time
PaaS can help your developers create business apps a lot faster since it offers pre-coded application components as part of the platform. Given how competitive the business market is, developing and launching new apps fast can not only help you stand out, but also see you gaining a competitive market share. - Increased developmental capacity without increased workforce
PaaS components can give your design and development teams new capacities without you having to find and employ additional staff with the unique skills that your apps may require. - Scalability
Scaling a platform is a time-consuming process that could involve downtime. Of course, creating a platform that can support future growth will help but this can be quite expensive and risky. Fortunately, with PaaS’ scaling mechanism, which provides automatic resource allocation based on the number of users, businesses can grow easily without worrying about their own success, and the increased resource demand that comes with it, being their downfall. - Ease of development for multiple platforms
Certain service providers offer development options for multiple platforms like computers, mobile phones and browsers. This makes PaaS a much easier solution for quicker development of various apps across multiple platforms. - Use of sophisticated tools
A pay-as-you-use model like PaaS makes it possible for individuals and businesses alike to use sophisticated and high-end development software. Plus, you’ll have access to business intelligence and analytics tools that otherwise would have been prohibitively expensive to purchase outright. - Supports development teams around the world
Since the development environment provided by PaaS is accessible with nothing more than an Internet connection, development teams can work together on projects no matter where each team member is located. This hugely benefits businesses that are embracing remote working trends. - Efficiently manages app life cycles
Everything that you need to support your app throughout the development process is included in one single, integrated environment, making it easy to manage throughout your app’s life cycle.
PaaS: What is Included in it?
Now that you are aware of what PaaS is and it can be used for, here’s a quick look at what is typically included with it.
- Development tools and business analytics
PaaS service providers offer a range of tools that are essential for app development. But they don’t just stop there. You’ll also have access to tools that help you analyse your business data. - Database management
One of the best things about PaaS is that your service provider or vendor maintains databases for you. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have access to them. Vendors also typically provide your developers with database management tools to ensure access and flexibility. - Operating system
When you use PaaS, there’s no need to upgrade your developers operating systems yourself. PaaS service providers maintain operating systems for your IT personnel to work on. This is one of those benefits that will also see you reducing the costs to your company. - Physical infrastructure
The PaaS platform is the next layer after IaaS, or Infrastrucure as a Service. What this essentially means is that everything that’s offered as part of IaaS is also included in PaaS. This is how a PaaS provider is able to manages server, storage devices, and even data centres. - Networking firewalls
One of the key benefits of PaaS is that it helps you maintain your security. By using a private PaaS, you are guaranteed privacy, as it will almost always be delivered as software or an appliance within your firewall. - Servers and storage
PaaS includes cloud infrastructure components like storage services and servers. This is usually owned, managed and configured by your service provider, meaning that once again, they will take care of the maintenance.
Taking it Forward: The Next Steps…
Now that you know what PaaS is and how it can help your business, reach out to our IT pros at Solid Systems to reap the benefits of this platform. We can help you learn more about what PaaS is in cloud computing with examples and use cases. Call us today!
