Platform as a service (PaaS) is a category of cloud computing services that provides a
platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without the
complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typically associated with
developing and launching an app.[1][2][3] PaaS can be delivered in two ways: as a public cloud
service from a provider, where the consumer controls software deployment with minimal
configuration options, and the provider provides the networks, servers, storage, OS,
'middleware' (i.e.; java runtime, .net runtime, integration, etc.), database and other services to
host the consumer's application; or as a private service (software or appliance) inside the
firewall, or as software deployed on a public infrastructure as a service.[4][5]
Cloud platform services, or Platform as a Service (PaaS), are used for applications, and other
development, while providing cloud components to software. What developers gain with
PaaS is a framework they can build upon to develop or customize applications. PaaS makes
the development, testing, and deployment of applications quick, simple, and cost-effective.
With this technology, enterprise operations, or a third-party provider, can manage OSes,
virtualization, servers, storage, networking, and the PaaS software itself. Developers,
however, manage the applications.
Enterprise PaaS provides line-of-business software developers a self-service portal for
managing computing infrastructure from centralized IT operations and the platforms that are
installed on top of the hardware. The enterprise PaaS can be delivered through a hybrid
model that uses both public IaaS and on-premise infrastructure or as a pure private PaaS that
only uses the latter.
Similar to the way in which you might create macros in Excel, PaaS allows you to create
applications using software components that are built into the PaaS (middleware).
Applications using PaaS inherit cloud characteristic such as scalability, high-availability,
multi-tenancy, SaaS enablement, and more. Enterprises benefit from PaaS because it reduces
the amount of coding necessary, automates business policy, and helps migrate apps to hybrid
model. For the needs of enterprises and other organizations, Apprenda is one provider of a
private cloud PaaS for .NET and Java.
Enterprise PaaS Examples: Apprenda
Common PaaS Use-Case: Increases developer productivity and utilization rates while also
decreasing an applications time-to-market
Technology Analyst Examples: Richard Watson (Gartner), Eric Knipp (Gartner), Yefim
Natis (Gartner), Stefan Ried (Forrester), John Rymer (Forrester)
example
n the modern business environment, there is a growing emphasis on customer-friendly web
applications and services. Many businesses today wish to provide a greater level of customer
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care and support to their clientele using web-developed applications and solutions. But all too
often they find the costs of developing and deploying these apps prohibitive.
In recent years, several service providers have sprouted up to mitigate those costs and offer
affordable application development. The most prominent among the services offered by these
providers is the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model, which provides businesses with an
independently maintained platform upon which their web applications can be built, refined
and deployed.
There are two prominent types of PaaS:
Public PaaS is delivered by a services provider for building applications. Examples
include Salesforce Heroku, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Microsoft Azure, and Engine
Yard.
Enterprise PaaS is delivered by central IT within an organization to developers and
possibly partners and business customers. Enterprise PaaS sits on top of public IaaS,
on-premise bare metal, and on-premise virtual machines. Some technology analysts
make a distinction between the actual service that central IT is delivering (PaaS) and
the software used to deliver that service. For example, Gartner uses the term cloudenabled application platform or CEAP. Examples include Apprenda, VMware- and
EMC-owned Pivotal, and Red Hat OpenShift.
More than 80% of large organizations are actively evaluating enterprise Platform as a
Service (PaaS) and conducting a PaaS comparison for development in public, private,
and hybrid clouds.* As a foundational software layer and an application run-time
environment, enterprise PaaS removes the complexities of building and delivering
applications and enable organizations to turn ideas into innovations faster.
Conducting a PaaS comparison among vendors is essential for procurement, yet little
guidance is available on the decision workflow. The following guidelines can help
organizations that are looking at PaaS to find the best solution.
1. Research the Market: A handful of vendors have emerged as leaders in the
enterprise PaaS space. According to Gartner, more than 85% of enterprise apps are
written in .NET and Java. For .NET, enterprises typically only research Apprenda. For
Java, organizations usually investigate three vendor products:
Vendor
Enterprise
Runtimes
Apprenda
Java and .NET
Pivotal CF
(Commercial
Java
Distribution of
Cloud Foundry)
Red Hat
OpenShift
Java
Contact
Contact
Apprenda
Visit Pivotals
website for
contact
information
Visit Red Hats
website for
contact
information.
As part of this process, enterprises invite vendors to demo their products and form
contacts that can help with ongoing questions as the organization moves forward.
2. Formulate Technology and Business Drivers: After researching the market,
organizations need to determine the business needs that drive the enterprise PaaS
initiative. An enterprise PaaS buyers guide is available to help establish the costbenefit analysis of enterprise PaaS. Once the organization reviews the buyers guide, it
should form a cloud-focused team that can collect and define the companys
technology criteria. To aid the enterprise cloud team, an enterprise PaaS RFP template
and scorecard are available to help scope evaluation criteria:
Guidance Documentation
Buyers Guide: Enterprise
Platform as a Service
Gartner Research
RFP template
Evaluation Criteria
Scorecard
The Organizations
Buying Stage
Early Stage
Mid-Stage
Mid- to Advanced
Stage
Mid- to Advanced
Stage
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of PaaS are primarily that it allows for higher-level programming with
dramatically reduced complexity; the overall development of the application can be more
effective, as it has built-in infrastructure; and maintenance and enhancement of the
application is easier.[3] It can also be useful in situations where multiple developers are
working on a single project involving parties who are not located nearby.[2]
One disadvantage of PaaS offerings is that developers may not be able to use a full range of
conventional tools (e.g. relational databases, with unrestricted joins). Another possible
disadvantage is being locked in to a certain platform. However, most PaaSes are relatively
lock-in free.[16]
PaaS: Platform as a Service The most complex of the three, cloud platform
services or Platform as a Service (PaaS) deliver computational resources
through a platform. What developers gain with PaaS is a framework they
can build upon to develop or customize applications. PaaS makes the
development, testing, and deployment of applications quick, simple, and
cost-effective, eliminating the need to buy the underlying layers of
hardware and software. One comparison between SaaS vs. PaaS has to do
with what aspects must be managed by users, rather than providers: With
PaaS, vendors still manage runtime, middleware, O/S, virtualization,
servers, storage, and networking, but users manage applications and data.
A Platform as a Service (PaaS) cloud computing model allows you to rent not only storage
space on a server, but also space to run programs as well as operating systems and software,
all of which is stored on a cloud. Developers hail this computing option for how easy it
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makes setting up a test environment for new apps, and the mobile enterprise sees potential for
productivity on the go with the help of rented virtual computers. For smaller businesses, the
freedom PaaS offers can make it a very attractive technology solution. As with any
technology, however, there are pros and cons to using a PaaS as a small or medium business.
Pros
Automatic Updates
Youve probably hated those moments when you were getting up to leave from a meeting
with your laptop and you go to shut down and instead have to wait 15 minutes while your
computer processes a system update. While you may still have those problems with a laptop
on a PaaS, you never have to worry about ensuring that you have the latest system, software
and driver updates. Updates are automatically taken care of for you.
Decreased Costs
Utilizing a single vendor for your services can lead to decreased overall costs. Having
multiple and sometimes even redundant hardware can increase your costs significantly. A
PaaS allows you to put it all in one place, and your budget reaps the benefits.
Assured Compatibility
You wont have to worry about compatibility among your hardware and software. Since a
single vendor is taking care of all of that for you, youll be sure that everything works well
together.
Teams Can Collaborate From Afar
Anyone in any location has the ability to work on software projects. No matter where you
have an employee, he or she can login and get to work, instantly seeing updates from others
who might be halfway around the world. This creates an environment of productivity that is
unparalleled in any other system.
Cons
Lock-In
Depending on the offerings of the company providing your PaaS, you could be locked into a
specific software environment, language or interface. This can affect some, not all, providers
and should be investigated thoroughly alongside your specific requirements for a
development environment to ensure you will not be locked into a system that doesnt meet
your needs.
Limited Scalability
A potential pitfall of PaaS is the inflexibility that some offerings may have with regard to
businesses whose needs are constantly in a state of flux. If you have any plans of growing (or
shrinking) significantly in the near future, you might want to avoid PaaS systems that dont
scale well or offer easy options for increased space and power.
Final Considerations
OpenStack
According to a recent Forbes article, PaaS saves developers and their clients tons of time
and money. And, when you look at an example like OpenStack, you can see the amazing
benefits you can get from using a PaaS. OpenStack is an open cloud that allows anyone
access to their technology with the end goal of creating a universal cloud operating system
and setting the standards for clouds. OpenStack eliminates some of the cons of a PaaS system
by allowing for a scalable offering.
Data Backups
Even though your PaaS may give you the protection of backup software services, its always
important to perform your own server backups, too. The PaaS servers can be defenseless
against the same types of catastrophes like fire or natural disasters that your server can fall
victim to. Its also possible that something could just go wrong with the server and you could
lose all of your important data. Having a redundant backup is priceless.
The Essential Characteristics of PaaS
1. Runtime Framework: This is the software stack aspect of PaaS, and perhaps the
aspect that comes first to mind for most people. The PaaS runtime framework
executes end-user code according to policies set by the application owner and cloud
provider. concepts, and some with pluggable support for multiple application
2. Abstraction: Platform-oriented cloud platforms are distinguished by the higher level
of abstraction they provide. With IaaS, the focus is on delivering to users raw access
to physical or virtual infrastructure. In contrast, with PaaS, the focus is on the
applications that the cloud must support.
3. Automation: A PaaS environment is a bit like a swan on a pond graceful and
elegant above the water, and paddling its little legs off below the water. The
aforementioned abstraction provides the elegant user experience above the water,
while high levels of automation provide the paddling beneath the surface..
While IaaS is known for its ability to shift capital costs to operational costs through
outsourcing, only PaaS is able to slash costs across the development, deployment and
management aspects of the application lifecycle.
4. Cloud Services: PaaS offerings provide developers and architects with services and
APIs that help simplify the job of delivering elastically scalable, highly available
cloud applications. These cloud services provide a wide variety of capabilities, and in
many instances are key differentiators among competing PaaS offerings.
Examples of cloud services include services and APIs for distributed caching, queuing
and messaging, workload management, file and data storage, user identity, analytics,
and more. By providing built-in cloud services, platform offerings eliminate the need
to integrate many disparate components and decrease time-to-market for applications
on the platform.
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1. Multi-tenant architecture
A PaaS offering must be multi-tenanted. A multi-tenant platform is
one that uses common computing resources including hardware,
operating system, software (i.e. application code), and a single
underlying database with a shared schema to support multiple
customers simultaneously.
2. 2. Customizable /Programmable User Interface
The PaaS offering should provide the ability to construct highly
flexible user interfaces via a simple drag & drop methodology that
permits the creation and configuration of UI components on the fly.
3. 3. Unlimited Database Customizations
Data persistence is core to many applications. Facilitating the
creation, configuration and deployment of persistent objects without
requiring programming expertise is a key characteristic of a
powerful cloud platform. Thus, the PaaS offering must support the
construction of objects, the definition of relationships between the
objects and the configuration of advanced data behavior all from
within the comfort of the Web browser via a point and click
declarative paradigm.
4. Robust Workflow engine/capabilities
Successful business process execution via process automation is the
primary objective of any business application. A cloud platform
must offer a business-logic engine that supports the definition of
workflow processes and the specification of business rules to
engender process automation.
At a minimum, PaaS is a cloud service model and as such should meet the NIST essential
characteristics for cloud computing, which are:
On-demand self-service
Broad network access
Resource pooling
Rapid elasticity
Measured service
The question then becomes what are the essential characteristics that follow on from these?
Some that come to mind include:
Support binding and unbinding from composable multi-tenant services. This binding
can be explicit as it is with some of the container-based PaaS or implicit through the
use of APIs.
Enforce scaling of platform services. In the case of container-based PaaS, the user has
the option of having their application also participate as a service and, thus, be
managed by the containers scaling capabilities.
Ensure appropriate authorization for use of given services.
Provide a means for monitoring and ensuring the health of the platform and its
services.
5.
