Platform-As-A-Service Is Here; Can It Help You?

The nascent and overhyped idea that organizations should move their applications from on-premise data centers to Internet "clouds" has hit platforms. "Platform-as-a-service" (PaaS) isn't theory; Forrester has found 20 products available today — several of them proven with customers, and the others in early stages of adoption. PaaS promises fast application delivery, pay-as-you-go capacity that avoids capital expenditures, and opportunities to solve new problems. The problem: The term "PaaS" describes many different approaches, each of which has a particular "sweet spot" among application scenarios. The shops that moved early to use PaaS products were either unable to keep up with their demand for new applications or were under pressure to cut IT costs — or both. With the worldwide recession squeezing budgets, it is prudent for application development managers to create a position on PaaS and perhaps to even start experimenting with one of the products. When evaluating PaaS, application development professionals should start with a definition and mental model of PaaS then break down the diverse offerings to determine which can provide business value now or in the future.