Five Main Benefits of Platform as a Service

Cloud computing is a growing vertical, and it offers your business many benefits. It helps you set up a virtual office, which gives you the flexibility of connecting to your business from any location at any time with an internet connection. With cloud computing in place, you can immediately access your company’s data.

And without a doubt, Platform as a Service (PaaS) is one of the most dynamic areas of cloud computing.

Platform-as-a-service offers an environment where businesses can develop, deploy and operate applications. PaaS offerings include application platforms, business analysis platforms, integration platforms, mobile back-end services and event-streaming services. PaaS also offers businesses a set of monitoring, management and deployment resources.

PaaS offerings mainly target application developers, but also have capabilities that are helpful to operators.

In the PaaS model, it is the responsibility of the cloud service provider to install, configure and manage the IT infrastructure. Businesses only have to concentrate on application development, which is a big advantage for those who want to focus on their business. With a PaaS model, you get all the functionalities in a managed and continuous process to enable immediate productivity for developers.

When you opt for a PaaS model, you can create and run applications and services to meet your specific needs. The Object Management Group (formerly the Cloud Standards Customer Council) provides a comprehensive Practical Guide to PaaS for those interested in learning more.

PaaS offers many benefits, and one of the most significant is its ability to boost a developer’s productivity. Due to continuous integration and automatic deployment, PaaS substantially improves business agility. PaaS also offers developers the broader benefits of the cloud.

• Scalability
• Low capital investment
• Availability of resources on demand and reduced lead times
• Self-service
• Reduced administration expenditure
• Team collaboration support
• Minimum skill requirement
• Allows adding new users quickly

 Let us now look at some of the specific benefits of PaaS.

PaaS allows for more time to innovate

One of the advantages of platform-as-a-service is its ability to improve business agility. The growth of the internet has accelerated the pace of innovations. If you want to remain competitive, you need to quickly convert your new ideas into real applications and make them work to meet your business and technical requirements.

It is not easy to set up a platform-level software and run applications successfully. That is where PaaS comes to your rescue. PaaS simplifies, automates and eliminates the tedious setting up process, and allows you to iterate, adapt and extend your applications quickly, thereby enhancing your productivity.

Due to automation support, PaaS allows productivity improvements and offers seamless delivery of resources. Automation and simulated development environments (test and production environment) further improves the consistency and reliability of delivery. It is this aspect of a DevOps/agile development model that is best suited for a PaaS environment.

Since PaaS services allow rapid creation and evolution of applications, the platform is capable of addressing your business requirements. It is an important consideration, especially in the context of mobile and web applications.

Scalability improves

Regardless of the size of your business operations, you need to get the right technology at the right cost. When you start your business, it is extremely difficult to keep investing in technology after every few years. You have three options if you build a platform yourself – you can optimize for your current scale, you can optimize for what you expect to achieve in a few years from now, or you build a scaling mechanism of your own. In the first scenario, you have to redo your platform and face downtime when you complete your initial set-up. In the second scenario, you are likely to waste your resources. And, in the third scenario, you will have to overspend without the assurance of the desired results.

But when you opt for PaaS, you don’t have to worry about the scaling mechanism. PaaS takes into account the growing needs of its customers. Whether you have to scale up or scale down your requirements, you don’t have to spend anything in scaling up or down your resources. You only pay for what you use.

Keep content secure

Security is another important aspect of the PaaS model. With data breaches and security threats increasing by the day, you need to ensure that you opt for a platform that offers you the best possible security. With regular updates and backups, a PaaS model ensures that your data remains safe and secure at all times. PaaS systems have built-in security and data-protection features, such as replication and back-ups.

Upgrading without the headaches

There are many components that you have to track, maintain, update and reintegrate if you deploy your application on a self-built stack. Setting up and running a platform is one thing, but when it comes to maintaining and updating your stack, it is a different ball game altogether. One mistake can ruin your configuration. And, if you have had a bad experience once, you are not likely to take the risk again. Many people continue working on their outdated stacks out of fear of ruining their system. The downsides when you don’t update and maintain your system properly are many – you miss out on the latest security updates, you miss out on new features, and it takes a toll on your productivity and performance.

But when you opt for the PaaS model, you get to deploy the best stack. Also, you get a stack that keeps pace with you over time, allowing you to run your application on the latest technology. PaaS platforms are regularly maintained and updated, so you don’t have to worry about updates and upgrades. You also don’t have to spend time and money updating the system. With the latest technology, you can focus on achieving your business goals more efficiently.

Improve business communications

How you allocate resources to your development teams goes a long way in determining your success. If you allocate multiple assets of the same type in unconnected silos, you are sure to waste your resources. And when we talk of resource allocation, PaaS helps you to share your resources across multiple development teams.

No matter which PaaS provider you choose, keeping your company’s data secure is always the first priority. DocuServe is a cloud-based digital data protection company providing services that include cloud-based document management, content encryption and distribution, and digital media replication and encryption. Contact us today to learn about our full range of solutions.