With a wide range of digital solutions, businesses now have the option to rely on various cloud service models. As a result, software development no longer requires costly infrastructure investment—configuration, maintenance, and upgrading the environment are now digitalized, relying on automation for effieicncy and accuracy.
One such cloud model is a Platfrom as a Service (PaaS). This cloud technology supports building, testing, deploying and scaling applications, making it much easier for organizations to adapt and scale, as all development occurs on the cloud. In fact, organizations are realizing the value of PaaS platforms, as Statista confirms that spending in this sector almost doubled between 2018 and 2022.
In this article, we will explore what PaaS is, what it’s future market value entails, and why developers prefer this model.
What Is Platform as a Service (PaaS)?
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is cloud computing model that provides developers with the hardware, software and infrastructure to develop applications. Organizations only manage the applications they create, and the associated data. Other aspets of application development, such as infrastructure maintenance and management and upgrades, are handled by the PaaS provider.
PaaS is a significant advantage for developers, as they do not have to invest in their own hardware facilities and the platforms needed for software development. In addition, developers also do not have to consider computing resources, such as physical or virtual machines and storage space, or infrastructure security—they can rely on the PaaS provider.
How do PaaS Models Work?
PaaS models function on three core components, which include:
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- Cloud infrastructure. Developers can access viurtal machines (VMs), firewalls, storage, network, and operating system software.
- The software. Teams will have all the resources they need to develop, deploy and test software applications.
- Graphic user interface (GUI). A single GUI where developers can collaborate through the application development lifecycle.
PaaS providers manage all these components, making it much easier for organizations and developers. As these platforms are remote and unify all the tools development teams need to build applications, developers can work from any location. Essentially, all that’s left for the businesses is to manage their applications and data.
What Are the Differences Between PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS Models?
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offers cloud infrastructure resources, such as networking, firewalls, and VMs. Consequently, this model helps organizations eliminate the cost and inefficiency of managing on-premises infrastructure. On the other hand, Software as a Service (SaaS) allows organizations to leverage applications without having to run or maintain them—HubSpot and Salesforce are examples of these systems. In contrast to these models, PaaS providers specialize in offering application execution and development services.
How do Developers Benefit from PaaS Models?
PaaS systems offer many advantages to developers, including optimized application development, reduced costs, minimized administration, and increased agility. Here is how these benefits offer added value to development teams and software lifecycles.
Optimized Application Development
First, these models offer much faster application development as developers can solely focus on writing code and optimization. It is also much easier to create a Proof of Concept, offering development teams more efficient.
Reduced Costs
A second benefit of these models is that it reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO). Most PaaS providers offer pay-as-you-go models, which allow developers to pay only for the consumption of the provider’s resources. Additionally, smaller projects can also be developed at no or minimal cost. For instance, App Engine has a Free Tier—a free revolving limit, which the customer can use without paying for the service.
Minimized Administration
As PaaS models operate in the cloud, there is no requirement for physical administration efforts. Instead, development teams can focus on optimizing application development. Teams can easily share resources and communicate and collaborate with each other remotely.
Increased Agility
PaaS models offer intuitive dashboards, allowing developers to make adjustments to applications with minimal effort. As such, it is much easier and faster to adapt to market, competitor, and consumer trends.
What the Future of PaaS Models Will Entail
With the rise of automation and the use of modern technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the market for PaaS services can only grow. The global PaaS market size was valued at $44 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $319 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.0% from 2021 to 2030, an Allied Market Research report confirms. According to the same report, the factors driving the PaaS market include an increase in cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising popularity of cloud applications and virtualization technologies. In addition, as cloud computing and network infrastructures evolve, these trends will also impact the growth of PaaS systems.
Furthermore, this report also indicates the challenges of adopting PaaS models—costly installation, limited customization, and complex network management. However, should organizations and developers find solutions to these challenges, they can leverage the advantages of PaaS systems, and based on the market forecast, many businesses will be taking these steps.
In Closing
PaaS systems comprise three main components including cloud infrastructure, software, and GUI technologies. With these tools and all their resources, developers can streamline their application development process through cloud environments enabling software deployment, design, and testing. As the popularity of PaaS providers is increasingly growing, organizations are becoming aware of the benefits of this solution, including reduced costs, optimized application development, and improved agility.
