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{{short description|Category of cloud computing services}}
'''Platform as a service''' ('''PaaS''') is a category of [[Cloud computing#Service models|cloud computing services]] that provides a [[computing platform|platform]] allowing customers to develop, run and manage [[Web applications]] without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typically associated with developing and launching an app.<ref name="bbutler">Brandon Butler, [http://www.networkworld.com/article/2163430/cloud-computing/paas-primer--what-is-platform-as-a-service-and-why-does-it-matter-.html “PaaS Primer: What is platform as a service and why does it matter?”] ''[[Network World]]'', February 11, 2013.</ref><ref name="rackspace">[http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/whitepaper/understanding-the-cloud-computing-stack-saas-paas-iaas “Understanding the Cloud Computing Stack: SaaS, PaaS, IaaS,”] Rackspace, October 22, 2013.</ref><ref name="wchang">William Y. Chang, Hosame Abu-Amara, Jessica Feng Sanford, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=yyiPyIXgbxMC&pg=PA55 Transforming Enterprise Cloud Services]'', London: Springer, 2010, pp. 55-56.</ref> PaaS can be delivered in two ways: as a public cloud service from a provider, where the consumer controls software deployment and configuration settings, and the provider provides the networks, servers, storage and other services to host the consumer's application; or as software installed in private data centers or public infrastructure as a service and managed by internal IT departments.<ref name="jhurwitz">Judith Hurwitz, Marcia Kaufman, Fern Halper and Dan Kirsh, [http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-platform-as-a-service-paas-in-cloud-comput.html “What Is Platform as a Service (PaaS) in Cloud Computing?”] ''Hybrid Cloud For Dummies'', Hoboken, NJ: [[John Wiley & Sons]], 2012.</ref><ref name=nist>{{cite web|title=The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing |url=http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf|publisher=National Institute of Science and Technology|accessdate=24 July 2011}}</ref>
{{redirect-distinguish|PaaS|Payments as a service}}
'''Platform as a service''' ('''PaaS''') or '''application platform as a service''' ('''aPaaS''') or platform-based service is a [[cloud computing#Service models|cloud computing service model]] where users provision, instantiate, run and manage a modular bundle of a [[computing platform]] and applications, without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure associated with developing and launching application(s), and to allow developers to create, develop, and package such [[software]] bundles.<ref name="bbutler">{{Cite web | author = Brandon Butler | url = http://www.networkworld.com/article/2163430/cloud-computing/paas-primer--what-is-platform-as-a-service-and-why-does-it-matter-.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095106/http://www.networkworld.com/article/2163430/cloud-computing/paas-primer--what-is-platform-as-a-service-and-why-does-it-matter-.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 2, 2015 | title = PaaS Primer: What is platform as a service and why does it matter?" | website = Network World] | date = February 11, 2013}}</ref><ref name="wchang">{{Cite book | author = William Y. Chang, Hosame Abu-Amara, Jessica Feng Sanford | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yyiPyIXgbxMC&pg=PA55 | title = Transforming Enterprise Cloud Services |date = 15 November 2010| publisher = London: Springer, 2010 | page = 55-56|isbn = 9789048198467}}</ref>


==Development and uses==
== Development and uses ==
PaaS can be delivered in three ways:
Fotango, a London (Old Street) based company owned by Canon Europe launched the world's first public platform as a service known as 'Zimki'. Developed in 2005 with a beta launch in March 2006 and a public launch at EuroOSCON in 2006.<ref>Zimki, hosted JavaScript environment, http://radar.oreilly.com/2006/09/zimki-hosted-javascript-enviro.html</ref> Zimki was an end to end JavaScript web application development and utility computing platform that removed all the repetitive tasks encountered when creating web applications and web services. All aspects of infrastructure and operations from setting up servers, scaling, configuration, security and backups were done automatically by Zimki, enabling developers to get on with doing what they enjoy: writing code. Zimki introduced the tagline 'Pre-Shaved Yaks' <ref>What is a pre-shaved Yak, https://www.flickr.com/photos/zimki/243779431/in/photostream/</ref> to describe the removal of all these repetitive tasks that got in the way of coding.<ref>Pre Shaved Yaks, http://archive.ianwinter.co.uk/2007/09/25/zimki-is-no-more/</ref>
* As a public cloud service from a provider, where the consumer controls software deployment with minimal configuration options, and the provider provides the networks, [[server (computing)|servers]], [[storage (memory)|storage]], [[operating system]] (OS), [[middleware]] (e.g. [[Java runtime]], [[.NET Framework|.NET]] runtime, integration, etc.), [[database]] and other services to host the consumer's application.
* As a private service (software or [[software appliance|appliance]]) behind a firewall.
* As software deployed on public infrastructure as a service.<ref name="jhurwitz">Judith Hurwitz, Marcia Kaufman, Fern Halper and Dan Kirsh, [http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-platform-as-a-service-paas-in-cloud-comput.html "What Is Platform as a Service (PaaS) in Cloud Computing?"] ''Hybrid Cloud For Dummies'', Hoboken, NJ: [[John Wiley & Sons]], 2012.</ref><ref name="nist">{{cite report|title=The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing |year=2011 |url=http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf|publisher=National Institute of Science and Technology|doi=10.6028/NIST.SP.800-145|id=Special Publication 800-145
|last1=Mell |first1=P. M. |last2=Grance |first2=T. }}</ref>


The first<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.gardeviance.org/2015/02/on-open-source-gameplay-and-cloud.html|title=On open source, gameplay and cloud|last1=Wardley|first1=Simon|date=20 Feb 2015|website=Bits or pieces?|publisher=Simon Wardley|language=en|format=HTML|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308014753/http://blog.gardeviance.org/2015/02/on-open-source-gameplay-and-cloud.html|archive-date=8 March 2016|access-date=29 December 2016}}</ref> public platform as a service was Zimki, launched by Fotango, a London-based company owned by [[Canon Inc.#Operations|Canon Europe]]. It was developed in 2005, had a [[beta launch]] in March 2006 and a public launch at EuroOSCON in 2006.<ref>Zimki, hosted JavaScript environment, http://radar.oreilly.com/2006/09/zimki-hosted-javascript-enviro.html</ref>
Zimki was a pure play 'pay as you go' platform which enabled developers to build and deploy applications without incurring any start-up costs on a true utility based computing platform. Charging was done on storage used, network traffic and JSOPs (Javascript Operations). It provided a multi-tenant platform where developers created entire applications (front and back end through SSJS) using a single language - Javascript, with all development and application control exposed through APIs and a range of component services from a NoSQL object store to Message Queue services.<ref>Fotango Opens its Zimki Customer API, http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/fotango-opens-its-zimki-customer-api-153777895.html</ref> Furthermore all functions within Zimki could be exposed as web services and Zimki provided billing analysis down to individual functions.


Whilst the Zimki platform was rapidly growing and Fotango was profitable, the parent company decided this area was not core <ref>A personal journey, http://blog.gardeviance.org/2009/04/there-and-back-again-personal-journey.html</ref> and the service was closed in Dec 2007.<ref>Zimki Shuts Down, http://blog.gerv.net/2007/09/zimki_shuts_down/</ref> At the time of its closure, Zimki had several thousand developer accounts and had demonstrated the technical viability of Platform as a Service but also provided the first example of the perils of being dependent upon a single provider.<ref>Zimki closure shows the perils of hosted web platforms, http://www.itwriting.com/blog/337-zimki-closure-shows-the-perils-of-hosted-web-platforms.html</ref> This risk had been highlighted in July 2007, when the CEO gave a presentation on Zimki at OSCON 2007 which announced that Zimki would no longer be open sourced and discussed the future of what was then called Framework as a Service (later renamed to Platform as A Service) covering the importance of a market of providers based upon an open source reference model <ref>OSCON Keynote 2007, http://mais.uol.com.br/view/v1xaxe2lamb3/oscon--commoditisation-of-it-and-what-the-future-holds-0402D4B10386?types=A</ref>
At the time of its closure, Zimki had several thousand developer accounts. It had demonstrated the technical viability of Platform as a Service, but also provided the first example of the perils of being dependent on a single provider.<ref>{{cite web |title=Zimki closure shows the perils of hosted web platforms |date=27 September 2007 |url=http://www.itwriting.com/blog/337-zimki-closure-shows-the-perils-of-hosted-web-platforms.html}}</ref> This was highlighted when the CEO ([[Simon Wardley]], known for [[Wardley map]]s) announced at OSCON 2007 that Zimki would no longer be open-sourced and discussed the future of what was then called framework-as-a-service (later called platform-as-a-service) covering the importance of a market of providers based on an open-source reference model. <ref>OSCON Keynote 2007, http://mais.uol.com.br/view/v1xaxe2lamb3/oscon--commoditisation-of-it-and-what-the-future-holds-0402D4B10386?types=A</ref>


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The original intent of PaaS was to simplify the writing of code, with the infrastructure and operations handled by the PaaS provider. Originally, all PaaSes were in the public cloud. Because many companies did not want to have everything in the public cloud, private and hybrid PaaS options (managed by internal IT departments) were created.<ref name="mkavis">Mike Kavis, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekavis/2014/09/15/top-8-reasons-why-enterprises-are-passing-on-paas/ "Top 8 Reasons Why Enterprises Are Passing On PaaS,"] ''[[Forbes]]'', September 15, 2014.</ref>
In April 2008, [[Google]] launched [[App Engine]], with a free trial version limited to 10,000 developers.<ref name="jschofield">Jack Schofield, [http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/apr/17/google.software “Google angles for business users with ‘platform as a service’,”] ''[[The Guardian]]'', April 16, 2008.</ref> This was said to have "turned the Internet cloud computing space into a fully-fledged industry virtually overnight."<ref name="dhinchcliffe">Dion Hinchcliffe, [http://www.zdnet.com/article/comparing-amazons-and-googles-platform-as-a-service-paas-offerings/ “Comparing Amazon’s and Google’s Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Offerings,”] [[ZDNet]], April 11, 2008.</ref>


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PaaS provides an environment for developers and companies to create, host and deploy applications, saving developers from the complexities of infrastructure (setting up, configuring and managing elements such as servers and databases). PaaS can improve the speed of developing an app, and allow its user to focus on the application itself. With PaaS, the customer manages applications and data, while the provider (in public PaaS) or IT department (in private PaaS) manages [[Runtime system|runtime]], [[middleware]], [[operating system]], [[virtualization]], [[Server (computing)|servers]], [[Computer memory|storage]] and [[Computer network|networking]].<ref name="jhurwitz"/><ref>Sean Ludwig, [https://venturebeat.com/2012/10/08/paas-platform-as-a-service-explained/ "An ugly duckling no more: Why Platform-as-a-Service is poised for huge growth,"] [[VentureBeat]], October 8, 2012.</ref> Development tools provided by the vendor are customized according to the needs of the user.<ref>{{cite web |first=Andrea |last=Peiro |url=http://www.inc.com/software/articles/200901/peiro.html |title=Keep Your Head in the Cloud |work=[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]] |date=January 2009}}</ref> The user can choose to maintain the software, or have the vendor maintain it.<ref name="jhurwitz"/>
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The original intent of PaaS was to simplify the code-writing process for developers, with the infrastructure and operations handled by the PaaS provider. Originally, all PaaSes were in the public cloud. Because many companies did not want to have everything in the public cloud, private and hybrid PaaS options (managed by internal IT departments) were created.<ref name="mkavis">Mike Kavis, [http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekavis/2014/09/15/top-8-reasons-why-enterprises-are-passing-on-paas/ “Top 8 Reasons Why Enterprises Are Passing On PaaS,”] ''[[Forbes]]'', September 15, 2014.</ref>


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PaaS offerings may also include facilities for application design, application development, testing and deployment, as well as services such as [[Collaborative software|team collaboration]], web service integration, and [[Marshalling (computer science)|marshalling]], database integration, security, scalability, storage, persistence, state management, application versioning, application instrumentation, and developer community facilitation. Besides the service engineering aspects, PaaS offerings include mechanisms for service management, such as monitoring, workflow management, discovery and reservation.<ref>M. Boniface, [https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICIW.2010.91 "Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Real-Time Quality of Service Management in Clouds,"] ieee.org, May 2010.</ref><ref>Chen, Tse-Shih, et al. "Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Parallel Video Analysis in Clouds." Advances in Intelligent Systems and Applications-Volume 2. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013. 619-626.</ref>
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PaaS provides an environment for developers and companies to create, host and deploy applications, saving developers from the complexities of the infrastructure side (setting up, configuring and managing elements such as servers and databases). PaaS can improve the speed of developing an app, and allow the consumer to focus on the application itself. With PaaS, the consumer manages applications and data, while the provider (in public PaaS) or IT department (in private PaaS) manages [[Runtime system|runtime]], [[middleware]], [[operating system]], [[virtualization]], [[Server (computing)|servers]], [[Computer memory|storage]] and [[Computer network|networking]].<ref name="jhurwitz"/><ref>Sean Ludwig, [http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/08/paas-platform-as-a-service-explained/ “An ugly duckling no more: Why Platform-as-a-Service is poised for huge growth,”] [[VentureBeat]], October 8, 2012.</ref> Development tools provided by the vendor are customized according to the needs of the user.<ref>Andrea Peiro, [http://www.inc.com/software/articles/200901/peiro.html “Keep Your Head in the Cloud,”] ''[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]]'', January 2009.</ref> The user can choose to maintain the software, or have the vendor maintain it.<ref name="jhurwitz"/>


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== Advantages and disadvantages ==
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PaaS offerings may also include facilities for application design, application development, testing and deployment, as well as services such as team collaboration, web service integration, and [[Marshalling (computer science)|marshalling]], database integration, security, scalability, storage, persistence, state management, application versioning, application instrumentation, and developer community facilitation. Besides the service engineering aspects, PaaS offerings include mechanisms for service management, such as monitoring, workflow management, discovery and reservation.<ref>M. Boniface, [http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICIW.2010.91 “Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Real-Time Quality of Service Management in Clouds,”] ieee.org, May 2010.</ref><ref>Chen, Tse-Shih, et al. "Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Parallel Video Analysis in Clouds." Advances in Intelligent Systems and Applications-Volume 2. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013. 619-626.</ref>
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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/self up-and-down ramping infrastructure resources; and maintenance and enhancement of the application is thus easier.


Disadvantages of various PaaS providers as cited by their users include increased pricing at larger scales,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Flower |first1=Zachary |title=Weigh the benefits of PaaS providers against lock-in risks |url=https://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/feature/Weigh-the-benefits-of-PaaS-providers-against-lock-in-risks |website=searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com |access-date=21 November 2018}}</ref> lack of operational features,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekavis/2014/09/15/top-8-reasons-why-enterprises-are-passing-on-paas/|title=Top 8 Reasons Why Enterprises Are Passing On PaaS|first=Mike|last=Kavis|website=Forbes}}</ref> reduced control,<ref name="auto"/> and the difficulties of traffic routing systems.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/James-somers-herokus-ugly-secret-annotated|title=James Somers (Ft. Andrew Warner, ATodd, Chrissy & Tom Lehman) – Heroku's Ugly Secret|website=Genius}}</ref>
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==Advantages and disadvantages==
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The advantages to 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.<ref name="wchang"/> It can also be useful in situations where multiple developers are working on a single project involving parties who are not located nearby.<ref name="rackspace"/>


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== Types ==
The primary disadvantage would be the possibility of being locked in to a certain platform. However, most PaaSes are relatively lock-in free.<ref name="dhinchcliffe"/>
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=== Public, private and hybrid ===
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There are several types of PaaS, including public, private and hybrid.<ref name="mkavis"/> PaaS was originally intended for applications on public cloud services, before expanding to include private and hybrid options.<ref name="mkavis"/>


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Public PaaS is derived from [[software as a service]] (SaaS),<ref name="jschofield">Jack Schofield, [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/apr/17/google.software "Google angles for business users with ‘platform as a service’,"] ''[[The Guardian]]'', April 16, 2008.</ref> and is situated in cloud computing between SaaS and [[infrastructure as a service]] (IaaS).<ref name="bbutler"/> SaaS is software hosted in the cloud so that it does not reside or run on customer computers. IaaS provides virtual hardware from a provider with adjustable scalability.<ref name="bbutler"/> In IaaS, the server is managed by the user, whereas in PaaS by the provider.<ref>Andrew C. Oliver, [http://www.infoworld.com/article/2615165/cloud-computing/which-freaking-paas-should-i-use-.html "Which freaking PaaS should I use?"] ''[[InfoWorld]]'', October 8, 2012.</ref>
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==Types==


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A private PaaS can typically be downloaded and installed either in a company's on-premises [[data center]], or in a public cloud. Once the software is installed on one or more machines, the private PaaS arranges the application and database components into a single hosting platform.<ref>Jason Brooks, [http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Apprenda-30-Brings-Private-PaaS-to-NET-Developers-627986/ "Apprenda 3.0 Brings Private PaaS to .NET Developers,"] ''[[eWeek]]'', January 6, 2012.</ref>
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===Public, private and hybrid===
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There are several types of PaaS, including public, private and hybrid.<ref name="mkavis"/> PaaS was originally intended as an application solution in the public cloud, before expanding to include private and hybrid options.<ref name="mkavis"/>


Hybrid PaaS is typically a deployment consisting of a mix of public and private deployments.
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Public PaaS is derived from [[software as a service]] (SaaS),<ref name="jschofield"/> and is situated in cloud computing between SaaS and [[infrastructure as a service]] (IaaS).<ref name="bbutler"/> SaaS is software that is hosted in the cloud, so that it doesn't take up hard drive or server space. IaaS provides virtual storage from a provider with adjustable scalability.<ref name="bbutler"/> With IaaS, the user still has to manage the server, whereas with PaaS the server management is done by the provider.<ref>Andrew C. Oliver, [http://www.infoworld.com/article/2615165/cloud-computing/which-freaking-paas-should-i-use-.html “Which freaking PaaS should I use?”] ''[[InfoWorld]]'', October 8, 2012.</ref>


=== Communications platform as a service ===
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A private PaaS can typically be downloaded and installed either on a company's on-premises infrastructure, or in a public cloud. Once the software is installed on one or more machines, the private PaaS arranges the application and database components into a single hosting platform.<ref>Jason Brooks, [http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Apprenda-30-Brings-Private-PaaS-to-NET-Developers-627986/ “Apprenda 3.0 Brings Private PaaS to .NET Developers,”] ''[[eWeek]]'', January 6, 2012.</ref> Private PaaS vendors include [[Apprenda]], which started out on the [[Microsoft]] .NET platform before rolling out a Java PaaS; [[Red Hat]]'s [[OpenShift]] and [[Pivotal Software|Pivotal]] [[Cloud Foundry]].<ref>Ben Kepes, [http://www.forbes.com/sites/benkepes/2014/10/06/apprenda-extends-its-paas-and-aims-a-kick-in-the-direction-of-red-hat/ “Apprenda Extends Its PaaS And Aims A Kick In The Direction of Red Hat,”] ''Forbes'', October 6, 2014.</ref> Apprenda and Microsoft are considered to be two of the only PaaSes that provide superior .NET support.<ref name="mkavis"/>
A communications platform as a service (CPaaS) is a cloud-based platform that enables developers to add real-time communications features (voice, video, and messaging) in their own applications without building back-end infrastructure and interfaces.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What Is Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS)? Definition from SearchUnifiedCommunications|url=https://www.techtarget.com/searchunifiedcommunications/definition/Communications-platform-as-a-service-CPaaS|access-date=2022-02-24|website=SearchUnifiedCommunications|language=en}}</ref> Also, CPaaS and hardware and software specifications are specifically designed to support (tele)communications applications. These applications and their usage are much more sensitive to jitter, latency and packet losses. Hosted [[Business telephone system#Private_branch_exchange|PBX]], cellular networks, (near real-time) applications typically are deployed on CPaaS platforms.


===Mobile PaaS===
=== Mobile platform as a service ===
Initiated in 2012, mobile PaaS (mPaaS) provides development capabilities for mobile app designers and developers.<ref>Anthony Wing Kosner, [http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/06/08/developers-in-demand-platform-as-a-service-is-key-to-growth-of-mobile-cloud-computing/ “Developers in Demand: Platform As A Service Is Key to Growth of Mobile Cloud Computing,”] ''Forbes'', June 8, 2012.</ref> The [[Yankee Group]] identified mPaas as one of its themes for 2014, naming a number of providers including Kinvey, Kumulos [http://www.kumulos.com www.kumulos.com] CloudMine, AnyPresence, FeedHenry, FatFractal and Point.io.<ref>[http://web.yankeegroup.com/rs/yankeegroup/images/YG_2014Predictions.pdf Yankee 2014 Predictions Mobility hits a tipping point], [[Yankee Group]], 2014.</ref><ref>Christina Warren, [http://mashable.com/2011/11/16/mobile-app-cloud-servers/ “How to Pick a Server for Your App,”] [[Mashable]], November 16, 2011.</ref>
Initiated in 2012, mobile PaaS (mPaaS) provides development capabilities for mobile app designers and developers.<ref>Anthony Wing Kosner, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/06/08/developers-in-demand-platform-as-a-service-is-key-to-growth-of-mobile-cloud-computing/ "Developers in Demand: Platform As A Service Is Key to Growth of Mobile Cloud Computing,"] ''Forbes'', June 8, 2012.</ref> The [[Yankee Group]] identified mPaaS as one of its themes for 2014.<ref>[http://web.yankeegroup.com/rs/yankeegroup/images/YG_2014Predictions.pdf Yankee 2014 Predictions Mobility hits a tipping point] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122130233/http://web.yankeegroup.com/rs/yankeegroup/images/YG_2014Predictions.pdf |date=2014-01-22 }}, [[Yankee Group]], 2014.</ref><ref>Christina Warren, [http://mashable.com/2011/11/16/mobile-app-cloud-servers/ "How to Pick a Server for Your App,"] [[Mashable]], November 16, 2011.</ref>


===Open PaaS===
=== Open PaaS ===
Open PaaS does not include hosting, but rather it provides open source software allowing a PaaS provider to run applications in an open source environment. For example, [[AppScale]] allows a user to deploy some applications written for [[Google App Engine]] to their own servers, providing datastore access from a standard [[SQL]] or [[NoSQL]] database. Some open platforms let the developer use any programming language, database, operating system or server to deploy their applications.<ref>[http://www.openplatformasaservice.com/interview.htm “Interview With Brian Sullivan – Open Platform As A Service,”] openplatformasaservice.com, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.clouds360.com/paas.php “The Top 20 Platform as a Service (PaaS) Vendors,”] clouds360.com. Accessed January 23, 2015.</ref>
Open PaaS does not include hosting but provides open-source software allowing a PaaS provider to run applications in an open-source environment, such as [[Google App Engine]]. Some open platforms let the developer use any programming language, database, operating system or server to deploy their applications.<ref>[http://www.sullivansoftwaresystems.com/interview.htm "Interview With Brian Sullivan – Inventor of Open Platform As A Service"], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213121/http://www.sullivansoftwaresystems.com/interview.htm |date=2013-10-04 }} sullivansoftwaresystems.com, 2010.</ref>


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== Providers ==
===PaaS for Rapid Development===
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There are various types of PaaS providers. All offer application hosting and a deployment environment, along with various integrated services. Services offer varying levels of scalability and maintenance.<ref name="dhinchcliffe">Dion Hinchcliffe, [https://www.zdnet.com/article/comparing-amazons-and-googles-platform-as-a-service-paas-offerings/ "Comparing Amazon’s and Google’s Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Offerings,"] [[ZDNet]], April 11, 2008.</ref> Developers can write an application and upload it to a PaaS that supports their software language of choice, and the application runs on that PaaS.<ref>Nancy Gohring, [http://www.computerworld.com/article/2497859/cloud-computing/platform-as-a-service-heats-up.html "Platform as a service heats up,"] ''[[Computerworld]]'', July 8, 2013.</ref>
In 2014, [[Forrester Research]] defined Enterprise Public Cloud Platforms for Rapid Developers as an emerging trend, naming a number of provides including [[OutSystems]], [[Mendix]], [[Salesforce.com]], and [[Acquia]].<ref>[https://www.forrester.com/The+Forrester+Wave+Enterprise+Public+Cloud+Platforms+Q4+2014/fulltext/-/E-RES118381 "Forrester Wave: Enterprise Public Cloud Platforms,"] Q4 2014.</ref>


===System types===
==Government usage==
The [[UK Government]] encourages departments to make use of public cloud solutions as a first option. PaaS is in use within UK Government but the technology community within government notes that PaaS providers may restrict the software, languages and interfaces they are willing to support. The Government operated its own GOV.UK PaaS service from 2015 until 2023, but this has now been decommissioned.<ref>Government Digital Service, [https://www.cloud.service.gov.uk/migration-guidance/ Migrating from GOV.UK PaaS], accessed on 12 October 2024</ref>
PaaS is found on the following types of systems:

;Add-on development facilities
:These facilities customization of existing SaaS applications, often requiring PaaS developers and their users to purchase subscriptions to the add-on SaaS application.<ref name="qualitytesting">[http://www.qualitytesting.info/group/cloudcomputing/forum/topics/platform-as-a-service-paas “Platform as a Service (PaaS),”] Quality Testing, December 22, 2010.</ref>

;Stand alone environments
:Stand-alone PaaS environments do not include technical, licensing or financial dependencies on specific SaaS applications or web services, and are intended to provide a generalized development environment.<ref name="qualitytesting"/>

;Application delivery-only environments
:Delivery-only PaaS offerings generally focus on hosting services, such as security and on-demand scalability. The service does not include development, debugging and test capabilities, though they may be supplied offline (via an [[Eclipse (software)|Eclipse]] plugin, for example).<ref name="qualitytesting"/>

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==Providers==
⚫
There are various types of PaaS providers. All offer application hosting and a deployment environment, along with various integrated services. Services offer varying levels of scalability and maintenance.<ref name="dhinchcliffe"/> Developers can write an application and upload it to a PaaS that supports their software language of choice, and the application runs on that PaaS.<ref>Nancy Gohring, [http://www.computerworld.com/article/2497859/cloud-computing/platform-as-a-service-heats-up.html “Platform as a service heats up,”] ''[[Computerworld]]'', July 8, 2013.</ref>

Public PaaS providers and private PaaS vendors include:

*[[ActiveState]]
*[http://www.aerobatic.com Aerobatic]
*[[AppearIQ]]
*[[Apprenda]]
*[[AppScale]]
*[[AWS Elastic Beanstalk]]
*[[Cloud Foundry]]
*[[CloudControl]]
*[[Cloudera]]
*[[Distelli]]
*[[Novation Companies|Corvisa]]
*[[Engine Yard]]
*[[Google App Engine]]
*[[Heroku]]
*[[Bluemix|IBM Bluemix]]
*[[Jelastic]]
*[[Microsoft Azure Web Sites]], Azure Cloud Services, Azure Mobile Services
*[[Mendix]]
*[[OpenShift]]
*[[Oracle]]
*[[OutSystems]]
*[[Pivotal Software]]
*[[QlikView]]
*[[Ragic]]
*[[Rollbase]]
*[[Salesforce.com]]
*[[SAP HANA Cloud Platform (HCP)]]
*[[WaveMaker]]


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[Network as a service]]
* [[as a service]]
* [[Software as a service]]
* [[Infrastructure as a service]]
* [[Mobile Backend as a service]]


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Cloud computing}}


[[Category:Cloud computing]]
[[Category:As a service]]
[[Category:Cloud platforms]]
[[Category:Cloud platforms]]


Latest revision as of 04:46, 12 October 2024

"PaaS" redirects here. Not to be confused with Payments as a service.

Platform as a service (PaaS) or application platform as a service (aPaaS) or platform-based service is a cloud computing service model where users provision, instantiate, run and manage a modular bundle of a computing platform and applications, without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure associated with developing and launching application(s), and to allow developers to create, develop, and package such software bundles.[1][2]

Development and uses

[edit]

PaaS can be delivered in three 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, operating system (OS), middleware (e.g. Java runtime, .NET runtime, integration, etc.), database and other services to host the consumer's application.
  • As a private service (software or appliance) behind a firewall.
  • As software deployed on public infrastructure as a service.[3][4]

The first[5] public platform as a service was Zimki, launched by Fotango, a London-based company owned by Canon Europe. It was developed in 2005, had a beta launch in March 2006 and a public launch at EuroOSCON in 2006.[6]

At the time of its closure, Zimki had several thousand developer accounts. It had demonstrated the technical viability of Platform as a Service, but also provided the first example of the perils of being dependent on a single provider.[7] This was highlighted when the CEO (Simon Wardley, known for Wardley maps) announced at OSCON 2007 that Zimki would no longer be open-sourced and discussed the future of what was then called framework-as-a-service (later called platform-as-a-service) covering the importance of a market of providers based on an open-source reference model. [8]

The original intent of PaaS was to simplify the writing of code, with the infrastructure and operations handled by the PaaS provider. Originally, all PaaSes were in the public cloud. Because many companies did not want to have everything in the public cloud, private and hybrid PaaS options (managed by internal IT departments) were created.[9]

PaaS provides an environment for developers and companies to create, host and deploy applications, saving developers from the complexities of infrastructure (setting up, configuring and managing elements such as servers and databases). PaaS can improve the speed of developing an app, and allow its user to focus on the application itself. With PaaS, the customer manages applications and data, while the provider (in public PaaS) or IT department (in private PaaS) manages runtime, middleware, operating system, virtualization, servers, storage and networking.[3][10] Development tools provided by the vendor are customized according to the needs of the user.[11] The user can choose to maintain the software, or have the vendor maintain it.[3]

PaaS offerings may also include facilities for application design, application development, testing and deployment, as well as services such as team collaboration, web service integration, and marshalling, database integration, security, scalability, storage, persistence, state management, application versioning, application instrumentation, and developer community facilitation. Besides the service engineering aspects, PaaS offerings include mechanisms for service management, such as monitoring, workflow management, discovery and reservation.[12][13]

Advantages and disadvantages

[edit]

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/self up-and-down ramping infrastructure resources; and maintenance and enhancement of the application is thus easier.

Disadvantages of various PaaS providers as cited by their users include increased pricing at larger scales,[14] lack of operational features,[15] reduced control,[15] and the difficulties of traffic routing systems.[16]

Types

[edit]

Public, private and hybrid

[edit]

There are several types of PaaS, including public, private and hybrid.[9] PaaS was originally intended for applications on public cloud services, before expanding to include private and hybrid options.[9]

Public PaaS is derived from software as a service (SaaS),[17] and is situated in cloud computing between SaaS and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).[1] SaaS is software hosted in the cloud so that it does not reside or run on customer computers. IaaS provides virtual hardware from a provider with adjustable scalability.[1] In IaaS, the server is managed by the user, whereas in PaaS by the provider.[18]

A private PaaS can typically be downloaded and installed either in a company's on-premises data center, or in a public cloud. Once the software is installed on one or more machines, the private PaaS arranges the application and database components into a single hosting platform.[19]

Hybrid PaaS is typically a deployment consisting of a mix of public and private deployments.

Communications platform as a service

[edit]

A communications platform as a service (CPaaS) is a cloud-based platform that enables developers to add real-time communications features (voice, video, and messaging) in their own applications without building back-end infrastructure and interfaces.[20] Also, CPaaS and hardware and software specifications are specifically designed to support (tele)communications applications. These applications and their usage are much more sensitive to jitter, latency and packet losses. Hosted PBX, cellular networks, (near real-time) applications typically are deployed on CPaaS platforms.

Mobile platform as a service

[edit]

Initiated in 2012, mobile PaaS (mPaaS) provides development capabilities for mobile app designers and developers.[21] The Yankee Group identified mPaaS as one of its themes for 2014.[22][23]

Open PaaS

[edit]

Open PaaS does not include hosting but provides open-source software allowing a PaaS provider to run applications in an open-source environment, such as Google App Engine. Some open platforms let the developer use any programming language, database, operating system or server to deploy their applications.[24]

Providers

[edit]

There are various types of PaaS providers. All offer application hosting and a deployment environment, along with various integrated services. Services offer varying levels of scalability and maintenance.[25] Developers can write an application and upload it to a PaaS that supports their software language of choice, and the application runs on that PaaS.[26]

Government usage

[edit]

The UK Government encourages departments to make use of public cloud solutions as a first option. PaaS is in use within UK Government but the technology community within government notes that PaaS providers may restrict the software, languages and interfaces they are willing to support. The Government operated its own GOV.UK PaaS service from 2015 until 2023, but this has now been decommissioned.[27]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Brandon Butler (February 11, 2013). "PaaS Primer: What is platform as a service and why does it matter?"". Network World]. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
  2. ^ William Y. Chang, Hosame Abu-Amara, Jessica Feng Sanford (15 November 2010). Transforming Enterprise Cloud Services. London: Springer, 2010. p. 55-56. ISBN 9789048198467.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b c Judith Hurwitz, Marcia Kaufman, Fern Halper and Dan Kirsh, "What Is Platform as a Service (PaaS) in Cloud Computing?" Hybrid Cloud For Dummies, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
  4. ^ Mell, P. M.; Grance, T. (2011). The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing (PDF) (Report). National Institute of Science and Technology. doi:10.6028/NIST.SP.800-145. Special Publication 800-145.
  5. ^ Wardley, Simon (20 Feb 2015). "On open source, gameplay and cloud". Bits or pieces?. Simon Wardley. Archived from the original (HTML) on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  6. ^ Zimki, hosted JavaScript environment, http://radar.oreilly.com/2006/09/zimki-hosted-javascript-enviro.html
  7. ^ "Zimki closure shows the perils of hosted web platforms". 27 September 2007.
  8. ^ OSCON Keynote 2007, http://mais.uol.com.br/view/v1xaxe2lamb3/oscon--commoditisation-of-it-and-what-the-future-holds-0402D4B10386?types=A
  9. ^ a b c Mike Kavis, "Top 8 Reasons Why Enterprises Are Passing On PaaS," Forbes, September 15, 2014.
  10. ^ Sean Ludwig, "An ugly duckling no more: Why Platform-as-a-Service is poised for huge growth," VentureBeat, October 8, 2012.
  11. ^ Peiro, Andrea (January 2009). "Keep Your Head in the Cloud". Inc.
  12. ^ M. Boniface, "Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Real-Time Quality of Service Management in Clouds," ieee.org, May 2010.
  13. ^ Chen, Tse-Shih, et al. "Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Parallel Video Analysis in Clouds." Advances in Intelligent Systems and Applications-Volume 2. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013. 619-626.
  14. ^ Flower, Zachary. "Weigh the benefits of PaaS providers against lock-in risks". searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  15. ^ a b Kavis, Mike. "Top 8 Reasons Why Enterprises Are Passing On PaaS". Forbes.
  16. ^ "James Somers (Ft. Andrew Warner, ATodd, Chrissy & Tom Lehman) – Heroku's Ugly Secret". Genius.
  17. ^ Jack Schofield, "Google angles for business users with ‘platform as a service’," The Guardian, April 16, 2008.
  18. ^ Andrew C. Oliver, "Which freaking PaaS should I use?" InfoWorld, October 8, 2012.
  19. ^ Jason Brooks, "Apprenda 3.0 Brings Private PaaS to .NET Developers," eWeek, January 6, 2012.
  20. ^ "What Is Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS)? Definition from SearchUnifiedCommunications". SearchUnifiedCommunications. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  21. ^ Anthony Wing Kosner, "Developers in Demand: Platform As A Service Is Key to Growth of Mobile Cloud Computing," Forbes, June 8, 2012.
  22. ^ Yankee 2014 Predictions Mobility hits a tipping point Archived 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine, Yankee Group, 2014.
  23. ^ Christina Warren, "How to Pick a Server for Your App," Mashable, November 16, 2011.
  24. ^ "Interview With Brian Sullivan – Inventor of Open Platform As A Service", Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine sullivansoftwaresystems.com, 2010.
  25. ^ Dion Hinchcliffe, "Comparing Amazon’s and Google’s Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Offerings," ZDNet, April 11, 2008.
  26. ^ Nancy Gohring, "Platform as a service heats up," Computerworld, July 8, 2013.
  27. ^ Government Digital Service, Migrating from GOV.UK PaaS, accessed on 12 October 2024
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