Hybrid Cloud Computing—Management via a PaaS model

We talk a lot on this blog about leveraging cloud platforms for rapid application development, but that’s not all that Platform as a Service (PaaS) is good for.  With powerful communications tools and robust data connectivity offered by PaaS, businesses embracing the cloud have a solid management solution at their fingertips. According to some recent forecasts, many businesses are already starting to take note of this.

Leveraging a Hybrid Cloud Model

Part of the power of PaaS is in its support for hybrid cloud models. In public models the user is reliant on infrastructure maintained by Amazon or some other cloud provider.  Private models require all infrastructure to be maintained in-house. But a hybrid cloud model gives the user all the functionality and convenience of the PaaS while still retaining control over their data. Less critical information can be made freely available on some outside servers and internal resources can be kept physically small and focused on keeping the more critical data safe on the existing infrastructure. The PaaS acts as a bridge between the two, essentially making the two sources a single hybrid cloud. From a management perspective, this means keeping everyone focused on the task at hand and easily connected to the information they need.

Taking full advantage

Of course, PaaS is not the only way for companies to embrace the cloud. As cloud management systems grow more and more complicated, however, PaaS becomes a more attractive option. In order for enterprises to meet the needs of all of their departments, more and more are beginning to develop applications of their own.

A fully-featured PaaS like Progress® Pacific™ allows those enterprises to build the applications they need while being able to easily access all the data those apps are meant to leverage. What's even better is the ability to deploy these applications directly to the cloud via a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. By deploying via SaaS, workers are able to get the applications they need just as quickly and easily as those apps pull data from across the enterprise.

Looking forward

PaaS and SaaS are sure to continue to be a hot topic in the coming years. Already, there are a number of strong offerings on the market, and the need for common platforms is beginning to become apparent. Companies jumping on now will be able to shape the future of this trend while reaping the benefits of having an agile, well-connected workplace.