Akioma case shows Progress Pacific in action

When thinking of how a Platform-as-a-Service deployment could improve the way your company develops applications, it could be worthwhile to take a wide view of the situation. There are many different benefits, and some of them can be highly surprising. Not only are departments with access to PaaS systems likely quicker and more effective than their competitors without, they can extend the simple development to clients and application end-users, turning them into citizen developers and ensuring that their software is adaptable and fits perfectly within the framework it is deployed into. The advantages of PaaS build on one another, transforming app creation completely.

Akioma reaps the benefits A recent experience with Progress® Pacific™ by CRM developer Akioma shows how PaaS can improve application development. Akioma creates software for client firms in many industries, all of which have their own in-depth use cases. This means that one size will not fit all, and the CRM solutions will have to be easy and quick to adapt. The solutions provider decided to develop CRM that employs a business rules management system. Such a component lets users change their software deployment to suit its exact role without engaging in coding.

"Quicker development is great but the most exciting thing that has been enabled by the Progress® Pacific™ platform is the ability to turn our customers into citizen developers," said Akioma Founder and Managing Director Mike Liewehr. "Removing huge swathes of code with simple drag and drop rules puts the power in the hands of the business experts."

Liewehr also stated that Akioma is interested in creating tools that don't require their end-users to change the way they work to suit the software. Instead, the applications are malleable and adaptable, even when the situations in which they're used change over time. This type of performance may be unreachable for companies without adequate application development solutions, but today's PaaS offerings have enabled the functionality.

Development benefits within reach The success Akioma has experienced with its new CRM solutions is one example of how PaaS can improve app creation, but there are many more potential benefits. For example, the cloud-based nature of PaaS can help development teams collaborate on different elements of a project even if they are geographically dispersed. It enables this access while still keeping the environment secure, as Progress® Pacific™ contains encryption and permission management systems that help ensure no unauthorized users view or edit the code.

For a more in-depth exploration of the benefits Akioma has experienced, you can download our case study.