App developers can unite through PaaS

A unified app development department, enabled by PaaS, can be a valuable asset.

Ensuring that an entire application development team is capable of pulling together and staying on the same page is a challenge. Or, rather, it was before Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) deployments emerged as a leading technology framework for these efforts. Logging into these easy-to-use solutions adds a number of powerful capabilities for software creators, including teamwork enablers.

Connecting to the solutions

The nature of the cloud immediately marks PaaS environments as something different than legacy solutions. Rather than working with their own sets of development tools and storing work on private hard drives, software developers can log into the cloud and find everything they need. This level of access means consistent options are always available. In the past, it was possible for developers working on the same project to encounter difficulties due to each professional leveraging a different version of a vital tool or loading an inconsistent set of app code. Those challenges recede with PaaS.

The whole team can connect to today's PaaS products at home or on the road. Instead of needing to leverage a specific hardware setup, employees can gain access with a simple Web browser and add their input and ideas to the project. This capability means there is no longer one fixed office space that can be used for app development. Wherever users may be, they have the key.

That image of a key is especially apt due to the security features that keep unauthorized users out of PaaS environments. While some people may think at first sight that opening up a development platform to users around the world through their Web browsers may be a data liability, this does not have to be the case. Fortunately, the security and governance features found in better PaaS solutions employ technology such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to keep corporate information out of the hands of outsiders, even as authorized users have better access than ever before.

App development at a premium

Making application development teams more efficient through PaaS deployment may prove to be a turning point for a business. After all, the fruits of these departments' labors are the programs that allow end-users to accomplish their daily tasks in a structured and effective fashion. While it was once standard for employees to use generic software for these purposes, today's fast-paced environments require a more focused approach, one that can come from custom apps created by internal teams to suit users' needs or, in some cases, for those workers to craft their own everyday IT tools.