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My Glossary Project

Platform As A Service Paas

TL;DR

Section titled “TL;DR”
  • Provides a hosted platform so teams can build, run, and deploy applications without managing infrastructure or installing software.
  • Bundles development tooling and managed services (databases, caching, web servers) to speed delivery and enable automatic scaling.
  • Shifts operational responsibilities to the provider, reducing infrastructure overhead but introducing potential vendor lock-in and reduced control.

Definition

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Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model that provides a platform for users to develop, run, and manage applications without the need for infrastructure maintenance or software installation.

Explanation

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PaaS delivers a managed environment that combines runtime components, developer tools, and managed services so organizations can focus on developing and deploying applications rather than maintaining underlying infrastructure. Typical offerings include web servers, databases, caching, and automatic scaling features. Providers operate the infrastructure and platform-level services, often including security measures such as data encryption, data backup, and access controls, alongside dedicated security teams.

Benefits described in the source include improved agility, reduced operational costs, and simplified scalability (adding or removing resources as needed). Drawbacks noted in the source include vendor lock-in—dependency on a specific provider—and limited control over the underlying infrastructure, which can restrict customization.

Examples

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Google App Engine

Section titled “Google App Engine”

Google App Engine lets developers build and host web applications on Google’s infrastructure. It provides tools and services such as a web server, a database, and caching, and offers automatic scaling so the platform can add resources as demand increases.

Microsoft Azure

Section titled “Microsoft Azure”

Microsoft Azure provides tools and services for building, deploying, and managing applications, including virtual machines, storage, databases, and analytics. Azure includes pre-built application templates to accelerate onboarding and offers integration options with Microsoft products (Office 365 and Dynamics 365) and third-party services (Salesforce and Amazon Web Services).

Use cases

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  • Enabling businesses to focus on core competencies by offloading infrastructure maintenance to the provider.
  • Rapidly developing and deploying web applications using pre-built platform components and templates.
  • Scaling application resources up or down to match demand and manage costs.

Notes or pitfalls

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  • Vendor lock-in: dependence on a particular PaaS provider can make switching difficult and limit flexibility.
  • Limited infrastructure control: customers may not have full control over the underlying infrastructure, which can restrict certain customizations or changes.
Section titled “Related terms”
  • Cloud computing
  • Vendor lock-in
  • Infrastructure