Whitepaper

The Role of Platform-as-a-Service

Moving from buzzword to mainstream

WOLF Frameworks

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The Role of Platform -as-a-Service

Contents

Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................3

Traditional model .......................................................................................................................................................3

The New Model ..........................................................................................................................................................3

What is SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS…..the cloud computing lingo? .....................................................................................3

Welcome to PaaS ........................................................................................................................................................4

Types of PaaS ..............................................................................................................................................................4

Key Characteristics of PaaS .........................................................................................................................................5

Advantages of PaaS ....................................................................................................................................................5

What Makes PaaS Different? ......................................................................................................................................6

Monetization of PaaS .................................................................................................................................................6

PaaS Service Levels .....................................................................................................................................................7

Why WOLF Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)? .................................................................................................................7

References ..................................................................................................................................................................8

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The Role of Platform -as-a-Service

Abstract

Platform-as-a-Service is an increasingly popular paradigm

moving from just being a buzzword to the mainstream. A

number of Startups, ISVs and Enterprises are now going

directly to the cloud, bypassing traditional web hosting

solutions, avoiding the need to own a server in-house, and

shifting from the traditional model of software

development to the new model offered by PaaS. This

whitepaper talks about the shift from the traditional

software development model to the new model offered by

Platform-as-a-Service. It proceeds to discuss the various

types of PaaS, key characteristics, advantages,

monetization models to the service levels offered by PaaS

providers.

Traditional model

The traditional model of building and running on-premise

applications has always been complex, expensive and risky.

To deploy or use software we first needed the hardware

which included servers from hardware vendors like Dell,

HP, IBM or Sun. If we are intending to build a web

application, we also required data center equipments like

firewalls, switches, routers, VPNs etc for performance and

security. Then it was bandwidth and hosting services.

Once the hardware is in place; we required to purchase and

install operating system, and subsequently an application

server stack, such as Tomcat for Java, LAMP for PHP or Perl.

Next we needed some database like MySQL or Microsoft

SQL Server.

Once the stack was assembled, a team of developers had to

navigate complex programming models like J2EE and .NET.

A team of network, database, and system management

experts was needed to keep everything up and running.

Inevitably, a business requirement would require a change

to the application, which would then kick off a lengthy

development, test, and redeployment cycle.

Large companies often needed specialized facilities to

house their data centers. Enormous amounts of electricity

also were needed to power the servers as well as the

systems to keep them cool. Finally, a failover site was

needed to mirror the data center so information could be

replicated in case of a disaster.

The New Model

Just as Amazon.com, eBay, Google, iTunes, and YouTube

made it possible to access new capabilities and new

markets through a Web browser, PaaS offers a faster, more

cost-effective model for application development and

delivery.

PaaS provides the entire infrastructure needed to run

applications over the Internet. It is delivered in the same

way as a utility like electricity or water. Users simply “tap

in” and take what they need without worrying about the

complexity behind the scenes. And like a utility, PaaS is

based on a metering or subscription model so users only

pay for what they use.

With PaaS, ISVs and corporate IT departments can focus on

innovation instead of complex infrastructure. By leveraging

the PaaS, organizations can redirect a significant portion of

their budgets from “keeping the lights on” to creating

applications that provide real business value.

This model is driving a new era of mass innovation. For the

first time, developers around the world can access

unlimited computing power. Now, anyone with an Internet

connection can build powerful applications and easily

deploy them to users wherever they’re located.

What is SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS…..the cloud

computing lingo?

Figure 1: Cloud Computing Stack

SaaS, PaaS and IaaS are various segments of cloud

computing.

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Software as a Service (SaaS) is the service based on the

concept of renting software from a service provider rather

than buying it yourself. The software is hosted on

centralized network servers to make functionality available

over the web or intranet. Also known as “software on

demand” it is currently the most popular type of cloud

computing because of its high flexibility, great services,

enhanced scalability and less maintenance. Yahoo mail,

Google docs, CRM applications are all instances of SaaS.

The service provider hosts both the application and the

data so the end user is free to use the service from

anywhere. With SaaS user need not worry about

installation or upgrades.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provides an independent

platform or middleware on which developers can build and

deploy customer application. Common solutions provided

in this tier range from APIs and tools to database and

business process management system, to security

integration, allowing developers to build applications and

run them on the infrastructure that cloud vendors own and

maintains.

The final segment in the cloud computing is the

infrastructure. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is delivery

of the computing infrastructure as a fully outsourced

service operated in a pay-as-you-go model. Some of the

companies that provide infrastructure services are Google,

IBM, and Amazon etc. Managed hosting and development

environments are the services included in IaaS. The user

can buy the infrastructure according to the requirements at

any particular point of time instead of buying the

infrastructure that might not be used for months.

Virtualization enables IaaS providers to offer almost

unlimited instances of servers to customers and make cost-

effective use of the hosting hardware. IaaS users enjoy

access to enterprise grade IT Infrastructure and resources

that might be very costly if purchased completely. Thus

dynamic scaling, usage based pricing, reduced costs and

access to superior IT resources are some of the benefits of

IaaS. IaaS is also sometimes referred to as Hardware as a

Service (HaaS). An Infrastructure as a Service offering also

provides maximum flexibility because just about anything

that can be virtualized can be run on these platforms. This

is perhaps the biggest benefit of an IaaS environment. For a

startup or small business, one of the most difficult things to

do is keep capital expenditures under control. By moving

your infrastructure to the cloud, you have the ability to

scale as if you owned your own hardware and data center.

Welcome to PaaS

What makes PaaS unique? With so much buzz around

Cloud Computing Services including Infrastructure-as-a-

Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-

as-a-Service (SaaS), why PaaS stands out of this mix? Is

PaaS simply a way of getting code up and running without

having to requisition a server or there is more to it? In the

words of Wikipedia, ‘Platform as a service (PaaS) is the

delivery of a computing platform and solution stack as a

service’. PaaS makes all of the facilities required to support

the end-to-end life cycle of building and delivering web

applications and services entirely available from the

Internet with no software downloads or installation for

developers or end-users.

Types of PaaS

Figure 2: Types of PaaS

Social Application Platforms – Social Application Platforms

are used to develop applications on social networks.

Platforms like Facebook, Orkut, Yahoo, and MySpace

provide APIs for third parties to write new application

functionality that is made available to all users.

Computation Platforms – Computation Platforms are sort

of hardware architecture and software framework

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(including application frameworks) that allows software to

run. Amazon Web services and Microsoft Azure provide

storage, processor, and bandwidth as a service. Developers

can upload their traditional software stack and run their

applications on these infrastructures.

Web Application Platforms – Web Application Platforms

like Google provide APIs and functionality for developers to

build Web applications that leverage its mapping, calendar,

and spreadsheets plus YouTube and other services.

Business Application Platforms – Business Application

Platforms provide application infrastructure specifically for

transactional business applications such as database,

integration, workflow, and user interface services. For

companies unwilling to compromise on scalability,

reliability, and security, WOLF is a clear choice for a flexible

platform that manages critical business processes and is a

rapid online application development platform. Business

Application platforms can also be used to build situational

applications. Situational Applications do not replace core

business applications. They address a different need —

applications that are built for just a handful of users,

applications that are used for only a few weeks or months,

or applications that address a small piece of functionality.

Situational applications are a potent combination of tools,

mindset and methodology. They provide a formidable force

that helps your organization meet today’s business

challenges quickly and cost-effectively.

Key Characteristics of PaaS

1. Simplified and reduced infrastructure - Build web

applications using a browser and an internet

connection.

2. Work across boundaries - Collaboration of

geographically distributed teams in development

and maintenance of a software.

3. PaaS keeps the focus on the design - PaaS takes care

of configuring and maintaining the interoperability

of individual components of the web application,

enabling the focus to be on the design of the

software.

4. Removes the overhead of buying/installing

additional software - PaaS works on an On-Demand

Model. It further eliminates the overhead of

investing in expensive software licenses with its

subscription model based on a pay-as-you-use basis.

5. Eliminates the overhead of buying, configuring and

maintaining hardware such as database, middleware

and server, which interact with each other as well as

with the software, as these are all taken care of by

the PaaS provider.

6. Instant deployment of your web application.

7. Inherent security provided by the PaaS provider. In

addition to this, many PaaS providers give the option

of enabling additional security features at a price.

8. Multi tenant Architecture

9. Faster ROI

10. Scalability

11. Integration with a host of software systems

12. Simultaneous upgrades or enchantments for SaaS

applications or the PaaS system by the PaaS

provider.

Advantages of PaaS

Following are the some advantages of PaaS as a Customer

point of view:

1. Low cost and lower total cost of ownership (TCO):

Generally when customer wants to have a software

business solution (IT enabled business solution),

there are many factors for which cost have to be

considered. The various types of costs involved are

datacenter costs, setup costs, licensing costs,

training costs, maintenance costs and support costs.

When a customer uses PaaS as a business solution,

then they don’t have to worry about this entire

infrastructure and ultimately there is reduction in

cost.

2. Zero Infrastructure - Reduced Overheads: Customer

not has to consider setup and maintenance so there

is less overhead associated with PaaS model.

3. On demand service: Customer can use a platform of

their choice and requirement on a subscription basis

and when there is no need for it they can

discontinue the same.

4. Lower risk - faster implementations and outsourced

expertise dramatically lower risk

5. A more powerful and secure IT infrastructure

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6. Cost-effective Infinite Scalability: Customer can Scale

the no of user licenses as per their requirements.

7. Easy to implement: As there is no infrastructure

setup associated with PaaS, it is easy to implement

8. Freedom of Choice: As there are many PaaS

providers, customer can select according to their

choice and requirement.

9. Centralized feature updating, which obviates the

need for downloadable patches and upgrades

10. Per license cost has to give

Platform as a Service (PaaS) help business users to

minimize operational costs and increase their productivity.

Some of the advantages to business users are:

1. Time to Market

2. Requires no up-front investments

3. Minimize operational costs

4. Centralized information management

5. Enhanced productivity

6. Access to information anywhere, anytime

7. Easy collaboration

8. Secured and customized access

Platform as a Service (PaaS) enables developers to focus

only on innovation that provide real business value instead

of infrastructure set-up. Some of the advantages are:

1. Zero Infrastructure

2. Lower Risk

3. Lower cost and improved profitability

4. Easy and quick development

5. Monetize quickly

6. Reusable code and business logics

7. Integration with other web services

What Makes PaaS Different?

The alternative to PaaS is to develop web applications using

desktop development tools like Eclipse or Microsoft Access,

and then manually deploy those applications to a cloud

hosting provider such as Amazon EC2.

PaaS platforms also have functional differences from

traditional development platforms. These include:

1. Multi-tenant development tool: traditional

development tools are single user – PaaS supports

multiple users, each with multiple roles.

2. Multi-tenant deployment architecture: scalability is

often not a concern of the initial development effort

and is left instead for the system administrators to

deal with when the project deploys. In PaaS,

scalability of the application and data tiers must be

built-in (e.g., load balancing, failover need to be

basic elements of the dev platform itself).

3. Integrated management: traditional development

solution usually does not concern them with runtime

monitoring, but in PaaS, the monitoring ability needs

to be baked into the development platform.

4. Integrated billing: PaaS offerings require

mechanisms for billing based on usage that are

unique to the SaaS world.

Monetization of PaaS

The traditional licensing model of the on-premise platform or software is not the best idea for On-demand Platform. A subscription pricing model is the most suitable solution to PaaS monetization. Many PaaS providers face the problem of fixing the right price for its platform/services. There are many alternatives and factors that should be considered when dealing with this.

Figure 3: Payment models of PaaS

Some of the pricing alternatives for Platform-as-a-Service are:

Pay Periodically

Pay per User

Pay for Resources

Pay per Features

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1. Pay Periodically: This means charging the customer

on regular basis as a monthly subscription fees.

2. Pay for each user: Charge the customer on the basis

of the number of users for the platform.

3. Pay for the resources: This means charging the

customer for computing resources such as data

storage.

4. Pay for the features: The customer pays just for the

features in the platform they really need. This can be

based on the number of applications a customer can

build on the platform.

PaaS Service Levels

Figure 4: Cloud Service Levels

The above diagram shows the service levels associated with the various segments of cloud computing. In a Platform-as-a-Service model it is the just the application that you need to manage, the rest is taken care of by the PaaS vendor. The PaaS manages the runtimes, security & integration, database, servers, virtualization, server HW, storage and networking making it much simpler for you and allows focusing on your business and the application you use.

Why WOLF Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)?

1. Reduced time-to-market and faster ROI

o Reduce the time & cost for developing custom

web-based software by more than 70% as

compared to any standard software

development cycle.

o Clicks instead of code – design all the way!

o Business Rules engine to define custom

workflow

o Ready chart and report templates

2. Customized SaaS solutions for every customer

o WOLF’s unique technical architecture allows

customers to develop and enhance custom

features and processes within days with minimal

investments.

o You have freedom to white label your solutions

– custom branding, personalized URL and

custom UI. Easily embed WOLF functional

widgets in your website, portal or blog.

3. Intuitive Business Rules Engine

o Ready-to-use Business Rule Actions to fire &

map complex business processes. Draw complex

analysis from data and represent it in the form

of reports, graphical charts and dashboard items

within minutes.

4. Interoperable & Mashable SaaS Applications

o Ready actions to interact with on-premise or

other Cloud based software systems. No need

to deal with APIs– use configurable business

rules.

5. Secure

o Built-in User/Role Management module,

supports highly secured 128-bit encryption

enabled URL, SSO authentication & AD

integration.

6. The End of IT Maintenance

o Focus on your business application

functionality/core competency while WOLF

maintains and upgrades the underlying

technology & infrastructure and manages your

business solution.

7. Flexible Deployment Options

o Hybrid & flexible deployment models. Host the

application in your preferred server: Private

Cloud or just run it from the WOLF On Demand

Public Cloud or a third party hosting provider

8. Reduced Vendor Lock-in

o Own the Business IP via paper license, extract &

save data in your private database & also extract

application design in a portable XML format

with a single click.

9. Cost Effective, Scalable and pay as you earn

o Monthly subscription fee on per user / per

month basis ranging from USD $ 7 to $ 10.

o Scale your application cost-effectively with your

business.

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10. Leverage the WOLF Partner Ecosystem

o The Partner Model is targeted to drive idea

partners, SI’s, ISV’s, and Consulting firms to

rapidly commoditize and commercialize their

business processes and offer them as Software-

as-a-Services within days. WOLF also has

specialized channel partners delivering these

SaaS applications to customers across regions.

References

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_as_a_service

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

[3] http://www.wolfframeworks.com/

[4] http://www.keeneview.com/2009/03/what-is-platform-as-service-paas.html

[5] http://crmhelpdesksoftware.com/what-is-saas-paas-iaas-understanding-cloud-computing-lingo/

[6] http://cloud-computing.learningtree.com/2010/08/25/comparing-paas-and-iaas/

[7] http://www.slideshare.net/AspireSystems/going-ondemand-iaas-paas-or-solution-accelerators

[8] http://www.slideshare.net/jcleblanc/foundations-of-a-social-platform

[9] http://www.zdnet.com/blog/saas/a-plethora-of-paas-options/472

[10] http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/21078/1/2010_-_21078.pdf

[11] http://vlele.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/platform-as-a-service-when-it-comes-to-the-cloud-paas-is-the-point-2/

[12] http://devcentral.f5.com/weblogs/macvittie/archive/2010/02/11/return-of-the-web-application-platform-

wars.aspx

[13] http://www.asp-toolkit.com/tag/pricing-models

[14] http://cioresearchcenter.com/2010/12/107/

[15] http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/bookworm/building-information-systems-at-the-edge-of-chaos/

[16] Jonathan Sapir, “Power in the Cloud”, Using Cloud Computing to Build Information Systems at the Edge of Chaos,

2009

[17] http://www.cloudcomputinglive.com/mea/paas.html

[18] http://cloudpulseblog.com/2010/02/the-essential-characteristics-of-paas

For More Information For more information about WOLF products and services, call the WOLF Sales Information Center at +91 98865 46085. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: http://www.wolfframeworks.com

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