Platform as a Service (PaaS) is set to boom over the next few years, according to research firm Gartner.
Yefim Natis, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, comments:
“With large and growing vendor investment in PaaS, the market is on the cusp of several years of strategic growth, leading to innovation and likely breakthroughs in technology and business use of all of Cloud Computing. Users and vendors of enterprise IT software solutions that are not yet engaged with PaaS must begin building expertise in PaaS or face tough challenges from competitors in the coming years.”
There’s actually everything to play for from a vendor perspective as Gartner concludes that in 2012, the PaaS market is at its early stage of growth and does not yet have well-established leaders, best use or business practices or dedicated standards. In addition the adoption of PaaS offerings is still associated with some degree of uncertainty and risk. Natis explains:
“PaaS products are likely to evolve into a major component of the overall Cloud computing market, just as the middleware products — including application servers, database management systems (DBMSs), integration middleware and portal platforms — are the core foundation of the traditional software industry. The tension between the short-term risk and the long-term strategic imperative of PaaS will define the key developments in the PaaS market during the next two to three years.”
So what should end users be doing when it comes to PaaS offerings? In the Gartner Special Report,PaaS 2012: Tactical Risks and Strategic Rewards, Gartner gives some ideas. There's a very pragmatic sentiment at play here. Natis, author of the report, argues:
“The users and vendors of enterprise IT software solutions that are not yet engaged with PaaS must begin building expertise in PaaS or face tough challenges from competitors in the coming years… Leading-edge organisations are already using Cloud PaaS services to achieve innovative outcomes. Staying away from PaaS offerings simply delays the time when mainstream organizations begin gaining experience with and insight into what we expect will be a long-term, transformational trend in software industry. ”
On a more tactical note, Natis recommends:
“ Users and vendors of enterprise software that have not yet established a Cloud Computing strategy must anticipate that, during the next three years, PaaS offerings will become a strategic part of their technology portfolio and plan their current technology investments accordingly. Mainstream users and providers of enterprise IT solutions should become familiar with the fast- growing Cloud brokerage service (CBS) market. Just as system integrators (SIs) play a key role in the mainstream adoption of traditional technology solutions, CBSs will facilitate most mainstream PaaS-related initiatives. ”
But it is still a case of buyer beware in the PaaS sector, cautions Natis:
“The PaaS market does not yet have well-established leaders or dedicated standards. The adoption of PaaS offerings is associated with a notable degree of uncertainty and risk. However, PaaS products are likely to evolve into a major component of the overall Cloud computing market, just as the middleware products — including application servers, database management systems (DBMSs), integration middleware and portal platforms — are the core foundation of the traditional software industry. The tension between the short-term risk and the long-term strategic imperative of PaaS will define the key developments in the PaaS market during the next two to three years. ”
The Gartner report notes that in 2012 there are more viable PaaS providers than in 2011 when the analyst firm noted:
“At the start of 2011, most of the vendors active in the Cloud application platform as a service (aPaaS) market were Cloud specialists (e.g., salesforce.com, LongJump and Google). Except for Microsoft, none of the major application infrastructure vendors had entered the market. At the end of 2011, the market composition has changed dramatically — IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP and VMware have announced plans for aPaaS offerings. ”
Overall, Gartner’s advice to end users is to proceed, albeit with some caution:
“The right strategy for most mainstream IT organizations and software vendors is to begin adopting some PaaS services now, with the understanding of their limitations and with the expectation of ongoing change in the market offerings and use patterns. ”
Natis concludes:
“While there are clear risks associated with the use of services in the new and largely immature PaaS market, the risk of avoiding the PaaS market is equally high. The right strategy for most mainstream IT organisations and software vendors is to begin building familiarity with the new Cloud Computing opportunities by adopting some PaaS services now, albeit with the understanding of their limitations and with the expectation of ongoing change in the market offerings and use patterns. ”
