PaaS: the enterprise solution for Sitecore

With security and scalability high on the priority list for enterprise brands, it’s time businesses start investing in hosting and software solutions that support growth, free up over-stretched resources and relinquish budgets, without the IT headache. 

Platform-as-a-service, otherwise known as PaaS, is the complete enterprise solution for Sitecore customers; with environments in the cloud and resources that allow the delivery of both cloud-based and cloud-enabled enterprise applications – PaaS enables businesses to focus on the most important part: the application itself. 

PaaS for the enterprise

Unlike those running on traditional IaaS, businesses that invest in PaaS are able to focus on what really matters: developing great code, as opposed to worrying about low-level commodities such as infrastructure, server configurations, and operating systems.

With PaaS, enterprise companies can produce high-quality applications faster and more cost-effectively. Development teams are able to re-prioritise their time wasted managing servers and infrastructure reducing the cost-drain of time spent ineffectively and giving leaders the opportunity to re-invest savings into upskilling their tech-talent. 

Scalability and redundancy are no longer an issue, with PaaS users can scale-up or scale-out with instances in various locations – adding an additional layer of reliability enterprise brands need.

Benefits of Azure PaaS

With Azure PaaS, businesses can rest easy knowing that their site will never suffer from unplanned or prolonged outages. Not only does PaaS have the ability to offer enhanced security and stability but it also gives users access to: 

• Pre-coded components – cutting out the time it takes to develop applications
• Multi-disciplinary components – allowing developers to build complex designs without the need for training 
• A cloud-based environment – bringing together geographically distributed teams
• Pay-as-you-go access to Azure tools – giving businesses access to advanced software, intelligence and analytical tools
• Auto-scaling – supporting websites even when they get surprising increases in load without all the expense
• Built-in application cycles – building, testing, deploying, managing and updating your products
• Multi-device development – developing applications for any platform computers, mobile devices and browsers
• Commodity building model – yielding cost savings against traditional IaaS infrastructure 
• Built-in redundancy – keeping services and websites running even when servers fail
• Always updated – PaaS automatically installs server updates and security patches
• 100% uptime – depending on which products you purchase your application has the potential to run at 100% uptime as it’s spread across multiple servers and device centres 
• Avoid costly expense and complexity of managing licenses – with PaaS you manage the applications and the cloud service provider takes care of everything else!
• Utility building model, yielding cost savings against traditional IaaS infrastructure

Ultimately PaaS is designed to support the complete web application lifecycle – building, testing, deploying, managing and updating.

Revealed at this years Sitecore Symposium, it was announced that Sitecore now has a ‘Vision for SaaS’ and a natural next iteration of the platform and how it is delivered to customers. Hence the progression from PaaS to also offer a SaaS solution will be an interesting debate for 2020 when the first iteration will be seen…