ChannelWeb UK - VARS scramble as PaaS is set for take-off

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ChannelWeb UK - VARS scramble as PaaS is set for take-off

The burgeoning Cloud platform-as-a-service market offers canny channel players a lucrative opportunity

Following in the footsteps of the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market boom, platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is set to take the cloud computing industry by storm, as more independent software vendors (ISVs) and resellers realise the value of its offerings. Market watcher Forrester Research expects the market to expand to $15bn by 2016.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud PaaS as a capability for the consumer to deploy consumer-related or acquired applications, created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider, onto the cloud infrastructure. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications.

A question of capability

David Pratt, chief operating officer at IT services from the cloud provider ThinkGrid, said resellers should be asking themselves whether they have the capability to build, manage and run the infrastructure needed to deliver these services profitably. Pratt continued: “Is there a quick and strong ROI opportunity in going down this costly route to delivering cloud services such as PaaS?