Businesses have greatly benefited from content, RSS, advertising and communication solutions available from the Internet. These Web 2.0 services are easy to use and immediate. Open the web page, configure the content and submit. There are also sites that deliver CRM, ecommerce and other well defined backend functions that are available as Software as a Service. With the maturity of cloud computing an era is upon us that platforms will provide services to create custom services or even full featured applications.
Software development currently requires skilled resources to analyze requirements, manage those requirements, develop software, test and deploy. Much of the complexity is due to technologist’s reluctance to simplistic change. The cloud, however, opens the Internet to new approaches and forces evolution. One of the most intriguing opportunities is Development as a Service. By taking the development process to the web, this allows the business to define and change their own processes and produce those processes more quickly than current methodologies allow. Small businesses will be able to afford automation, large business will be able to automate low ROI solutions, compliance and tracking will become a part of all applications. The business potential is extensive.
To reach an era of Development as a Service, we must have a Platform as a Service. The platform must provide services to define Software as a Service combined with managing and hosting these services. In order to reach this objective, the platform must know about itself and understand the difference between design and runtime while seamlessly handling the proper aspect for the user.
At design time, the platform provides services to integrate existing services, define workflows, define web forms and place automated rules around those services to control their behavior. At runtime, the platform provides a status manager, reporting, tracking and user inbox. These aspects are common, but not limited, to all applications.
Many companies are working on platform services to meet the expected demand. Google, Microsoft and Netsuite are among a list of many established organizations. There are also innovative platforms such as, ActiveWIT, that offer greater depth into this space.
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