Abstract

This IDC Perspective discusses how to take advantage of PaaS solutions to migrate workloads to cloud infrastructure. All organizations are undergoing some digital transformation initiatives. IDC suggests that all DX initiatives require a cloud transition strategy as the underlying fundament for it to be successful. While most organizations are approaching new IT investments with a cloud-first stance, there's less clarity on how to use cloud solutions for the migration of existing workloads. Not all workloads should migrate to the cloud, but for those that are identified as good candidates, standardizing on a PaaS platform will drive speed and quality for the transition.

"Organizations stand much to gain from leveraging PaaS solutions. However, PaaS is an overloaded term and requires a good understanding before it is put to strategic use in the enterprise. There are many platform services available, and almost all are available through public cloud provisioning or as software for private cloud deployment. For the two main styles of application PaaS, deployment-centric and model-driven PaaS, enterprises should understand that they are aimed at different user bases and usage scenarios and indeed solve different enterprise problems. Enterprises exploring PaaS solutions should understand the differences and the specific value and target audiences they are aimed at to ensure they pick the right kind and vendor before committing to building their skills around it while putting it at the center of the migration to the cloud." — Erik Berggren, vice president, Cloud Transition Strategies, IDC's IT Executive Program

Coverage