There’s an app for absolutely everything these days and if you want to grow your business, you must move with the times and give people what they want – the ability to engage with you online.
Traditional forms of E-commerce allow for shopping and booking online – things that you can do through your website – but market research shows that consumers are seeking to engage with product and service providers through apps.
The only problem for businesses is that apps are expensive. Not only do they consume plenty of man hours in the design and testing phase, they are expensive to build, especially if you have to outsource them.
App building is a growing art. It is not as simple as using drag and drop technology to build websites. Building an app involves a lot of thought which must go into User Experience and User Interface principles.
So how do you build an app without breaking the bank? The answer is Platform As A Service (PPAS) and one of the best providers is Microsoft, through its Azure service.
How does it work?
Platform as a service (PaaS) allows you to develop apps on the cloud. You purchase the resources you need from a Azure on a pay-as-you-go basis and access them over a secure Internet connection.
Like IaaS, PaaS includes infrastructure – servers, storage and networking – but also middleware, development tools, business intelligence (BI) services, database management systems and more.
Developers can reduce the time spent for coding the new app since they can integrate security features, directory services, search options and other features which are pre-loaded into the programme. In short, Azure has already done the work for you.
Who is it for?
Azure PaaS is ideal for development teams in businesses who want to significantly reduce the time it takes their applications time to get on the market.
The service is also a good bet for organisations that want to reduce the operational costs that go into the development of apps which require reporting on metrics.
Pay as you go
One of the most important benefits of using Paas is that it bills only for what is used. It provides both the hardware and the software infrastructure which you need so you can eliminate the need to invest in hardware and software, resulting in significant cost savings.
If you have a capable inhouse team that can intuitively learn the basics of how a ‘third-party’ platform can allow them to develop fully integrated apps then Azure can definitely help your business. If you want cutting edge apps, developed without the hinderance of hefty costs, then this is definitely an option for your business.