Leading technology vendors have come together to develop a standard for Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions to allow easy management and migration of applications across public and private clouds. Cloud Application Management for Platforms (CAMP), a PaaS management Application Programming Interface (API) specification, has been submitted to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) to serve as a standard for all PaaS providers.

Why CAMP?

A range of PaaS solutions such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon’s EC2, and others are available in the market and are prolifically used across enterprises. Each solution offers its own web console for application deployment and management, making the migration of workloads from one cloud service to another a huge and tedious task. This factor is a deterrent to the growth of PaaS.

Vendors including Oracle, RedHat, Rackspace, Huawei, Software AG, CloudBees and Cloudsoft pooled development efforts to form CAMP, an API with a set of commands for managing workloads. The goal is to get all PaaS vendors to implement CAMP in their solutions to help customers. Third party software providers too can build tools to make application management easier and independent of platform, language or framework with CAMP.

CAMP also includes specifications on how to package a workload. The issued commands are captured in a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) serialization that is conveyed using REST (Representational State Transfer) protocol. The essentials of an application cycle are defined through this.

Why should you implement CAMP?

The CAMP API offers many advantages for PaaS consumers and providers.

For consumers, “portability between clouds” will no longer be a decision driving factor in choosing a PaaS solution. With the standardization of deploying, stopping, starting, uploading, configuring, and updating applications, consumers can evaluate solutions based on their advanced features and services. In time, CAMP could be incorporated into application development environments (ADEs) and application management systems as a plugin which will help drive the quality of the standard.

For providers, CAMP addresses one of the chief complaints of consumers in the PaaS space. In addition, a common management API allows providers to leverage the experience and insight of the specification’s contributors and invest their design resources in other, more valuable areas.

Going forward, CAMP could include more features such as supporting workload migration. It includes well planned extensibility points to accommodate future evolution.

The development of CAMP is a great step forward for the PaaS market that should drive further adoption. Contributing companies in CAMP evolution plan to incorporate support for it in their own products, as appropriate.

Learn more about CAMP here.

Related articles

• Vendors Outline API Standard for PaaS Clouds (datacenterknowledge.com)
• Oracle, Red Hat team on CAMP cloud standard (infoworld.com)

The Office 2013 Preview was exciting for Microsoft users as well as custom application developers. The preview clearly demonstrated Microsoft’s efforts to embrace cloud and mobility, as well as include added capabilities and features that will help enterprise app developers create SharePoint and Word applications that are more complex and useful for end-users. At the same time, the 2013 version gives greater control to IT admin teams for controlling access of apps to users.

Create apps with any web language

Office 2013 is based on the cloud application model. Apps run on the cloud and render on the users’ laptop, PC or mobile device. Web developers can create apps using any web technology including HTML5, JavaScript, OAuth, REST, OData and CSS3.

Integrated web applications

Web applications can be inserted into Office and SharePoint applications. These apps can collect information from the Internet, collate and format it, and insert it into an Excel or Word application, as an example, in the form of graphs, charts, maps, etc. The search on the internet can be based on keywords associated with the document. By linking this information to the document, other users can also access external data.

Web apps can appear as task panes in documents or be inserted online. Multiple web apps can be integrated based on the complexity of requirement.

All in the Cloud

Deploying SharePoint 2013 and Office 2013 apps to end-users is a breeze as everything is on the cloud. The cloud could be Microsoft Azure or any other. Along with deploying apps on the cloud, app developers can also integrate apps used to create documents into the final app. This allows other users to reuse the app to create documents and add to the main application.

Supported application types

Apps for Office 2013 are supported on Office 2013 Preview rich clients and some corresponding Web Apps. Developers need not design separate apps for different environments or applications thereby also supporting a consistent user interface across desktop and web browser for end-users.

Application stores

Both Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013 have app stores wherein app developers can submit applications for approval. Once approved, the app is available for purchase with 80% of the revenue going to the developer and 20% to Microsoft. The app store gives business developers access to a range of applications that can be leveraged to add to the functionality of existing apps. Learn more here if you want to sign up for Office 365 for developers.

Microsoft Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013 are expected to hit shelves by the end of 2012 or first quarter of 2013. From what we know about the products, it does look like Microsoft will deliver value to the customer straight out of the box.

Related articles

• SharePoint Server 2013 Preview (arnoldit.com)
• Microsoft Office 2013: Goodbye to adds-in, bring on the apps (news.cnet.com)
• New level of trust in SharePoint 2013 Preview (sys-con.com)

Every meeting involving enterprise CXOs touches upon cloud applications at least once. The financial and administrative advantages of cloud apps versus on-premise apps is no doubt tempting but as revealed by Forrester’s report on the ROI of Clouds, it’s important for sourcing executives to consider the long-term cost of ownership before taking a decision.

According to Gartner, Goldman Sachs Research – Cloud CIO Survey, November 2011:

• Spend on SaaS (Software as a Service) as compared to other software has gone up 6x times across enterprises.
• At least 55% CIOs plan to increase spending on SaaS this year.
• Chief drivers of adoption are scalability, business agility and cost.

Forrester’s report reveals that the ROI and breakeven point for SaaS solutions is largely dependent on the type of application sourced to the cloud. For example, SaaS is becoming a sustaining technology in niche markets whose needs are not adequately met by licensed software. It is a disruptive technology for what makes 25% of the global software market such as CRM, HRM, IT management and security services. The highest success of SaaS is seen in collaboration and ERP solutions.

What attracts enterprises to cloud solutions?

Cloud solutions are an attractive prospect for most enterprises because of the low upfront cost and speedy deployment. As the solutions are maintained by the cloud vendor, upgrades are quick and do not require change management from the enterprise’s side. At the same time, the upgrades bring the advantages of latest technology and fixes to the table, enhancing productivity.

Enterprises can reduce their IT support or deviate it to internal business-centric functions as cloud solutions come with tech support. They also don’t have to worry about infrastructural limitations when scaling up or down as SaaS solutions usually involve a per-user or enterprise level subscription fee that provides flexibility and agility.

Moreover, most cloud-based apps are designed with the non-techie end-user in mind. UIs are often similar to highly used websites such as Facebook or eBay to engender familiarity and ease of use. Business users feel more empowered as they can customize the UI, workflows, reports etc., without having to rely on IT personnel.

What are the costs associated with cloud applications?

Subscription fees are economical in the short-term but can accumulate into a total that exceeds the cost of using an on-premise solution in the long run. Enterprises have to renew contracts and SLAs every year. Sourcing executives have to look at the consumption, spend, and savings from the cloud application to negotiate the term and pricing in the contract for the best deal.

As of now, there are very few full suite cloud solutions. This means that enterprises have to work with multiple cloud vendors furnishing various functions within the organization. This involves additional costs of integration, provisioning, upgrade management, end user support, testing, training, and workflow.

With the lowering barrier to entry for cloud solutions, many small players have entered the market. While their solutions may be effective and economical, they stand the risk of acquisitions by larger players or failing for lack of support or investment, etc.

Sourcing executives should look at all these factors and try to expose any other hidden costs associated with vendor lock-in, premature closure, migration support, etc., before finalizing a cloud vendor. It is best to lock-in at a lower rate for longer term if you’re dealing in mature markets such as CRM and sign shorter deals for fast evolving domains.

Related articles

• The Three Reasons Enterprises Are Moving to the Cloud With Confidence (backupify.com)
• SaaS for Agility, Lightweight as an Enabler (rackspace.com)