Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a managed runtime for applications — web apps, containers, or databases — so developers deploy code without patching underlying Windows or Linux servers. Examples include Azure App Service, Azure SQL, and managed Kubernetes. PaaS reduces operational toil but requires secure CI/CD, secret management, and network integration with on-prem systems. Choose PaaS when your team wants faster releases and elastic scale; choose IaaS when you need full OS control or legacy software that cannot run on managed platforms.
