Developing migratable multicloud applications based on MDE and adaptation techniques

Developing software for the cloud usually implies using the tools and libraries supplied by cloud vendors for each of their platforms. This strongly couples the software to specific platforms and penalizes its migration or interoperability with external cloud services, in what is known as vendor lock-in. Under these circumstances multicloud applications become difficult to build and maintain since they require multidisciplinary teams with expertise on multiple platforms, and the redevelopment of some components if the cloud deployment scenario is altered. The MULTICLAPP framework described in this paper tackles these issues by presenting a three-stage development process that allows multicloud applications to be developed without being coupled to any concrete vendor. MDE and adaptation techniques are used throughout the software development stages in order to abstract the software from each vendor's service specifications. As a result of this, multicloud applications or their subcomponents can be reassigned to different cloud platforms without having to undergo a partial or complete redevelopment process.