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Behind every software application and mobile app is a comprehensive series of backend services intended to support the front end you see and use every day. The amount of work involved in creating this backend technology is never simple. Many organizations choose to save time and money by using backend-as-a-service (BaaS) technology, which provides cloud-based services that cater to backend processing.
BaaS, also known as mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), is a technology that connects mobile apps to cloud-based services. Instead of using mobile middleware, BaaS creates a unified application programming interface (API) and software development kit (SDK) to connect mobile apps to backend services such as cloud storage platforms. This is a drastic departure from traditional mobile application development, which requires a developer to incorporate each backend API individually.
Key BaaS functions include push notifications, social networking integration, location-based services and user management.
BaaS differs from the more traditional mobile middleware because of its straightforward approach to backend processing, which is how the back end connects to the front end of a mobile app.
Both enterprise and indie mobile app developers use BaaS to ease the complexity of building mobile apps. BaaS prevents the headache of cross-platform development and does not require developers to learn how to create effective backend processing. For example, if a developer who knows only JavaScript on the client side wanted to create an app, they could easily utilize BaaS to avoid learning how to develop the backend elements necessary for launch.
BaaS providers offer a wide range of functions. BaaS features appeal to advanced business needs and vary in scope and purpose among providers. Most companies include the following essential elements:
In addition to BaaS, other cloud computing categories include software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
BaaS offers an abundance of benefits and a few drawbacks.
BaaS offers the following advantages:
Despite the benefits of a comprehensive backend that can easily integrate with most front-end programming, the service has minor inherent flaws:
Programming is a highly in-demand career skill in today’s IT environment, so consider supporting your team members as they pursue programming certifications. Your employees can strengthen your infrastructure as they learn new skills.
BaaS providers vary widely by features, price and model. These are some of the best BaaS providers in different categories.
Google Firebase
Google Firebase is a cloud-hosted comprehensive BaaS platform built on a foundation of data and analytics to deliver everything a business needs to build and manage an app from scratch. Firebase can integrate with a company’s existing tools and access countless extensions to streamline the development cycle. Developers can easily use this open-source platform to create extensions to assist with virtually any task. Firebase also provides tools to monitor software stability, engage with users, and test what works best with an audience.
AWS Amplify
With Amplify from Amazon Web Services (AWS), users get a full-stack development solution in a straightforward user interface that doesn’t require cloud expertise. Its extensive ecosystem provides access to over 200 AWS services and offers pay-as-you-go options to ensure you stay within your budget. AWS has curated popular individual services for Amplify and has an optimized continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) environment. That means you can easily develop, test and deploy new updates in just a few clicks.
Amplify was built to offer users a flexible experience. It allows multiple frameworks and coding languages to fit whatever works best for you. Whether your business requires you to work in Android, JavaScript or Gatsby, Amplify supports them all.
Supabase
As an open-source Firebase alternative, Supabase provides a self-hosted BaaS option to help anyone build enterprise-grade applications. It offers multiple service levels, allowing developers to customize a plan to meet various needs and budgets.
Firebase has a vast application library built by its team of experts. Additionally, a thriving community brings a deep knowledge base and acts as an additional support network to help users with development questions or technical issues.
Users have extensive control over building business apps or creating new systems or applications to suit their specific needs. They can create a more secure network or tailor a system to meet the rules and regulations of various governments or organizations.
Appwrite
Appwrite is another open-source BaaS platform. It offers multiple layers of functionality — including authentication, storage and messaging — to help businesses build and scale at will.
Appwrite provides excellent migration functionality, allowing users to seamlessly transfer data to and from any environment. To mitigate security concerns, Appwrite includes safety features such as encrypted logins and the ability to create custom security protocols.
Although Appwrite’s library of first-party applications isn’t as vast as those of services like Supabase, it makes up for it with a thriving and responsive development community. The community’s knowledge base and the platform’s level of control make Appwrite a viable BaaS solution for organizations with coding experience.
Backendless
Backendless provides a codeless platform that offers seamless API integrations and the ability to develop for multiple platforms simultaneously. It’s an appealing, low-to-no-coding option for any business. A responsive application design makes it easy to build applications that cater to users on any device.
With a wide range of uses and the ability to cater to multiple skill levels, Backendless is built to help developers consolidate and simplify their services through a new application’s development and deployment cycle.
Backendless also utilizes “app blueprints,” or templates, to help expedite development. The ability to choose from multiple use cases or designs gives developers a head start on their next application.
Oracle Mobile Hub
Specifically designed to develop enterprise-grade mobile applications, Oracle Mobile Hub is one of the more powerful mobile development services available.
By focusing on mobile application development, Oracle Mobile Hub offers a powerful platform that’s fully optimized for mobile environments. A wide range of APIs, like push notifications, are available for both iOS and Android.
Cloud-hosted solutions are available to store and access application data. Quality assurance capabilities allow you to provide user logins to test applications with real people, and a powerful dashboard gives you a one-window view of user data and application telemetry.
With its powerful suite of functionality, Oracle Mobile Hub gives any business the tools it needs to build a powerful mobile application.
BaaS services are intended to scale easily based on your business’s needs. How much you scale depends on variables such as specific business goals or whether your BaaS configuration is self-hosted or cloud-hosted. However, for the most part, it’s simply a matter of selecting the specific services you’d like to upgrade.
Reputable BaaS services offer enterprise-grade security standards to help keep your work safe. BaaS services are also usually customizable to help users configure custom security options.
Leading BaaS services are fairly intuitive and help users quickly commence application development. They often provide a user-friendly interface, with several offering low- or no-code environments. Experienced developers have the freedom to hand-code custom applications within a BaaS environment.
Most BaaS services can integrate with well-known and custom APIs to help improve the overall development cycle. However, unsupported or cutting-edge APIs or external services may not initially have a knowledge base to assist with implementation.
Quality assurance (QA) practices for BaaS involve regular testing to identify and resolve potential bugs throughout every step of the development cycle, including dependencies such as storage space, server performance or API integration.
BaaS is an affordable and efficient way to start and maintain application development. Designed to provide modular solutions to fit many business objectives, BaaS helps create a competitive edge. It allows you to deliver new software swiftly and frees up time and budgets to discover innovations that can help a business find new avenues of success.
Max Freedman contributed to this article.