All the acronyms in the tech world can be confusing, but more confusion is added when the tech is used in a new way—thus making situation specific references necessary. This is why Search SOA of TechTarget wrote the article, “Cloud MBaaS and Open Source MBaaS: What’s The Difference?” to alleviate the confusion. The article is a Q&A session with OpenMobster CEO Sohil Shah and uses his expertise to explain whether cloud or open source mobile backend as a service (MBaaS) is the best venue.
Cloud MBaaS has its advantages, but when trying to implement it enterprise integration and security are major challenges. Nothing new for the Cloud world. Users prefer open source because of these faults. Enterprises can deploy open source without having to worry about breaking their firewall. Open source is not perfect, though. The free software can get complex depending on the project and depending on what app you are using you will need your own server and infrastructure to run it.
Is it a trend to catch on to? According to Shah: yes, and you better get on the train now: The trend started in the consumer space back in 2011, when StackMob and Parse came out with offerings, and it has been growing from there. Now it’s starting to penetrate the enterprise space. As [MBaaS] is penetrating the enterprise space, open source comes in. As I mentioned, open source is not great for consumer apps, but it’s great for enterprise apps so that you can mobilize your enterprise information systems. When that comes in, the open source MBaaS movement is going to gather more steam because when organizations need to mobilize enterprise systems, they look to open source as the way to build out their mobile infrastructure.
There are a few hindrances at the moment. One is the need to train the developers to develop without a back end. Another is related to the integration of enterprise data onto mobile platforms. It sounds like developers may have to unlearn and relearn, not too much fun, but most likely worth it. Take away your search stresses for any deployment, Cloud or enterprise, with LucidWorks.
Whitney Grace, July 26, 2013
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