I believe mobile application development platforms are becoming a commodity.

Tools from companies like Apple and Google get easier to use with every release. Then there is the cross-platform offering of Apache Cordova that combines with Node.js and the plethora of JavaScript mobile frameworks to give mobile developers a powerful, easy-to-use set of choices with a low barrier to entry.

Therefore the question I have to ask myself is, “What will the IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation do to make my life easier above and beyond the standard tooling?”

The MobileFirst Platform gives me freedom to choose my mobile development weapon of choice, be that native, HTML5-based or a combination of both.

But the capability that really excites me and saves me time when building mobile apps is the IBM MobileFirst Server. The server does the real heavy lifting, allowing me to spend some time having fun in the sun.

I want you to stop for a second and think about what you would need to build into your mobile apps to support the functions that I describe in this post.

Here are six of the useful capabilities that I think you need.

1. An integration platform and approach fit for mobile

The MobileFirst Platform approach abstracts the integration away from the mobile app, allowing me to perform the following functions:

• Keep my app’s client-side code light and free from complex integration frameworks
• Optimize the chattiness and bandwidth usage between my app and the core applications
• Have a mobile service orchestration point that allows me to combine services both internally and externally
• Target my performance optimization and caching strategy

2. A platform that does the app management and app authenticity work for you

By this I mean that MobileFirst Platform provides me with the options to disable a mobile app, perform direct updates or notify users of changes straight from the IBM MobileFirst Console. This gives me some of the governance and control capabilities over consumer apps that are normally reserved for enterprises with mobile device management (MDM) solutions.

3. Operational analytics across your apps and services

Analytics can allow you to collect data about usage or detect problems. The logs are presented in dashboards and searchable reports. The log data is sourced from:

• Interactions of any app-to-server activity
• Client-side logs and crashes
• Server-side logs

4. The ability to manage the app log level straight from the console

This capability can give you the flexibility to access detailed logs as release cycles or issues dictate. The operational views and log management allow you to identify bottlenecks, analyze user issues and target your efforts.

5. Offline synchronization with a secure data store

This is a critical requirement for the users that I talk to, for whom access to the Internet can be patchy due to contention within the network and poorly-connected locations. The best part of all is that the offline store can be encrypted using federal government-compliant algorithms, and access is protected with an offline authentication mechanism. The MobileFirst Platform adapter wizard generates the skeleton code to help me set up customized offline synchronization.

6. Location services to make your apps more context aware

Location services allow your apps to collect and forward location-based information efficiently. This has powerful implications when combined with analytics to drive actions that optimize user interaction, processes or tasks. Location-based events and data are handled using the MobileFirst Server adapter’s application code. These messages are logged with device and application context for reporting and analytics.

In conclusion, these are just some of the MobileFirst Server features that make my life easier and save me time when building mobile apps. I believe that these capabilities will help you as you embark on your mobile journey.

If you are interested in learning how to build better mobile apps, download the recent Forrester report.

Here is a statistic that I want to leave you with: “Spending on mobile enterprise business apps will more than double from $26 billion in 2012 to $53 billion in 2017.” How much of that cost do you think will be due to the duplicated effort of doing the heavy lifting ourselves?

What do you think? Have you done the heavy lifting for similar capabilities in your mobile application development? What was your experience doing that?

Please reach out to me on Twitter to share your thoughts: @YohanSwanepoel.  

The post Six things the IBM MobileFirst Server does for me appeared first on IBM Mobile.