The Backend is Dead

Backend as a Service (BaaS) and Mobile Backend as a Service (mBaaS) are poised to shake up the development world as much or more than IaaS has over the past few years.

Several years ago you if you needed a place to host your custom website or web services, you would hire an IT professional to setup and then manage your servers, blades, and network infrastructure. Today we don't even bat an eye at spinning up a new VM in Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. Infrastructure as a Service has taken over the way we think.

I believe that in a few years Backend as a Service will closely follow the path of IaaS, and this is a presentation I gave to describe why.

Transcript

1. The Backend is Dead @pickledego
2. / / TODO: 1. What is BaaS? 2. Why should I care? 3. Is it viable today?
3. / / TODO: 1. What is BaaS? 2. Why should I care? 3. Is it viable today?
4. a brief history of BaaS
5. wikipedia [Baas] is a model for providing web and mobile app developers with a way to link their applications to backend cloud storage and APIs exposed by back end applications while also providing features such as user management, push notifications, and integration with social networking services.[4]
6. But let’s dive a little deeper…
7. Java Spring Jackson Hibernate Load Balancer Bandwidth Servers Blades OAuth 2.0 User Mgt javascript html css Infrastructure Backend Frontend Tomcat Security Reliability Scaling File Storage Racks REST API Ubuntu Ext4 MySQL
8. Java Spring Jackson Hibernate Load Balancer Bandwidth Servers Blades OAuth 2.0 User Mgt javascript html css Infrastructure Backend Frontend IaaS Tomcat Security Reliability Scaling File Storage Racks REST API Ubuntu Ext4 MySQL
9. Java Spring Jackson Hibernate Load Balancer Bandwidth Servers Blades OAuth 2.0 User Mgt javascript html css Infrastructure Backend Frontend IaaS PaaS Tomcat Security Reliability Scaling File Storage Racks REST API Ubuntu Ext4 MySQL
10. Java Spring Jackson Hibernate Load Balancer Bandwidth Servers Blades OAuth 2.0 User Mgt javascript html css Infrastructure Backend Frontend BaaS IaaS PaaS Tomcat Security Reliability Scaling File Storage Racks REST API Ubuntu Ext4 MySQL
11. Java Spring Jackson Hibernate Load Balancer Bandwidth Servers Blades OAuth 2.0 User Mgt javascript html css Infrastructure Backend Frontend BaaS IaaS PaaS Tomcat Security Reliability Scaling File Storage Racks REST API Ubuntu Ext4 MySQL SaaS
12. what is BaaS? • Backend cloud storage • RESTful API to internal and external systems • Additional features • user management • security • social networking services • push notifications (for mobile)
13. features • User management • Social logins / LDAP / Active Directory • Realtime data sync • Analytics • Easy integration with internal and external APIs • API forwarding / “Data forwarding” • CRUD operations auto setup • SaaS OR Internal hosting • Media Streaming • Data encryption • Data and File store • Offline data caching • Custom server-side code
 - API data validation
 - Business logic • Push notifications • Email services • Environments (dev / test / live) • Versioning • Client code generation
14. –Johnny Appleseed “BaaS is just a SaaS solution for engineers.”
15. what does it look like?
16. Kinvey
17. initialize
18. login with facebook
19. active user
20. Firebase
21. login with google
22. login with facebook
23. setup reference to /people
24. add a person object
25. / / TODO: 1. What is BaaS? 2. Why should I care? 3. Is it viable today?
26. “My backend services are great!”
27. Pros of BE Dev • Choice / customization • Built how i want it • Can use whatever frameworks and technologies I need • Full control over security, api, tech stack, etc. • No vendor lock-in • Less reliance on third-party APIs • Possibly easier to support (no middle man)
28. Full control
29. It’s MINE!
30. MY PRECIOUS!
32. – Tod Nielson, Heroku CEO “Complexity gets abstracted,
 and things move up the stack”
33. Who here develops awesome web applications?!
34. – Tod Nielson, Heroku CEO “Complexity gets abstracted,
 and things move up the stack”
35. – Tod Nielson, Heroku CEO “Complexity gets abstracted,
 and things move up the stack”
36. We’re web developers!
37. Java Spring Jackson Hibernate Load Balancer Bandwidth Servers Blades OAuth 2.0 User Mgt javascript html css Infrastructure Backend Frontend BaaS IaaS PaaS Tomcat Security Reliability Scaling File Storage Racks REST API Ubuntu Ext4 MySQL
38. Pros of BaaS • Faster time to market • Lower costs • Lower initial cost • Incremental costs depend upon usage • Resources sharing • Fewer developers • Easier to Manage • No servers to maintain • Less Code (less maintenance) • Easy scaling • Built-in service management • Fewer developers
39. what does this mean for businesses?
40. what does this mean for you?!
41. disruptive technology?
42. ABSOLUTELY!
43. As businesses understand the lower costs,
 they will adopt BaaS just as they have IaaS
44. lower cost => adoption
45. right now: it’s about mindshare
46. illustrated by Jeremy Kemp Gartner Hype Cycle
47. illustrated by Jeremy Kemp Gartner Hype Cycle BaaS
48. the future of web app development?
49. that’s VERY possible
50. / / TODO: 1. What is BaaS? 2. Why should I care? 3. Is it viable today?
51. is anyone using it in production?
52. YES!
53. users • inVision (for sharing) • ContentBox • Vibram • Petco • Vibram • USA Today • Citrix • Food Network • Travel Channel • Cadillac • Hipmunk • TOMS • CBS • Korea Telecom • Apigee • Salesforce • Splunk • Apple • Symantec
54. vendors Hosted (shorter list) • Parse • Kinvey • AnyPresence • Backendless • GoInstant • built.io Open Source • Apache usergrid_ • DreamFactory • LoopBack • BaaSBox • helios • deployd • Appcellerator
 Cloud • CloudMine • Salesforce1 • Firebase • Microsoft (Azure Mobile Services) • Apple (CloudKit) many more! http://baas.apievangelist.com/compan
55. features • User management • Social logins / LDAP / Active Directory • Realtime data sync • Analytics • Easy integration with internal and external APIs • API forwarding / “Data forwarding” • CRUD operations auto setup • SaaS OR Internal hosting • Media Streaming • Data encryption • Data and File store • Offline data caching • Custom server-side code
 - API data validation
 - Business logic • Push notifications • Email services • Environments (dev / test / live) • Versioning • Client code generation
56. vendors Hosted (shorter list) • Parse • Kinvey • AnyPresence • Backendless • GoInstant • built.io Open Source • Apache usergrid_ • DreamFactory • LoopBack • BaaSBox • helios • deployd • Appcellerator
 Cloud • CloudMine • Salesforce1 • Firebase • Microsoft (Azure Mobile Services) • Apple (CloudKit) many more! http://baas.apievangelist.com/compan
57. (picture of a backend engineer) (picture of a backend engineer)
58. of course, all that glitters is not gold
59. every technology has it’s purpose
60. don’t treat this as a panacea
61. BaaS for web dev is still relatively new
62. “use the right tool for the job” –Dad
63. BaaS is the future
64. Thank you “For the time will soon come when [App Developers] will shape the fortunes of all.” – Galadriel
65. Thank you