Cloud Mobile Back-End Services Offerings for MSPs, Gartner Suggests

If you're a managed services provider (MSP) contemplating a new specialized platform as a service (PaaS) offering, providing back-end services for mobile cloud developers may be a niche to explore. A recent Gartner, Inc (NYSE: IT) report revealed that by 2016, 40 percent of mobile application development projects will leverage cloud back-end services.  Here are the details.

Cloud mobile back-end services can provide capabilities including user management, data storage, push notifications, and social network integration for developers creating mobile applications.

"Cloud mobile back-end services stand to become a key component of the application development ecosystem," said Gartner Research Director Gordon Van Huizen in a prepared statement. "As a result, a given organization may begin using them without first developing the requisite understanding of the issues and risks associated with employing cloud services for application infrastructure."

Mobile application developers can leverage mobile back-end services for the use of cloud capabilities, such as data storage. When an application is attached to a cloud service, it allows the application to retrieve and store data, which isn't an issue until the use of cloud services by mobile applications grows. That's when security becomes an issue. Mobile application development platform (MADPs) providers can provide additional security and and governance.

Gartner said the increased demand for mobile applications will cause non-IT developers to look for ways to provide mobile applications that will satisfy their business requirements, building their own mobile applications as a result. Is this an opportunity that MSPs can capitalize? Maybe.  Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) Director of Product Marketing Ken Drachnik explained in March how enterprise-owned app stores will play an big role in the future.