DbAPI: A Backend-as-a-Service Platform for Rapid Deployment of Cloud Services

Backend as a service (BaaS) could be described as a cloud service model in which developers outsource all the behind-the-scenes aspects of a web or mobile application so that they only have to write and maintain the frontend. This paper explores representative BaaS platforms and the limitations they present to users. The paper describes how the developer community was engaged by the authors and how solutions to these limitations were presented to the community. The responses and data on what the developer community thought about a new novel solution are also captured in this paper. Using the feedback received from the developer community, the authors present how the solution they developed addresses the weaknesses earlier identified in existing BaaS platforms. The paper also presents how existing tools and technologies employed in constructing such a platform can mitigate the limitations of existing BaaS platforms. Some of these concerns include security aspects that a BaaS platform should present as a bare minimum. Finally, the paper discusses a summary of the benefits that businesses and developers employing a BaaS platform could derive from using a BaaS platform that addresses the limitations of existing platforms. The new platform in this paper is referred to as DbAPI symbolizes the ways in which databases and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) present a powerful tool that provides cloud services to users in a way that abstracts the complexity of deploying cloud services while still addressing security concerns. The DbAPI tool proposed enhances the software development process through the acceleration of the software development life cycle, the reduction of associated costs, and the abstraction of computing infrastructure complexity.