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AnyPresence, which provides mobile backend as a service (MBaaS) solutions, has announced it is expanding beyond the MBaaS to accelerate API development and management, support IT-governed app initiatives, and enable app ecosystems for the Internet of Things (IoT).
Reston, Va.-based AnyPresence claims that it now offers a comprehensive set of capabilities to help enterprises bring APIs and apps to market faster, at a lower total cost of ownership, and with more flexibility.
“We see increasing demand for enterprise IT to support digital transformation and innovation initiatives at a much faster pace, creating challenges balancing agility and governance,” said Anirban Chakrabarti, CEO of AnyPresence, in a statement. “This requires proliferation of microservices and empowering anyone within or outside IT to build cross-platform apps that conform to IT governance standards and best practices. The latest release of AnyPresence goes beyond typical MBaaS capabilities to meet these needs by enabling rapid API development, direct connectivity to APIs from client SDKs, and generation of IT-sanctioned app starter kits from any web portal.”
For instance, the latest version of the platform enables developers to more easily build smart SDKs with direct-to-source integration. AnyPresence now generates SDKs that can connect directly to REST Web services without going through the backend server. This functionality is critical when an API management gateway is used between the mobile app and backend server. In traditional MBaaS solutions, the SDKs are tightly coupled to a backend sever rendering them useless when working with an API gateway.
AnyPresence enables developers to use the benefits of client-side SDK accelerants by connecting directly to any API gateway, which can then pass the call on to the AnyPresence backend server as required.
“Many enterprises are skeptical about adding new layers to their IT stacks,” said Chris Marsh, principal analyst for Enterprise Mobile App Strategies at 451 Research, in a statement. “Yet what AnyPresence is offering fills a gap: it is more than MBaaS; different than traditional API management; and not offered by most mobile application platforms.”
AnyPresence accelerates time-to-market for development teams via its “integration kits.” These pre-configured components can be used to enable specific functionality such as connecting to an IoT hub, authenticating against a specific Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory, or implementing business logic such as an approval workflow. Developers can use integration kits as either a starting point to build an app, distribute as best practices via an app template, or as a working example of how to meet specific enterprise requirements.
Anyway, AnyPresence now provides faster integration to virtually any enterprise data source via powerful HTTP and SOAP connectors. Legacy or custom Web services can be easily transformed into RESTful APIs via declarative configuration within the AnyPresence Designer, minimizing the amount of code and technical debt that needs to be created and maintained.
Meanwhile, the company has tweaked its JustAPIs, available separately or as part of the AnyPresence enterprise platform, support for rapid development and deployment of microservices with a JavaScript workflow engine. JustAPIs now supports endpoint connectivity to Microsoft SQL Server databases, and adds an API Workflow Test Console to improve developer productivity.
In addition to expanding support for enterprise databases such as IBM DB2, AnyPresence now supports a range of authentication strategies via the introduction of a custom HTTP-Authentication adapter. This adapter allows apps to authenticate against virtually any HTTP-based authentication management or identity management system, including SSO solutions such as Ping Identity. Also, AnyPresence supports IT governance and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) SOX policies via a detailed history of all user actions on app definitions made within the AnyPresence Designer.
All of these new AnyPresence capabilities increase the variety of use cases and problems the solution can be applied to, the company said. The platform components are loosely coupled, so customers can use AnyPresence Smart SDKs, JustAPIs, or backend servers independently and in any combination based on project requirements. Furthermore, AnyPresence complements existing enterprise infrastructure and governance policies, enabling bimodal IT strategies.