Cloud App Development Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Cloud apps development is a competitive and fast growing industry. Let's verify the numbers in support of these words.

As to Leftronic, cloud technology serves 60% of businesses worldwide to store private information. One app, or leastwise a part of it, is on the cloud for 77% of companies. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the main cloud platform for 80% of companies, and Microsoft Azure is used by 67% of companies according to Statista.

The predictions for cloud apps are also optimistic: the global cloud app market value is forecasted to grow to $166.83 billion by 2024.

The most active cloud users by 2023 are planned to be the companies specializing in such domains as insurance and telecommunications (11.4 cloud solutions from various providers), retail (11 clouds), and banking (10.9). Such a rating is not surprising because the listed industries need to process and store a large bulk of data securely, so cloud services are essential for them.

To understand more about such popularity, let’s dive deeper into the details of cloud based application development.

A cloud computing technology involves the delivery of various resources and services (e.g., data storage, servers, databases, etc.) online. It means there’s IT infrastructure run by the third party which provides computing reserves (on a paid basis or for free). In other words, such services let the businesses employ the needed resources, services, and space for storing data without maintaining the infrastructure themselves.

There are three common cloud types needed for app deployment:

• Private cloud — service functioning as a private web system with its secure space for data, users, and apps. They are applied by only one company with no public access.

• Data in the public cloud is accessible online via any gadget. Public clouds may provide optimal prices for data storage and flexible processing power.

• Hybrid cloud services are represented as private and public clouds combined. This way, IT companies can distribute data among the on-device services and third-party apps, finding additional variants for optimization and deployment.

Now, let’s consider what are cloud based applications. These are software products distributing the processing logic and data storage on a gadget between the client-side (visible for a user and accessible to interact with) and the server-side (responsible for processing data).

Cloud-based apps can be characterized as follows:

• The app’s data is stored in a cloud infrastructure. So, there are minimum requirements for devices to run the application.

• It’s possible to store the data on the device. It lets the application work offline with an opportunity to be automatically updated when the gadget will be online again.

• Customers may use the app on any Internet-connected device. All data is saved in the cloud, allowing the user to keep working wherever needed.

There are three types of cloud-based apps: SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS.

SaaS stands for developing cloud based applications used via mobile apps and web browsers. Such a service lets customers apply the app online without installing and configuring from any device.

SaaS may be used for a variety of things, including:

• Providing email tools, auditing features, etc.
• Automating product and service sign-ups
• Managing documents, as well as file sharing and collaboration
• Sharing calendars by the entire organization that may be used to plan events
• Organizing CRM (customer relationship management) systems — databases of client and prospect data

Companies are interested in SaaS app development. Google Apps, Zendesk, Salesforce, AWS, etc., are well-known SaaS services.

PaaS offers you to rent everything you need to develop an app, relying on a cloud provider for development tools, infrastructure, and operating systems. Such vendors provide software and hardware resources to make application development on cloud easier.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions may comprise:

• Building tools
• Middleware
• Operating systems
• Database running infrastructure

PaaS cloud computing platforms include Windows Azure, Heroku, and OpenShift.

IaaS service provider manages your business's infrastructure — servers, network, visualization, and storage via a public or private cloud. In addition to the infrastructure elements, IaaS companies provide a variety of services. They contain:

• Resiliency tools (including backup replication and recovery)
• Security instruments (e.g. data encryption standards, PCI-DSS compliance, etc.)
• Detailed invoicing
• Log access
• Tracking
• Clustering
• Load balancing

You can use an API or an admin panel as a business owner to use the cloud infrastructure services. Furthermore, you may handle operating systems and programs, while providers (such as Microsoft Azure or DigitalOcean) offer resources for cloud development.

The above models and tools are implemented during the development process of such popular cloud apps of 2021 as Slack, PayPal, Zoom, Vimeo, etc.

Cloud applications development is profitable since most data storage exists on a remote server. It has a range of undeniable advantages that help businesses effectively achieve planned aims.

Wise fund distribution is a thing that worries businesses worldwide. Deploying application development in cloud, you’ll have quick access to all required information and save resources needed for a cloud-based app launch. Moreover, you won’t have to pay for the unnecessary cloud space or a feature set because most cloud services can be charged as far as they are used.

Using cloud services, your business will never suffer from such things as inconsistent reporting or poor quality. Cloud-based systems provide entrepreneurs with opportunities to save all data in a similar place and format. This way, all the updates made will be accessible for everybody of the certain cloud space, helping them avoid human mistakes and maintain info coherence.

In comparison to a local server hosting, the cloud provides organizations with greater freedom. Furthermore, if you need more bandwidth, a cloud-based service may be able to supply it instantly rather than requiring a sophisticated (and expensive) upgrade to your IT infrastructure. This enhanced independence and flexibility can have a significant influence on the overall capacity of your business.

Ordinary local solutions are developed and intended to manage a specific number of commands. If the company expands, such products won't be able to deal with a growing workload. However, the сloud based applications development will give you the required scalability as soon as possible, easily adjusting to the current business conditions and needs. Scalability enables you to regularly manage a larger number of consumers and results in a greater profit margin for your company.

Cloud-based product development is a technically demanding thing. That’s why, when deciding to use such solutions, you should know about all the hidden pitfalls to understand how to organize application development using cloud computing appropriately for your business.

A large amount of private data is stored and handled by cloud-based solutions. As a result, every business that employs such technologies is vulnerable to cloud security risks. Thus, enterprises must solve security problems, ensuring that clients' data is safe. To improve the security of your cloud-based software, you should use SSL protocols and different encryption standards (such as Data Encryption Standard (DES), Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES), and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)) to protect the stored or applied information. You can also implement a cryptography approach when the data encrypted is divided into two parts and stored in different clouds.

In case your cloud app would provide card payments, you must care about PCI-DSS compliance. This standard helps provide card holders’ data security and is required for the cloud service vendor.

You must select a trustworthy cloud framework for your cloud app to run smoothly and without mistakes, analyzing your cloud vendor's degree of security and making sure it matches your company's requirements. AWS services are frequently used for cloud application development as one of the most reliable cloud frameworks. AWS allows baking up all the data securely and brings developers a vast pool of other tech features to work with.

You can also monitor cloud service usage, productivity, robustness, and learn SLAs, making sure that your apps are available at any time.

The app's performance is critical for a positive customer experience: the client's satisfaction will suffer if your solution needs more than 3 seconds to load. Global providers place their servers to offer users the same page loading speed despite their location. It's also common to use content delivery networks (CDN) to speed up content distribution. They're frequently used in cloud app infrastructure.

Furthermore, you should research your cloud vendor's infrastructure to guarantee that your apps' performance will be stable in the long run. Determine if apps can be securely moved to the cloud and monitor their performance regularly. You should create a new integration scenario whenever your business apps start interacting with additional cloud services.

If you want to apply to a cloud app scalability benefit, you should care beforehand about its technical realization. While all cloud vendors promise to provide it without a problem, only a few of them can achieve it. If the popularity of your app rises, be sure your backend can handle the extra data flow.

To obtain the scalability you need, go with hybrid cloud architecture. A hybrid cloud model can scale up and down as required. Don't apply to a predefined software that offers scalability services for two bucks, but first, discuss it with your software development service provider.

Cloud application development varies from web development services or mobile development services in that your staff should create cloud solutions based on the service provider you've chosen. For instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the best and most trustworthy cloud application development alternatives, with many useful tools and capabilities.

You must be willing to invest resources while developing cloud applications, there are no exceptions. Before you begin the development process, you must first have a better knowledge of your customers: identify their pains and consider how your product may solve them. That is the only way to compete in the market successfully.

This is how the step-by-step process of app creation (and preparations for it) looks like:

• Step #1. Market and requirements analysis
• Step #2. Development team hiring
• Step #3. Thinking out the architecture and features
• Step #4. Designing the application
• Step #5. Development and testing of your product
• Step #6. App deployment and placing in stores

You should first analyze market requirements to applications to understand what apps are suitable to be transferred to clouds and define the most effective cloud deployment model for your business. While researching, pay attention to the goals of your business and the vital factors for its proper functioning (such as time, funds, etc.)

Conduct also market research in order to understand your future users’ pain points. Dealing with it, you’ll create a valuable business solution capable of fulfilling people’s needs. You can also research competitors of the chosen domain, feature sets, and business models to form the product requirements and create a unique and competitive end product attractive for your core audience.

Cloud-based application development requires an experienced and talented team. So, the question arises — where to hire cloud app developers? There are three widespread options to hire cloud application developers: cooperate with freelancers, create an in-house team, or find a reliable vendor.

It’s crucial to realize that cloud-based solutions shouldn’t be just coded. Their architecture needs to be carefully designed and properly implemented into the current business processes. That’s why you need cooperation with a software development vendor competent in your chosen domain. If you want to cooperate with such a partner without overpayments, you should select outsource app development as a cost-effective alternative.

To make the application development cloud computing process efficient and optimize its work, you need to think out the aspects such as app architecture, service model, and cloud migration. These options would impact your product’s performance. So it would be better to discuss it with the vendor’s experts, who will consult you and offer the best alternatives matching your business.

You should seek advice from professionals while selecting tools for cloud app development. The experts will look at your needs, features, and design to determine which tech stack is best for your product. They’ll also build the upcoming product’s wireframes and create a project specification for you to approve. Here's a Salesforce technology stack to give you a clue:

After all the things are agreed upon, the UI/UX design process keeps going. The designers will prepare a user-friendly interface, facilitating end users’ interaction with the system. The clients can view the changes and preparations (for instance, through Figma), comment on them, or offer improvements during the process. Then, the designers prepare estimates for the work completed.

The developers as well start building a top-notch product according to your requirements. As usual, cloud solutions are developed in accordance with Agile/Scrum methodologies. The building process is split into sprints (1 sprint = 10 working days), beginning with planning, in which the team discusses the workload they’ll deal with.

To prevent problems, your development team must test the product before releasing it. At this point, you must confirm that your application functions properly and provides the desired user experience.

Keep in mind that cloud native development is very important in creating such solutions. So, it’s highly preferable to collaborate with one vendor at all the building steps because only the team capable of imagining the broad picture can properly customize your product.

The final step is the app’s deployment. If the app needs to be published on one of the marketplaces, you need to work with the App Store (for iOS) and Google Play (for Android apps).

To accelerate the process, Google Play applies automated testing. However, it might be difficult to understand why an app has been rejected. The App Store entrusts app review to real people. If there are any bugs, they will demand their fixing.

The placing process includes the next stages:

• Make sure the application follows App Store or Google Play guidelines
• Fill in the data you want to add
• Submit the app to review
• Wait for the reply. The store’s team will test the app against the guidelines, ascertain that the app works without failure
• Your app will be approved or declined in 2-3 days

Cleveroad has 10+ years of experience in building high-quality apps for various business domains. We also provide cloud migration services and quality assurance services and have qualified solution architects and development teams to help you create solutions of any complexity. For you to know more about us, we’d like to share one of our cases — RetailOps.

RetailOps is a flexible SaaS platform that provides a set of tools for retail businesses. Warehouse management, inventory management, receiving, and other functions are among them. Our software development team created a mobile application for iOS that runs on Swift and has a completely new design meeting all criteria.

Cloud solutions offer a wide range of abilities that can help your company gain results impossible in the near past but true for the present and future. If you want to obtain a modern and flexible business software, you should think over your cloud app development or appeal to experts facilitating an issue.