In recent years, there has been a spike in the number of Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platforms like Appwrite, Firebase, AWS Amplify, and so on that render many essential services, such as database management, push notifications, cloud storage, user authentication, hosting, and more. Businesses have taken advantage of BaaS platforms to handle server functionalities and backend tasks so that their applications can continue to run smoothly, saving development costs and time.
As the number of BaaS platforms increases, businesses have more providers to select from. Security is a major concern for businesses that handle user data (that includes personal information like addresses, credit card information, and so on). Businesses require specific details on the critical factors to consider when selecting a BaaS provider.
This article will provide information about the essential factors when choosing a BaaS provider or platform for businesses. It will teach you the best practices for secure data management with BaaS providers.
Overview of BaaS Platforms
BaaS platforms are cloud architectures that handle server functionalities and repetitive backend tasks for businesses. They provide Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs) through which applications connect to and gain access to third-party cloud services. As a result, developers can focus on the client side of the applications.
Use Cases of BaaS Platforms in Businesses
There are numerous BaaS use cases in various business sectors ranging from financial tech (fintech) to gaming or even healthcare. The server side of applications requires significant effort including the database management, user authentication, push notifications, and API management.
Let's take a look at some of these use cases.
1. Database Management
BaaS platforms offer services that store and manage business data in the cloud and allow the application to scale while synchronizing and maintaining a unified user profile. BaaS platforms have several database service mechanisms where good BaaS platforms often provide services such as creating, listing, getting, updating, and deleting documents among other things.
2. User Authentication
Businesses can use BaaS platforms to authenticate and manage user accounts, such as creating, registering, updating, verifying, and deleting user accounts. BaaS platforms provide services such as email/phone verification, two-factor authentication, password recovery, session creation, and more.
3. Notifications
BaaS platforms provide cost-effective cloud infrastructures with an easy-to-use API for sending users' notifications (push/email/SMS). As a result, businesses can avoid the stress and time required to build and manage their notification infrastructure. Businesses concerned about user engagement and sending real-time notification updates to their users can use BaaS platforms.
4. API Management
Most applications rely on multiple APIs to provide third-party services. Businesses can use BaaS platforms to securely create and manage their APIs, including controlling access, checking and tracking usage, setting usage quotas (rate limits), and reducing the effort and time required to build and manage the infrastructure. BaaS platforms offer various API management services, such as rate limits and a dashboard for tracking API usage and downtime.
How BaaS Platforms are Critical for Better Data Management
BaaS platforms have improved data management for businesses due to the vital and critical benefits they offer. Businesses have built more cost-effective, scalable, accessible, and real-time data solutions using BaaS platforms. Businesses use BaaS security measures to enable data backups, disaster recovery, and security.
Furthermore, BaaS providers offer cross-platform support, which means they support multiple Operating Systems/tools/platforms. Businesses can integrate with multiple tools and platforms and easily migrate data from one platform to another (web to mobile) without affecting application performance.
Essential factors to consider when selecting BaaS platforms for businesses
When selecting a BaaS platform, businesses must consider several important factors. Understanding these factors will enable businesses to develop trust in BaaS platforms.
Let's take a closer look at some of these factors.
1. Security measures and updates
Before choosing a BaaS platform for your business, you must consider the security procedures it employs. These procedures include the authentication, data encryption, access control, and so on that the BaaS platform employs.
In application downtime or disaster, you should note how the BaaS platform handles disaster recovery to avoid losing your data. Appwrite, for example, uses JSON Web Tokens (JWT), social logins, API keys, and OAuth2 for authentication and authorization.
2. Data Transparency
Data is intricate and should be handled securely and with care when developing and managing applications. Before selecting a BaaS platform, consider its policies to handle data in terms of transparency, validation, tracking, updates, formatting, security, accessibility, ownership, and usage.
You can use Appwrite to access various data access methods such as queries, formatting (JSON), real-time data updates, and CRUD operations.
3. Monitoring performance
Monitoring the performance of running applications is critical and is best practice to avoid situations such as downtime. Not only that, but the ability to note any issues or errors the application may encounter and test the application's performance in real time is critical.
You should ensure that the BaaS platform you select can monitor application performance in real time. Appwrite provides a Health API service for monitoring the application's performance and an Error Reporting service for reporting performance errors.
4. Data/Industry regulations compliance
When choosing a BaaS platform, it is critical to ensure that the BaaS complies with data regulations governing security, storage, and data collection. Ensure that the BaaS platforms have security standards certifications such as ISO/IEC 27001 and that they comply with the industry regulations where the business operates.
Appwrite processes data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and has a detailed Privacy Policy for data retention, transfer, disclosure, and security.
5. Scalability
As the business expands and the traffic volume spikes as the number of users increases, it is essential to verify the BaaS platform's ability to handle the increased load without affecting the application's performance. It is also critical to ensure that the BaaS platform can efficiently distribute multiple requests across multiple instances.
Appwrite handles business traffic by automatically scaling applications with Kubernetes and distributing incoming requests across multiple instances in a way that does not affect application performance.
Security Best Practices for Businesses using BaaS platforms
To secure data management for businesses, it's essential to know these best practices described below.
1. Regular security audits
It is best practice to analyze the BaaS platform's security policies and methods to ensure that they comply with security regulations to ensure your business's data privacy and security (e.g., GDPR). You can identify potential security risks and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by conducting regular analyses.
Appwrite performs regular security audits using various mechanisms such as penetration testing, log analysis, and vulnerability scanners. Then, it provides a report on the results of each security audit, including the vulnerabilities discovered and ways to address them.
2. Executing proper access control procedures
Businesses need to consider the type of access control procedures used by the BaaS platform. Some of the access control procedures include software updates, data encryption, and the type of user authentication and authorization used.
Appwrite secures data for businesses by utilizing access control procedures such as JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for authentication and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) for encryption.
3. Using secure APIs
To avoid a security breach in business sensitive data, it is best practice to ensure that the application's underlying APIs are secure. The BaaS platform should use a standard authentication method, such as Appwrite, which uses OAuth or multifactor authentication and monitoring logs to report security issues and validation to secure the APIs.
Appwrite secures APIs with various tools, including regular software updates, SSL/TLS encryption, validation, monitoring logs, rate limiting, etc.
4. Regular security updates
Typically, BaaS platforms send notification alerts to users when a security update is required. Pay attention to any BaaS platform alerts to ensure that your software is up to date. This decreases the risk of security vulnerabilities in your application.
5. Evaluating third-party security
Third-party services may introduce security vulnerabilities into a business application. Before integrating a third-party service into your application, ensure that it meets security standards. Ensure that its source is trusted, and perform a proper evaluation, which may include going through the documentation in search of any known vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
In this article, we explored an overview of BaaS platforms such as Appwrite, use cases of BaaS platforms in businesses, how BaaS platforms are critical for better data management, essential factors to consider when selecting BaaS platforms for businesses, and security best practices for businesses using BaaS platforms. Appwrite is a good BaaS platform and you can quickly get started with it.
Resource
Check out Appwrite Documentation
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