A2 :: Solving the hardware dependency — BuildPan CI/CD

Shaping the app development industry

Buildpan makes it easy for the developers nullifying the hardware dependency of the mobile development teams ,IT​ ​companies​ ​are​ ​typically​ ​experienced​ ​in​ ​managing​ ​the​ ​physical​ ​or​ ​virtualized​ ​environments needed​ ​for​ ​server​ ​based​ ​applications,​ ​but​ ​many​ ​are​ ​not​ ​equipped​ ​to​ ​handle​ ​the​ ​new requirements​ ​of​ ​mobile​ ​application​ ​development.

Specifically,​ ​building​ ​and​ ​testing​ ​iOS​ ​applications​ ​requires​ ​Apple​ ​hardware.​ ​Apple​ ​hasn’t produced​ ​a​ ​“rack​ ​and​ ​stack”​ ​server​ ​product​ ​in​ ​~13​ ​years​ ​and​ ​has​ ​made​ ​it​ ​clear​ ​not​ ​to​ ​expect server​ ​grade​ ​infrastructure​ ​in​ ​the​ ​foreseeable​ ​future.​ ​As​ ​such,​ ​development​ ​teams​ ​are​ ​relegated to​ ​creating​ ​an​ ​‘ad-hoc’​ ​datacenter​ ​center​ ​with​ ​Mac​ ​minis,​ ​Mac​ ​Pros​ ​or​ ​MacBook​ ​Pros.​ ​​​It​ ​is​ ​not uncommon​ ​to​ ​walk​ ​through​ ​an​ ​office​ ​filled​ ​with​ ​mobile​ ​app​ ​developers​ ​and​ ​find​ ​a​ ​stack​ ​of​ ​Mac mini’s​ ​lying​ ​around​ ​on​ ​a​ ​desk​ ​or​ ​tucked​ ​away​ ​in​ ​a​ ​corner.​ ​Development​ ​teams​ ​are​ ​setting​ ​up “off-the-grid”​ ​hardware​ ​and​ ​IT​ ​and​ ​security​ ​teams​ ​are​ ​facing​ ​the​ ​challenges​ ​of​ ​securing​ ​and managing​ ​it.

BuildPan solves this problem of hardware dependency by providing a seamless cloud infrastructure empowering each and every individual developer to build , test and deploy mobile applications without worrying the hardware IT & security , resulting in time saving and cost effective solutions.

“Apart​ ​from​ ​the​ ​server​ ​itself​ ​being​ ​riddled​ ​with​ ​issues,​ ​the​ ​limited​ ​disk​ ​space, and​ ​time​ ​required​ ​to​ ​continuously​ ​update​ ​the​ ​keychain​ ​made​ ​our​ ​mac​ ​mini unusable.​ ​There​ ​was​ ​also​ ​a​ ​constant​ ​risk​ ​of​ ​spilling​ ​coffee​ ​on​ ​our​ ​build​ ​server, which​ ​added​ ​to​ ​the​ ​urgency​ ​of​ ​finding​ ​a​ ​new,​ ​secure​ ​solution.”

-​ ​Harald ​Trainer,​ ​iOS​ ​Lead​ ​at​ ​Catapult

Fortunately,​ ​Android​ ​application​ ​development​ ​eases​ ​some​ ​aspects​ ​of​ ​the​ ​hardware​ ​challenges compared​ ​with​ ​iOS​ ​development.​ ​Specifically,​ ​the​ ​compilation​ ​of​ ​Android​ ​applications​ ​can​ ​be performed​ ​on​ ​traditional​ ​server​ ​hardware.​ ​That​ ​said,​ ​Android​ ​developers​ ​are​ ​faced​ ​with​ ​a different​ ​challenge​ ​ — ​ ​ensuring​ ​that​ ​their​ ​app​ ​runs​ ​seamlessly​ ​on​ ​the​ ​exact​ ​devices​ ​their​ ​user base owns.​ ​Testing​ ​on​ ​physical​ ​devices​ ​is​ ​the​ ​best​ ​way​ ​to​ ​surface​ ​issues​ ​that​ ​are​ ​specific​ ​to​ ​a​ ​certain OS,​ ​device,​ ​or​ ​vendor​ ​permutation.​ ​However,​ ​the​ ​fragmentation​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Android​ ​ecosystem​ ​makes this​ ​an​ ​intractable​ ​problem.​ ​Purchasing,​ ​setting​ ​up,​ ​and​ ​maintaining​ ​potentially​ ​hundreds​ ​of phones​ ​falls​ ​outside​ ​the​ ​experience​ ​and​ ​scope​ ​of​ ​even​ ​the​ ​most​ ​adventurous​ ​and​ ​experienced​ ​IT teams.