This document discusses challenges and best practices for DevOps for mobile apps. It outlines 10 challenges, including fragmented platforms, app stores adding deployment steps, and managing provisioning profiles and keys. It then describes IBM's 4 DevOps principles and discusses continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous testing, continuous monitoring, and mobile app delivery best practices. These include automated build/deploy scripts, testing on devices, simulating backend services, monitoring performance, and using a private app store for testing.

1. DevOps for Mobile
Apps: Challenges and
Best Practices
Sanjeev Sharma
IBM Software Group
DevOpsDays 2013
New York, NY

2. Me
• 18 year in the software industry
• 15+ years he has been a solution
architect with IBM
• Areas of work:
o DevOps Sanjeev Sharma
o Enterprise Architecture sanjeev.sharma@us.ibm.com
IBM Software Group
o Agile Transformation
o Mobile Development
o Software Delivery Platforms
o Software Supply Chains.
• Blog @ bit.ly/sdarchitect
• Twitter: @sd_architect

3. DevOps for Mobile ‐ Challenges
• Mobile Apps are the Mobile App
front-end to a Public Cloud
Private Cloud
complex(enterprise) Routing
Service
Collaboration
Content
Providers EJB
Business
Partners
back-end system
Third-party Shared
Archives Services
Services
Portals
Messaging
Services
File
o Mobile Apps are rapidly Directory
Identity
systems
becoming a critical user Data Warehouse Mainframe
Enterprise
Service Bus
interface to enterprise Heterogeneous Environments
systems

4. DevOps for Mobile ‐ Challenges
• Fragmented Platforms
o iOS forked when iPad came
out. Android forked multiple
times with each vendor,
Kindle Fire, Nook…
• HTML5, PhoneGap/
Cordova still cannot fully
replace native Apps in
every situation

5. DevOps for Mobile ‐ Challenges
• App stores add
additional
asynchronous
deployment step
o Continuous Delivery
becomes ‘deliver and
wait’

6. Mobile Application Architecture:
LinkedIn
http://engineering.linkedin.com/testing/co
ntinuous‐integration‐mobile

7. IBM’s Four DevOps Principles
1. Collaborate across
Disciplines
2. Develop and test against
a production-like system
3. Deploy frequently
4. Continuously validate
operational quality
characteristics

8. Continuous Integration and
Continuous Delivery
1. End-to-end
Traceability, across all
iOS
Developer
Components
Source Library
Control
Deliver App
Code Build Fetch Automate
Android
Developer
Source Deployable
Artifacts Artifacts
Enterprise
Services
Developer

9. Continuous Integration and
Continuous Delivery
2. Practice Continuous
Integration
Mobile App
Developent
Teams
Enterprise
Services
Developent
Teams

10. Continuous Integration and
Continuous Delivery
3. Maintain separate
build areas for each
SDK version
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" ... >
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="4" android:targetSdkVersion="15" />
...
</manifest>

11. Continuous Integration and
Continuous Delivery
4. Automated Build and
Deploy scripts
Automated
Scripts

12. Continuous Testing and
Continuous Monitoring
5. Test each build on
each supported
device

13. Continuous Testing and
Continuous Monitoring
6. Simulate Back-end
Services
Mobile App
App Under Test Third-party
Third-party
Services Services
Test Environments to Production
Directory Portals
Actual Service Identity
Simulated Service
Mobile App Enterprise Service
Data Warehouse Mainframe Bus
Heterogeneous Environments

14. Continuous Testing and
Continuous Monitoring
7. Monitor deployed
apps and back end
services performance

15. Mobile App Delivery
8. Governance of
provisioning profiles,
certificates and API
keys

16. Mobile App Delivery
9. Use a ‘Private’ App
store to test device
deployment

17. Mobile App Delivery
10. Convert App Store
feedback into user
stories

18. Mobile Delivery Pipeline
Mobile
IDE
API keys,
Provisioning
Profiles…
Build, Package,
.jsp .htm & Unit Test
Application
l Binaries & Platform
Configuration
.java Deploy
.sh chef
recipe
s
Deployable Artifacts
Source Artifacts
Library Environment
Source Control Enterprise Running System
Management Services
IDE

19. IBM SmartCloud Continuous
Delivery packaging
Extending Agile Development with Continuous Delivery
Build -> Publish -> Deploy -> Test
Mobile/Enterprise ALM
Suite (Rational Team
Concert) IBM SmartCloud Provisioning
Agile Deployment to
Development Virtual Systems
19

20. Where to get more
information?
• My Blog:
o http://bit.ly/sdarchitect
• Leveraging DevOps in a water-SCRUM-fall World
o http://ibm.co/PRQkWL
• IBM Enterprise DevOps blog
o http://ibm.co/JrPVGR