Hold the phone! Amazon Web Services is launching a mobile applications initiative. According to a company job post, AWS seeks a software development engineer for a new iOS/Android AWS initiative to be based in Palo Alto, Calif.
The ideal candidate will have built a “top 25 app;” and want to build a “brand new service from the ground floor,” according to the job post.
It continued:
“In this role, you will be responsible for creating and owning world-class production tablet and web client applications across major platforms including iOS and Android . You must be willing to insist on the highest standards for quality, maintainability, and performance. You will ensure that engineering best practices are followed and that software is designed to be responsive, reliable and maintainable.”
TechCrunch first reported the news Sunday night.
Developers typically access AWS from their PCs but smartphones and tablets are quickly supplanting laptops and PCs as devices of choice for more workers so it would make sense for AWS to turn more attention to those form factors. And, the company added Android and iOS(s appl) support to the AWS management console so users can keep an eye on their services from their device of choice.
While this posting talks about client app development rather than SDK, it is also possible that AWS will devise its own mobile backend as a service (MbaaS) — something that GigaOM Pro analyst Janakiram MSV posited in a post (subscription required) a few weeks ago. According to MSV:
“AWS has all the required building blocks to expose mobile backend services. Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon RDS already form the backbone of many mobile applications today. The AWS SDK for Android and iOS makes it easy for developers to consume these services.”
General purpose platforms as a service (PaaSes) neglected this mobile segment — a gap that startups like Kinvey, Parse, Stackmob, and Kii rushed to fill. Now, PaaS players are adding more mobile capabilities — witness Microsoft’s addition of mobile services to Windows Azure last summer.
I will update this story if and when Amazon responds to requests for comment.
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