Support infrastructure can simply be described as the basic services that are required for a product, organization or community to function. It’s obviously not going to be the same across every industry but fundamentally, it’s the core components that allow services to function.

No service or organization can function if there isn't a foundation that provides day to day support. This can be in the form of communications, troubleshooting, transport, human resources, etc. It’s importance is particularly felt in the information technology industry.

What does infrastructure support mean in the context of IT?

In the context of information technology, infrastructure support refers to all of the physical and digital resources that are required to support the flow, analysis, and storage of data. These can be a mix of software, hardware, systems and services that are used by the company to support its IT service.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library's Foundation Course Glossary further explains that IT infrastructure includes all Information Technology but not the associated people, processes, and documentation. At its core, then, IT infrastructure refers to the components needed for the successful operation and management of an IT environment.

Infrastructure support for apps

Apps are a great way to deliver intended business outcomes. Whether you use them to help your employees do their jobs better or to track any number of data points that really help you optimize the efficiency of your sales operation, apps are vital to success in this day and age.

What most people don't understand, though, is that a robust infrastructure is required in support of these apps. They can't provide the kind of benefit that you're looking to get out of them if there's not a support infrastructure behind them. To put it simply, a support infrastructure provides the app with a complete ecosystem.

For example, if your app is for managing warehouse employees, it wouldn't make sense for it to be based on an international cloud solution. An on-premise datacenter will be a much better option since the app isn't meant to be used by anybody other than the people in your warehouse.

That’s just one simple example of what infrastructure support can look like for apps. It needs to be built around what the app’s core purpose is, so that the effective implementation helps realize the true potential of your custom app.

What you need for proper infrastructure support:

  1. Applistructure

    For proper infrastructure support, you need what's commonly known in the industry as Applistructure. It's best described as a blent of applications and technological infrastructure, a single point of ownership and accurate mapping of both. The adoption of Applistructure has really been driven over the years by the need for enhanced integration and convergence.

    Ensuring this single point of ownership helps take the stress out of a lot of different scenarios. Whether you're worried if your app will be up and running in time or if it keeps suffering from the same issues over and over again, the Applistructure will provide a holistic view of the infrastructure and apps as one single, seamless entity.

    The Applistructure concept really started picking up steam in the mid-2000s. It was presented as a viable option for companies that were looking to get the most out of their technology and application investments. The idea was to create a more flexible support base for their app activities.
  2. Intrusion Detection System

    Network security is still one of the biggest challenges that all IT-enabled businesses face. With cyber threats increasing with each passing day, any leak of corporate information or user data can literally be the difference between life and death for a company.

    That's why an intrusion detection system is crucial for proper infrastructure support. The timely detection of an intrusion can help you get a handle on the situation much earlier, and potentially prevent any major losses from occurring.

    App managers and developers can't be in the dark about suspicious activity on the network. It's only when they're alerted about it can they go about finding out where the vulnerability exists and how they're going to patch it.
  3. Application Server

    An application server is a mixed framework of software that sits as a layer between the network and the database. It supports the creation of web apps and provides a server environment for them. It hosts and operates the app and all of its associated services for the end users.

    In technical terms, an application server is one that's primarily meant to run applications. This server, however, can include both the hardware and the software that's required for the app to function. The distinction between app and web servers is important, because while the latter may not have any problems serving web pages, it may not have the required resources to run demanding apps.

    The application server may need to be optimized or scaled if your apps are to be updated with additional functionality or if it needs to support a lot more users than what it was originally intended for. It needs to be built and maintained with scalability in mind, and proper support for the app can’t be possible otherwise.
  4. Cohesion between app and infrastructural development teams

    The app and infrastructural development teams can’t be working in isolation, without any cohesion and collaboration. The provision of ongoing support has to be a consideration for the app even before development work starts on it. Judging the requirements for support is fairly easy, with the app's requirement being the core blueprint for the type of infrastructure it's going to require.

    The guidelines may include the compute and storage requirements for the app since some databases might require a significant amount of storage, particularly if it’s an app that provides data archiving functionality. Others may not need as much storage but be more resource intensive nonetheless.

    Therefore, it's important that both the app and infrastructural development teams work together closely so that things can be done right the first time. The wrong infrastructure is going to cause problems for the app in the long run and if you're forced to replace it, that's going to be an additional burden on the bottom line that could have easily been avoided the first time around.
  5. An understanding of app adoption

    Whether it's an app meant for warehouse employees or for the public, you should have a good idea of the adoption rates for the app. How many people could end up using it, what source of strain would that put on the infrastructure, and what additional resources might be required to provide a consistent user experience

    This will go a long way in making it easier for you to scale up or down without having the app suffer from poor performance and networking issues. A fluid support infrastructure would complement this since it's going to leave a much wider room for scalability.

    It can happen with apps meant for the public more often than not. A lot more people end up using the app than you had initially estimated. This causes all sorts of problems when trying to get the app to scale up but it’s not really that easy to do that without the proper infrastructure support in place.

Infrastructure support only comes from proper, high-quality app development.

Before you can worry about what sort of infrastructure support your app is going to require, the first step is obviously to have an app developed. You can either put your in-house development team on it, if you happen to have one, or you can outsource the job to an app development service provider.

App development is a highly competitive market so you’ll quickly have more service providers vying for your business than you may have imagined. Who you decide to pick really depends on a variety of factors, chief among those is the budget that you have to get the app developed.

You'll not want to compromise on the quality of the app and for precisely that reason, you'll want to partner with a developer that's highly experienced in designing and building great apps. That’s precisely what the team at Zibtek can achieve for you.

Zibtek has been in the app development business for well over a decade. It has built apps that do everything from enabling teachers to teach on-the-go to custom ERP-integrated mobile experiences.

Its developers are highly skilled at creating iOS and Android apps with extreme proficiency in React native, Phonegap and hybrid development. Zibtek’s mobile development strategy involves handling the entire project lifecycle, taking the app from a concept to a polished product. It also offers application porting and mobile web development services.

With offices in Salt Lake, Utah and a global network of developers all managed from the United States, partnering with Zibtek will allow you to access a vast pool of talent for proper, high-quality work on your app.

If you’re interested in finding out how its talented developers can help take your app from concept to reality, contact the team at Zibtek today and they’ll be more than happy to help you through the process.