Rackspace launches mobile cloud stacks, courts developers

Rackspace on Tuesday rolled out mobile cloud stacks as it aims to grab a larger piece of the back-end capacity powering apps.

Mobile cloud stacks are preconfigured offerings from Rackspace to allow developers to easily configure the back-end of a smartphone or tablet application.

John Engates, Rackspace's chief technology officer, said that the company was increasingly seeing mobile traffic and consulting with customers on best ways to add and configure capacity. As a result of those dealings, Rackspace created its mobile cloud stacks.

"A lot of customers have been using Rackspace for mobile apps and games and they had to do a lot of heavy lifting themselves," said Engates. "These customers more or less were going their own route. We took everything we've learned and tried to pull together a stack that could be deployed quickly."

Rackspace has also organized an ecosystem of partners to link software developer kits, push services, testing and monitoring. Initial partners include FeedHenry, New Relic, Sencha, SOASTA, StackMob, and Trigger.io.

Engates said he expects mobile cloud stacks to appeal to both startups as well as enterprises.

"The way mobile is being developed in both startups and enterprises is similar," said Engages. "For many, it's the first time building a mobile application and there's not a legacy with mobile and often a new team."