devtools

Parse

parse.com | Shut down January 28, 2017

A backend-as-a-service thousands of apps were built on, then given one year to move.

What it did

Parse gave mobile developers hosted data storage, user accounts, push notifications and cloud code so they could ship apps without running a backend.

The facts, as reported

Facebook, which acquired Parse in 2013, announced in January 2016 that the hosted service would be retired. It gave developers a year to migrate and shut the hosted service down on January 28, 2017, releasing an open-source server as a migration path.

Parse (Wikipedia)
reporting | 1/28/2017
"Facebook announced the retirement of the hosted Parse service in January 2016 and shut it down on January 28, 2017."

Marketur analysis, not fact

This is the textbook platform-dependency death. Every app on Parse outsourced its foundation to a company with no obligation to keep it running. The open-source release softened the blow, but teams still paid with months of engineering they had not budgeted for.

What to take from it

If a vendor holds your data layer, they hold your roadmap.
Acquisition is a shutdown signal, not a stability signal.
Ask what a twelve month migration would cost you before you build on someone else's backend.