Governing a Hundred Apps Like One: xAppHub

This article is part of our series on BuildPad. For the full picture, start with Software That Fits Like a Glove.

AI has made it possible for every team to have software built around how it actually works. That is good news, but it raises a natural worry: if every team can commission its own software, how do you keep control? A hundred apps could mean a hundred logins, a hundred places where data lives, and nobody sure who has access to what. (We look at this problem more closely in Why AI-Built Apps Aren't Ready for Real Use (Yet).)

xAppHub is our answer.

Your company's own app hub

The "x" in xAppHub stands for your company's name. A company called Acme would have AcmeAppHub: its own home for every application built with BuildPad. It manages who can use each app, how they log in, and how everything is tracked and reported.

One front door for every app

Staff don't need to remember where each app lives or keep a separate password for each one. They log in once to a single portal and see every application they are allowed to use, and nothing they aren't.

Access follows the permissions your organisation sets. Someone in the Finance team sees the finance apps. Everyone in the organisation sees the HR apps that apply to them, such as leave and expense claims. A manager might see approval apps that their team doesn't.

This matters most when people move. When someone joins, they get the right apps from day one. When they change role, their access changes with them. When they leave, their access is removed in one place, rather than someone trying to remember every app they ever used. Former staff who still have access to company systems are a common and serious security gap, and a single front door closes it.

One view for IT and management

For the people responsible for technology, xAppHub gives one view across everything: every application, who has access, who is actually using what, and what is running where. You can see which apps are busy and which are barely used, and you always know what exists. A hundred tailored applications stay as manageable as one.

Built in layers for large organisations

Large organisations are not one single unit. A group might have a head office, several subsidiary companies in different countries, and many departments inside each one. Each part needs some independence, while the group still needs oversight.

xAppHub is built in layers to match this. Engineers call it multi-layer tenancy, but the idea is simple. Each layer, whether a subsidiary, a business unit or a department, can have its own space with its own apps, its own users and its own administrators. The Indonesian subsidiary can manage its own apps without seeing or touching the Malaysian subsidiary's apps. Meanwhile, group head office can see across all of them and set rules that apply everywhere.

Think of one large wardrobe with a separate section for each member of the family. Each section has its own key. The head of the house holds a key that opens them all.

One set of numbers

When a company runs many separate SaaS products, getting a full picture usually means exporting data from each one and combining it in spreadsheets by hand. It is slow, easy to get wrong, and out of date the moment it is finished.

Because every BuildPad app is built on the same platform, their data follows the same structure. The built-in reporting layer brings data from all your apps together. Operations teams can follow day-to-day work across apps, and management can see the whole business in one set of numbers, without anyone copying and pasting between systems.

In your own cloud

For many organisations, especially banks, government agencies and healthcare providers, where data lives is not a small detail. It is a rule they must follow.

You can run BuildPad and every application it builds inside your own cloud. Your data stays in your environment, and your security team's rules and controls apply to everything. The tailor comes to your house and works in your own room. The cloth never leaves your home.

Freedom to build, without losing control

The worry we started with is real. When everyone can build software, things can get out of hand quickly. BuildPad and xAppHub work together to prevent that. The skills built into BuildPad make sure every app is built the same, proper way. xAppHub makes sure every app is visible, controlled and accounted for.

Every suit on file, every fitting recorded, one wardrobe you can actually see into.