Bower is for client side Javascript what npm is for the server side and reads a component.json file to recognize dependencies that should be fetched at deploy t
You can also setup a postintall command, something like this in your package.json
"dependencies": {
"bower": "0.6.x"
},
"scripts": {
"postinstall": "./node_modules/bower/bin/bower install"
}
Then npm install will also install bower dependencies.
Pros : one command to rule them all.
Cons : you unnecessarily embed bower as a dependency.