There has been a recent surge of companies calling for enterprise mobile applications. Businesses both large and small are wanting to get involved in what many already know – mobile is the future of the enterprise. As a matter of fact, 80% of online adults currently own a smart phone, and 75% of those users are accessing internet services on their phones. So, is your company ready for the change?
What is an Enterprise Mobile Application?
An enterprise mobile app is a mobile application used in a business to solve one (or more) of their needs. Typically, this can mean a mobile app that employees are able to download to either help with their day-to-day work, provide a place for them to share and maintain data, or even submit requests to their HR department.
These apps are usually developed to be compatible and integrate with software that the business is already using, such as ServiceNow® or Salesforce®. They also are intended to deploy to many different types of devices on different operating systems.
The Demand for Enterprise Mobile Apps
Market demand for app development is higher now than it ever has been. Technology research company Gartner predicts that market demand for mobile app development services will expand by at least five times faster than the organization’s capacity to deliver them by the end of 2017.
Demand for mobile apps in the enterprise is growing, but the urgency to scale up mobile app development doesn't yet appear to be a priority for most organizations.
This must change, particularly given employees often have the autonomy to choose the devices, apps and even the processes to complete a task. This places an increasing amount of pressure on IT to develop a larger variety of mobile apps in shorter time frames."
- Adrian Leow, Principal Research Analyst, Gartner
Why Don’t More Companies Have Apps?
The number one reason that companies aren’t implementing the enterprise mobile applications they need is because they don’t have a mobile strategy in place. They aren’t quite sure where to start in the process or even what it takes to develop a mobile app. Fortunately, there are companies out there that are willing to partner with companies to help them develop a business app.
A few of the other common issues that prevent companies from developing or implementing a mobile app of their own:
- Lack of resources
- Overtaxed IT department
- Difficulty integrating into existing systems
- Finding the right team
- Adoption of a new process
- Cost
BYOD and Enterprise Mobile Applications
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies are starting to be much more prevalent in businesses throughout the world – in fact, approximately 55% of businesses have at least a loose policy regarding BYOD – and that number is only rising.
Despite the rising popularity of BYOD policies in the enterprise, it can cause quite a headache for those wanting to have a mobile app for their business. According to Seth Robinson, Director of Technology Analysis at CompTIA, the new norm is that each user will be utilizing three devices – typically, smart phone, tablet, and PC (or Mac). Having such a wide variety of technologies means that a company may at times struggle with implementing a mobile app that is compatible with a the many devices their employees utilize.
Fortunately, a large portion of the US market utilizes one of two operating systems for their mobile devices: Google's Android or Apple's iOS. They take up more than 98% of the mobile space, followed by Windows, and then Blackberry.
Are you interested in enterprise mobile app development? V-Soft Consulting has the experience and the talent to create the mobile app your company needs. If you would like to learn more about our abilities and offerings, you can learn more about our mobile app practice or set up a free consultation with one of our talented experts to discuss your needs today.
