Enterprise App Development – Why Enterprises Should Adopt a Mobile First Strategy?

What is Enterprise App Development?

It is a form of app development focuses on the creation of enterprise mobile apps. The entire process of building apps for businesses usually entails close collaboration between the development team and the company. This ensures the end user’s needs will always be accounted for, understood, and delivered in the final app.

It is a form of app development that seeks to build apps for companies with the intention of optimizing management, communication, and data access. And upon closer look, it doesn’t depart too much from mobile app development that caters to an individual’s needs, hence, its ready benefits. Ultimately, each enterprise app addresses a certain enterprise problem a company is facing.

The Importance of Developing Apps for Enterprises

Optimization is at the heart of enterprise app development, and the advantages that it brings to the table highlights this fact. After all, what other platform or technology has ever really been able to provide the following benefits:

• Unifies and streamlines every work process in a company (may it be reporting, communication, which results in better overall collaboration, productivity, and interaction between departments.
• Greatly saves time when solving complex issues and completing complicated projects.
• Round-the-clock access to data wherever your employees may be.
• Promotes transparency in every process occurring in the company.

Other primary advantages of enterprise app development are speed and cost-effectiveness. In the past, companies often have. With enterprise app developers’ liberal use of cloud technology, for instance, practically all the limitations and barriers in past software development (e.g. setting the infrastructure, securing stable uptime, maintaining security, etc.) are eliminated. This makes it easy for any company to acquire a specific enterprise app that is perfect for them.

Why Mobile is Prioritised?

Companies should be placing importance on mobile-first when developing enterprise apps because simply put, mobile has since become the dominant medium that people use to access the Internet. Realizing this, Google has even updated its algorithm as attested by its move to prioritize mobile-first index.

The value of the portability of mobile devices also cannot be denied. This innate characteristic virtually makes it possible for business owners and their employees to have consistent access to the tools they need for work. Productivity, hence, increases because it allows work to be done quickly.

Enterprises Need to Deal With the Unique Challenges Mobile Technology Poses Like:

• What platform should you focus on? Should you rely solely on either iOS or Android or is it better to go for cross-platform development?
• What cross-platform tools should you use? Or should you opt for system-specific tools instead?
• Device-specific requirements and tools would have to be considered as well.
• Building back-end systems that are mobile-centric.
• How will you be able to provide the device? Will you ride the Bring Your Own Device trend? One benefit of BYOD is that it significantly cuts costs as you won’t have to purchase the device for apps developed and oriented on the said concept.

How to Get Started with Enterprise App Development?

Besides outlining your mobile strategy, starting out on enterprise app development requires paying attention to the following factors and app development tips:

1. Identify the Specific Enterprise Application That You Need to Develop

There are numerous reasons that dictate the kind of enterprise app that a company needs to develop. This makes it crucial for you to pinpoint the exact problem that you need to remedy. Common enterprise apps being developed include automated billing systems, content management platforms, payment processors, call center support systems, and HR management, to cite a few examples.

As you can see these applications fulfill a certain purpose and solve an equally unique problem within the company. This should be clearly identified once you decide to have an enterprise app developed.

2. Decide Whether You’ll Develop an In-House Application or Use an Application Service Provider

Having a dedicated in-house application for your company surely has its immediate appeal, but you would have to be ready to address issues like security and making sure the application will be able to effectively solve the enterprise problem. Nonetheless, all of these can be addressed as long as the enterprise app is handled by a competent and trustworthy mobile app development company.

On the other hand, relying on a third-party application service provider, who would lease the enterprise app to you, is a strategy that companies use to save on resources. Of course, this entails paying close attention to the credentials of each one and the limits imposed by such a choice.

Technologies to Consider

The type of technologies you need to consider should be determined by the initial choices you make on how you want your enterprise app to be developed. Nonetheless, certain technologies figure prominently in enterprise app development, and they intermingle with each other regardless of the direction your mobile app development will take from the outset.

• Cloud Technology

As said above, cloud technology closely correlates with enterprise app development and mobile app development as a whole. When considering a platform for cloud application development, careful attention would have to be given on factors like security, scalability, speed in development, and openness to innovation.

• Internet of Things

Apps developed solely for IoT usually centre on optimizing supply chain processes, inventory tracking, fleet management, and logistics. Data storage and sharing work extremely well with IoT technology at present, so you need to know the exact data gathering and analyzing tools that you need to ensure continued growth for your business.

• Artificial Intelligence

A promising trend in mobile app development involves the incorporation of AI in order to streamline development further and make scaling easier in the future. It specifically performs well in terms of delivering a user’s needs on a more personal level.

Proper Deployment and Promotion of an Enterprise App

Companies commonly face the dilemma of deploying their app and having people and employees to actually use their enterprise app long after it’s finished. When deploying an enterprise app, you need not depart too much from the factors that you need to consider when introducing a mobile app to the market. They are as follows:

• Ease in Dispersal

When deploying an app, it’s better to do so directly within the company. You can do this more effectively and safely with the help of Mobile Device Management (MDM) because it uses software primarily tailored to monitor and manage the mobile devices of employees. This provides you with the much-needed control when deploying enterprise apps across the board.

• Valuing Feedback

Nothing can attract a user and cement the quality of an enterprise app more than the current rating that it has. The ability to leave feedback should be available from the get-go for this reason alone.

• Prioritizing User Experience

Let’s face it, if an app doesn’t deliver in this regard, it’s already teetering over the edge of failure. The same can be said for employees that have to use a specific enterprise app for work. Take note that they’ll be using it for a long time, so as much as possible, it should be built with their preferences and needs in mind.

• Ensuring Security

One of the primary reasons why people have reservations in using an enterprise app (or any app that shares personal information or intellectual property) is lack of security. As long as this is assured, your app will always have that much-needed security stamp crucial for long-term use.

Conclusion

The amount of convenience and boosts in productivity that enterprise apps bring more than emphasize the crucial role they play in improving fundamental processes in a company. It’s safe to say that they’re more than just a “mobile app for business”, considering the positive effects they give in revitalizing business and ensuring its long-term development.