The mobility sector is witnessing its maximum use by the consumers but the sad part is that the use of mobile apps and mobility in businesses is unable to stretch beyond emails and calendars.
The mobility sector is witnessing its maximum use by the consumers but the sad part is that the use of mobile apps and mobility in businesses is unable to stretch beyond emails and calendars. A survey conducted by Forrester in 2010 revealed that more than 89 percent mobility and mobile apps users have deployed them for wireless email connectivity,
for expanding them or planning to implement them. The same survey revealed that calendars and contents also maintained a high reputation (74 percent).
The trends shown in this survey continue until now as at present times too, enterprise apps that can be deployed for internal operations and administration are experiencing lesser uptakes. However, the latest survey by the same company has revealed that apps for emergency response have experienced an adoption rate of 24 percent. Similarly, sales force automation apps, customers facing mobile apps, field service apps have seen the adoption rate of 21 percent, 19 percent and 18 percent respectively. These business areas experienced the entry of mobile apps, whereas segments like asset management, inventory logistics, supply chain etc. are still feeling the scarcity of mobility culture. Let us see what this latest survey reveals about the status of enterprise apps
This survey says that custom-made enterprise apps are predominant, but adoption of off-the-shelf apps is increasing notably. At present, most of the apps used by enterprises are custom made to meet specific requirements. Forrester reveals that some (27 percent) business apps are purchased from apps stores as extensions to enterprise packages. Another frequent scenario occurring at the business houses is in-house development, adopted by 38 percent business owners followed by hiring app development companies to develop an app, adopted by 25 percent business owners. This survey found that 5 percent respondents were using the mobile middleware platform. Forrester has predicted that amidst this, the culture of hiring an app development company and getting customized apps developed will witness rise in the future.
According to Forrester, off-the-shelf apps are evolving and bloom massively with the entry of bigger enterprises like Oracle and SAP. Various interviews and tests conducted on app suppliers suggest that mobile adoption is still in its first stage as most of the apps tested, offered limited functionality, restricted choice of platforms and increased prices. Everyone including the business owners as well as enterprise app development companies unanimously agrees that mobile apps are very important from a strategic point of view. This has compelled bigger brands to jump into the apps development sector and develop specialized enterprise mobile apps.
Under this tremendous evolution in the mobile apps sector, the bigger question is not that where we are today in terms of using enterprise mobile apps at our offices but where we are heading. Apart from extending enterprise apps in smart devices, mobile apps will grow further and encompass end-to-end business processes like procure to pay, talent management and sales to delivery. This survey predicts that enterprise mobile apps will not create business process value scenarios that will motivate companies to invest heavily in getting best from the technology. Rather, mobile apps will have to take advantage of the capabilities that are unique to the devices and leverage the benefits of anywhere/anytime connectivity. Device capabilities that can strengthen the business process value include location presence, image capturing, video recording, making notes and presentation notes or diaries, live video conferencing, social networking, multimedia consumption, money transfer, bar code scanning, text messaging, data storage and Bluetooth connectivity.
CONCLUSION
At present, despite the advent of smart phones like Apple iPhone, most of us take them as just a mode of communication with some apps present, which can be accessed from desktops also. However, the future is certainly bright as more and more enterprise apps continue to pour in, thus making smart devices ever smarter and more useful for business owners and their employees.
