Why Does an Enterprise Need Cross Platform Apps?

In years following the introduction of the iPhone, mobile apps were considered a luxury among enterprises, especially small organizations and startup business units. Come 2011 and mobile applications became a ‘must have component’ in enterprises of all sizes. The year 2012, also the year when software tools were used on the largest scale in worldwide enterprises, witnessed a growing acceptance of cross platform mobile apps. These types of mobile applications run successfully in all the major operating systems deployed in organizations.

Gone are the days when a business unit will be able to achieve mobility of profits with the use of a single OS platform. While Apple’s iOS was the most popular platform ever since its inception, Google’s Android has surpassed it in terms of usage and sales. But one cannot ignore the importance of operating systems such as BlackBerry’s RIM, Microsoft’s Windows Phone, and Symbian. Working with all OS platforms is necessary for an enterprise, but developing applications for each platform may prove expensive especially for organizations with limited resources. This is the reason why the concept of cross platform application design was introduced. Using the tools available under the cross platform framework, software developers can create a single app to run on multiple platforms. This not only saves resources, but also minimizes the time and effort spent behind mobile application development. Listed below are few reasons why cross platform apps are the trend to follow for a modern enterprise:

Availability of a Reusable Code – Mobile app developers no longer have to write or script specific sequences, actions, or codes for every operating system used in an enterprise. With the help of cross platform tools, an app code may be written just once and reused for future development projects conducted on a different operating system.

Easy to Learn for Web Developers – The scripting languages to be used as part of development projects for every OS platform are simple and hence easy for web developers to master. Most cross platform frameworks are dynamic in nature; they allow the use of languages such as CSS3 and HTML5 for programming the applications. The same languages are also used for building native mobile apps.

Support for Cloud Services and Plugins – Most cross platform frameworks provide easy accessibility to modules which can be plugged into other tools and services for better functionality. Besides plugins, the frameworks can also be integrated with cloud services like AWS, Box.net, and Salesforce.com.

Less Cost of Development – This is the foremost reason for enterprises to deploy cross platform apps. Companies no longer have to invest in separate IT teams for deployment of apps running in each major OS platform. Even software designers not specific to any one platform can easily create mobile applications which will run effectively in every operating system.

Easily Compilable and Deployable – Cross platform applications can be quickly compiled and deployed, say mobile analysts. This is because of the fact that cloud based tools are used as part of the cross platform frameworks and they enable quicker compilation and deployments of cross platform apps.

The cross platform technology is an upcoming one and is here to stay. However, this does not mean that the mobile apps using these frameworks are the ideal application solutions. But in a mobile scenario that promotes usage of multiple OS platforms, cross platform applications fit in perfectly.