In the beginning, mobile apps were designed purely for entertainment, and although they are still used for this reason today, businesses have found away to generate new revenue channels and create new levels of value though them as well. Apps are now being created not only to help employees improve inefficiencies, but also to create communication platforms with customers in the digital realm.
In order to create an app that delivers value, a company must first asses its business strategy by using analytics to determine how many people are visiting their website from a mobile device. Here are a few questions a company will also need to answer:
Does your company sell products directly from your Web site?
If you do, then you will want to consider optimizing your content for mobile consumption.
Do you have a large, dispersed workforce?
Enterprise Grade Mobility is a new term addressing a tangible problem of how to utilize technology to improve the work remote employees are doing instead of diverting them.
Compuware (News - Alert), a provider of mobile solutions, helps companies further their quest to discover and conquer the problems they face. According to Matthew David, director of mobile strategy at Compuware, there are dozens of technical solutions, but it is critical that everyone is fully aware of the business problem. “Let’s not get sidetracked by the latest technology trend at the expense of the problem at hand,” says David. “Compuware has a digital strategy team that works onsite with clients to identify what we refer to as Complexity Drivers.”
Complexity Drivers list the company’s problems, the progress toward resolving these problems, the workflow needed to resolve the problems, technologies that can be used to address the problems, recommended solutions and details about how the new solution should be supported. The Strategy Team will typically define many complexity drivers, effectively measuring the current cost of the problem, recommending an appropriate roadmap for implementing a solution, and providing metrics to measure progress toward success.
As for the future of these apps, David says that mobility is arguably the most complex field of technology we see continuously change. Mobile devices will likely have a greater impact than the mainframe, the PC, and the Web. “The barrier to entry for mobile is very low – a SmartPhone is now the same price as a tank of gas, tablets start at $159 and the trend is that prices will keep going down and functionality will keep getting better,” David continued.
“A mobile device itself is rich in technology – you have power mobile operating systems capable of running complex solutions, hardware enhanced features (accelerometer, GPS, cameras, motion sensors), that are always connected and always on. Most importantly, a mobile device is small and is carried everywhere. Yes, there is a future in mobility. Apps are just the tip of the iceberg.”
Compuware has developed more than 200 mobile solutions for iOS, Android (News - Alert) and many other platforms. Its team is seen as a leader in the industry, of which many members have been invited to speak at events, contribute to industry publications, develop courses for colleges, and write books. For more information on how to contact Compuware and their impressive team, click here.
Edited by Blaise McNamee