Bring your own device (BYOD) has made major inroads in the enterprise, and companies of all sizes have scrambled for an effective solution to the problem. One solution that has emerges is the enterprise app store, a way for businesses to distribute their own software on employee devices.
Research firm Gartner (News - Alert) has predicted that up to 25 percent of enterprises will have their own enterprise app store within the next four years, but some disagree. Jim Casey of Enterprise Apps Tech says four years is way too conservative—enterprise app stores are already here.
That in mind, mobile app management firm Apperian (News - Alert) now offers its ApperianOne solution, perhaps the world’s first free enterprise app store. The service allows companies to deploy a custom enterprise app and unlimited public apps through a custom-branded enterprise app store at no cost.
Apperian uses the freemium model for its offering, giving businesses the ability to test the enterprise app store method without risk.
The ApperianOne solution also delivers a familiar, consumer-like experience so not only are companies easily able to roll out their own app store, employees also will find it easy to use.
One company excited by the release is Maxim Integrated.
“As a leader of Maxim’s sales productivity and enablement team, I expect our sales organization to easily connect and use the apps and data that help them drive business and build successful relationships with our customers,” noted Maxim director of sales operations, Robert Lacis. “The Apperian solution is exciting because it gives businesses of all sizes the chance to see and experience just how easily mobility can be.”
When building an enterprise app store, whether through ApperianOne or another solution, digital marketing executive Jay Manciocchi recommends that understanding the audience is key. It may be easy to just think of the audience as “employees,” but different workers will have different needs within the company and an app store needs to take that into account.
Manciocchi also advises that building an app store that can serve the full spectrum of computing devices is important if the app store is going to fulfill its purpose of dealing with BYOD, and it is important to create a compelling application catalogue.
"If there is not a large enough choice of first-class applications in your store, this will be an inhibitor to your app store’s success and employee users may revert back to public app stores for certain software," he told ZDNet in an article last month.
A final piece of the puzzle companies must get right is subscriptions and who has access. The ability to invite colleagues, for instance, can be useful but also a danger if the app store is not configured properly for controlling who has access.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey