“Winging a mobile strategy isn’t smart policy. But ‘wrapping’ up mobile apps is. Today, mobile applications are being designed in a whole new way. In the old, container model, functionality was configured up front, leaving no room to address security or data management issues, for example, as applications are upgraded. Under the new approach, mobile apps are wrapped, that is, additional functionality can be layered over the application’s native capabilities as needed.”
That’s the logic laid out in a recent TechTarget/SearchDataManagement article by Stephanie Neil. As an example, the article cites Jason O’Sullivan, VP of Corporate Technology at Classified Ventures, which operates both Cars.com and Apartments.com:
[Classified Ventures] has used the App47 mobile application management platform since January, takes advantage of the tool’s ability to enforce version control on applications developed in-house. For example, an app designed for the Cars.com team runs on the iPad, allowing salespeople in the field to show dealers a secure demo of new products. When a new version of the application is rolled out, the system is set up so a user can ignore the alert to upgrade only a certain number of times before the app becomes unusable. Through an App47 management dashboard, the IT department can shut down an old version of the app, ensuring that everyone is on the latest version and there’s no need to maintain backward compatibility or worry about security holes.
“We provide the updates we want them to consume, and when everyone sees the latest version, they go get it,” O’Sullivan said. “For corporate applications, that is a win for us.”
