We’ve already predicted that 2012 is going to be the year that enterprise mobile apps experience the same boom of acceptance consumer apps now enjoy.
As enterprise moves toward an increasingly mobile norm, we’ve noted the understandable fixation with app design and development, but we’ve also made it clear that we must create a more complete view of the enterprise mobile app development lifecycle.
Why is this imperative? To be blunt, it’s because of the consumer mindset.
Enterprise users definitely embrace the liberation of mobile devices, but they’ve been raised, so to speak, on consumer apps. We all now have a set of performance expectations that developers need to meet such as good UI and UX — otherwise we’ll walk away from the app, dismissing it as clunky and non-intuitive.
For the enterprise, this means employees return to their desktops to complete enterprise-related tasks that could have been streamlined by a good mobile app. The complementary challenge is to make sure the app is built to best suit actual enterprise — and that means playing nice with existing systems, ensuring data stays secure, and providing decision-makers with access to the information they need to get optimal performance out of the app.
In the weeks ahead, we’re going to be discussing this double-layered mobile enterprise reality with a series of posts that speak to how we really benefit enterprise. We’re all smart enough to know the importance of keeping the user in mind, but we plan to scrutinize those behind-the-scenes aspects of the mobile app dev lifecycle such as Backend System Readiness, System Security and Data Monitoring.
So, consider the conversational table set. We’ll start digging in these enterprise mobile app lifecycle imperatives starting next week — and if you have any thoughts on facets we can examine in even greater detail, don’t hesitate to jump right in.
