The other day, someone asked me what needs to happen before mobile app analytics are relevant on a broad scale. I didn’t have to think for long before responding that the time he was asking about is just around the corner.
For MDM, the point of critical mass was when we finally started seeing lots of devices on the market. When that happened, many businesses adopted their own unique BYOD policies. Others still adopted custom management suites to combat the security issues that come along with software across devices from home. In all cases, though, there was a very clear point when MDM went from below the radar to right in the middle of it for businesses of all sizes.
We’re reaching a very similar point with mobile app analytics. Even just a few years ago, people were still asking whether or not enterprise mobile apps would take off. But as software spending in the enterprise continues to increase, hitting over $320 billion this year, questions about the need for enterprise mobile apps have quickly disappeared. The next frontier, not just in mobile apps, but across functions in the enterprise, is analytics.
Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms (MEAPs) have enabled businesses to develop apps that work across platforms. This is enabling the enterprise to build apps more quickly—and to overcome the multi-platform cost problem—and also means that businesses are churning out apps more quickly. The need for analytics seemed lessened when you’re dealing with only one app, but as enterprises are quickly finding out, get to two or three apps, and all of a sudden that need for mobile app analytics and an easy-to-use management platform becomes that much clearer.
As spending on mobile apps continues to increase, so too will the need for analytics, which allow businesses to track ROI and see how their investments are being used. And given the way things seem to be moving so quickly, we’ll soon start to see businesses across many different industries hitting that sweet spot for management of two to three apps.
So there you have it. If things keep heading in the same direction—and I think they will—then it won’t be long at all before the need for mobile app analytics hits near universal levels.
