We’re at the point where mobile phones and apps are an inseparable part of how we live. We leave the house and we do our mental checklist: keys – check, wallet – check, phone – check. It’s a natural part of our lives and the numbers confirm it. As we take a gander at the mobile market, it’s already clear how big the mobile adoption rate is. More than 1 bn smart devices all around, nearly 2 m apps, billions of apps downloaded, high revenues, high demand.
People love phones and apps and that love is growing stronger. Enterprises are no different in that regard, but the supply is another story.
Despite the profits, despite the numbers and despite the benefits, enterprise mobility is still staggering to full adoption, but 2013 shows promise as tablet adoption and shipping is expected to oust laptop sales.
Today we’re going to cover two key points of the state of enterprise apps and enterprise mobility.
Before we go into the thick of it, employees and businesses agree on one thing. Enterprise apps should function just as well as consumer apps, through elegant design and precise functionality. Just labeling the word ,,enterprise” on the description of an app doesn’t cut it.
The second thing to note is the fact that as smartphones and tablets have streamlined into consumer hands, the need for B2B, B2E and B2C mobile relationships is growing every day. From customer support, sale reporting, business planning, strategy meetings, CRM, you name it, enterprises recognize the necessity to augment their business through mobility.
In 2012, there were more than 200,000 enterprise apps present worldwide and that’s without counting private enterprise app stores. But only a few of them actually met core enterprise needs.
This is one of the reasons enterprise app adoption has stayed at medium levels at best. One crucial argument is the fact that level of individualization – or customization – can’t be met by generic app store apps, which don’t take target specific and unique enterprise needs.
Currently in Q1 2013, enterprise mobility solutions are fragmented and enterprises are looking for a holistic answer to fit unique needs.
But things aren’t so bleak as they seem, for one major trend in 2013, is an increased awareness and use of PaaS - which will enable non IT enterprise personnel to more effectively manage and build apps for both employees and execs.
The second trend affecting enterprise mobile apps adoption will be enterprises setting up their own private app stores that will provide better security, app control and increased increased agility in solving issues or achieving business objectives.
When looking at needs we’re also seeing the benefits they expect of enterprise mobile apps.
A key note that enterprise apps need to deliver is improved communications and efficiency to create tangible business value. Generic apps that aren’t tailored to this idea will fail to help companies in securing a competitive advantage and pioneer new ways of doing business.
We’ve seen the needs, now let’s see one effective solution that has changed the business culture by redefining the B2E relationship, namely the BYOD approach.
BYOD, or bring your own device, basically means encouraging employees to bring their own devices, in this case smartphones and tablets in the workplace. Coupled with enterprise apps, BYOD strategies have proven to be an effective tool in fulfilling real enterprise needs and goals.
In a survey by Dell Quest Software, 56% of enterprise respondents said that BYOD had effectively changed their business culture and organization. One of the key advantages of BYOD is that instead of investing in the (costly) purchase of new hardware and devices, companies can leverage the very tools employees bring to the workplace. Namely, smartphones and tablets.
Coupled with effective MDM (mobile device management), BYOD strategies working side by side with objective-tailored enterprise apps lead not only to reduced costs, but it changes the face of how employees interact and work within companies themselves.
Imagine a situation where a company doesn’t have to enforce a device-centric approach and can take advantage of multiple mobile platforms to improve efficiency, business agility and be at a competitive advantage.
Instead of investing in devices, companies should focus on investing in getting the apps and data to the mobile devices already present to their own employees and execs.
As Dell Software Group CIO Carol Fawcett stated: ,,We found this approach allowed us to be much more strategic and enabled us to focus on our biggest BYOD problems; security, access rights and data leakage. The results of this latest BYOD survey reinforce the importance of putting users first in order to develop the most effective policies and turn BYOD into a long-term, sustainable business benefit.”
It’s a buyers market as they say for enterprise apps. The need and demand is there, the benefits and competitive advantages are rich and enterprises are looking for ways to augment their businesses.
2013 promises big leaps in the proliferation of better hardware – especially tablets which are more used in enterprises than smartphones – which, coupled with the awareness of PaaS and BYOD integration, enterprise app adoption can grow to a greater key strategic differentiator in enterprise mobility.
What’s your take on enterprise app integration in 2013? Besides hurdles like security and awareness, what will be the main factor that will determine enterprise mobility adoption?
Stay tuned, share a like and our newsletter is brewing coffee for you as we speak.
,,Related article: How to Deploy Enterprise Mobile Apps”
,,Related article: BYOD Programs Essential to Business Success”
