The necessity of mobile apps has already been proven. However, many enterprises still fail to develop a cohesive mobile strategy, and others are overlooking the benefits of leveraging the cloud for these strategies. By adopting a mobile-first strategy, you can accelerate the development cycle and improve your return on your investment.
1. Collaborate with users as well as other department heads. Before you can develop a mobile app, you need to know what your users need from it. An enterprise app can potentially affect every department, so you need to understand the impact to each. If you’re developing an e-commerce solution so you can run a high performing online store, you’ll need to loop in the right people. Collaborative efforts tend to have higher acceptance rates among users — and an app that users refuse to embrace can render your projected ROI meaningless.
2. Put data first, not devices. Analyze your data capture and integration requirements for your back-end. Your goal is to provide a hub that can transfer data seamlessly regardless of device.
3. Choose a platform that supports open standards. Enterprises need to be agile if they are to achieve the deployment speeds necessary to reach the market in a timely manner. Try to keep your options open by selecting platforms that support common languages, developer toolkits and JavaScript frameworks as well as the ability to repurpose or reuse code.
4. Ensure that the infrastructure supports the entire lifecycle of the app. Apps are going to need upgrades or updates. Mobile apps may need to connect to legacy systems. Infrastructures that support pulling and pushing apps from the cloud can reduce the work involved in managing the apps.
5. MAP your course. A mobile application platform, or MAP, can cut development time from six months to as little as four weeks. Reusable code and backend services allow you to remain agile and responsive.
If you have questions about mobile-first strategies or app development, contact the experts at PhaseAlpha. We can help you decide on the best strategy for your particular needs and deliver your app backed by our 100-percent satisfaction guarantee. Call 913.648.9200 or email us at info@phasealpha.com to learn all the ways we can help you solve your software development issues.