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Digital Business Spotlight: Importance Of Mobile Apps In Driving Transformations
To stay ahead of the digital curve, it has become essential
for businesses to have an agile, dynamic, continuously evolving ecosystem that
can boost its overall operating and financial performance.
Here are few reasons why mobile apps will continue to remain
as the dominant interface of the future –
· Without
apps, today’s businesses cannot create a strong foothold in the increasingly
complex future that it poses namely, multi-device and cross-platform deployment
technologies.
· Much
of the benefits of being Digital and the Internet of Things (IoT) – such as
gathering performance data from sensors, applying data and using analytics –
will be lost deprived of apps.
· Companies
that are going to remain profitable are the ones who are likely to use the most
pervasive types of apps, i.e. addressing – productivity, operational,
management and customer facing issues.
· Lastly,
mobile apps will continue to grow in importance as customers increasingly
demand to access business services via apps.
Crucial Steps to Ensuring a Successful Mobile Application
Adoption
To successfully adapt to the mobile revolution, it needs some
careful thought and consideration. Here are a few important parameters to
ensure a smooth transition:
1.
Reliable and consistent performance:
As smartphone and tab users become more familiar, and
reliant on, apps and websites, research shows their expectations regarding
performance increase. If the expectations are not satisfying, they quickly look
for an alternative and go elsewhere.
The bottom line is that
organizations need to bring a reliable and consistent mobile experience to nurture
and shield vital mobile device revenue flow and customer interactions, even
under the most demanding situations.
Key: Ensure the necessary
depth of application intelligence in real-time so that any problem can be
anticipated and quickly resolved.
2. Security of Enterprise Data
Used/Accessed
The usage of mobile apps is complicated by the variety of platforms and operating versions making it difficult for security teams to adapt consistent policy and enforcement rules across devices.
The new security perimeter
includes users, devices and date where the gateway is no longer the main point
of control.
Key: Enterprises
need to define to boundary of network perimeters, including the use of cloud
storage and applications, access portals for partners and customers and
employee collaboration on mobile and social networks. Gartner predicts at least
25% of enterprises will have their own app store by 2017, enabling
organizations to provision multiple corporate applications for employees,
customers and partners.
3. A Positive User Experience
An amazing display of the right-sized fonts with the perfect
choice of colors and images may define a positive user interface but not the
user experience.
User experience is a more
collective term that includes the interface, application performance and the
functions of the app.
A positive user interface stays the prime focus during the
design phase of the app when strategic foundation of the application has
already been laid.
Key: To build an app with a
strong positive user experience, organization must focus exclusively on
documenting requirements and object abstraction to the granular level. The app
must be a perfect fit into the architecture of the organization.
4. Access To Real-Time Data From/to The Cloud
Enterprise mobile
apps are bound to connect and help users collaborate seamlessly through a
number of variations such as time, distance and location. While this is
seemingly a condition to be fulfilled for managing the mobile workforce, it has
in fact been the strongest advocate in supplying the convenience of mobility.
With enterprise mobility influencing employee productivity
and business agility, real time access to the cloud as well as internal systems
becomes crucial.
Key: Mobile apps must be built to embrace enterprise mobility and yet not give up on security and compliance issues.
5. A Comprehensive Testing Program
The mobile app
testing environment tackles a number of challenges like device/platform
multiplicity, network connectivity options, short release cycles and complex
testing tools; which may be cause of cost overruns and missed deadlines.
A comprehensive testing program for mobile applications must
cover functional and non-functional testing to include all dimensions of the
app within the budget.
Key: Organizations must maximize automation; engage network
simulation tools along with traditional practices to ensure cost-effective yet
efficient mobile testing strategy.
6. Regular Updates To Functionality And Feedback Mechanisms
The mobile app environment
is quite chaotic where reviewers pour in complaints minutes after releasing the
app. Apart from bug fixing, regular updates to address performance and
functionality concerns keep users engaged and happy.
Trends from the past suggest that regular updates can
influence user loyalty, keep up with competition and is also crucial for app store optimization.
Key: There is no
thumb rule that defines the timeline for mobile app updates. But remember,
every update takes time for approval and stashing a bug fix to adding/removing
a feature as well as updating the user interface can avoid waiting through
multiple approval queues.
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