What to consider before developing an enterprise mobile app

I came across a slideshow by Copper Mobile Inc. that I thought provided some interesting statistics, as well as some good suggestions for what you might want to consider and prepare before you begin developing your enterprise mobile application.

• Let's start with some interesting numbers. Technology Analysts at Gartner say, “by 2015, there will be more than 6.7 billion smartphones globally”. TEKsystems talked to more than 1500 IT leaders this past March about what technology trend will impact their organization most. Prioritizing their answers yielded these results. 1. Mobile 2. Cloud Computing 3. Consumerization of IT 4. Social Media.
• Morgan Stanley in their 2012 research report, stated that more users will likely connect to Internet through mobile devices than desktop PCs in 5 years. In my blog last Thursday, I shared that I hold the same opinion.
• An enterprise application lets you and your personnel, particularly those working remotely and in the field, interact with customers directly. Access your business's database remotely, and manage your company processes, projects, and operational plans remotely from any mobile device. Why is this so important to the enterprise? Of the worlds 4 billion mobile phones in use, 1.08 billion are smartphones. As I've said before and also sited in the Morgan Stanley report, "In 2014, mobile Internet usage will overtake desktop usage" By then, mobile Internet should also have taken over desktop Internet usage.
• The next question to ask, is what platforms should I build an enterprise mobile app for? Employees are getting their smartphones & tablets to offices and organizations too are in favor of BYOD (Bring your own device culture). When there's a single application and multiple devices, it is important to have cross-platform support. An Enterprise Mobile App Development Platform like Snappii is a great solution, letting you easily use the visual What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) Drag and Drop Editor to make apps for iOS, Android and HTML5. Best of all, you don't have to learn Objective-C or Java code. The Snappii platform will properly write the code as you build your app.
• You will want to understand that a mobile application is different from the mobile version of your website. There needs to be differences in:the user interface, the screen size the app is designed to appear on, navigation specifically designed for a mobile device, mobile device specific clickable areas, content, be it video, audio, or text designed to show well on mobile devices and tablets, and the list can continue.
• To ensure your app will work properly for your staff and customers, you'll want to ensure you'll have an opportunity to Test your App, Traditionally, App Testing can be time-consuming, expensive, and potentially require even more effort. Testing is important to ensure any potential bug threats are eliminated, there are no high fragmentation in the mobile OS that would increase the chances for errors. Device specific testing is also important, at least for native apps. 
• This is another area where the Snappii Enterprise Mobile App Platform offers you tremendous value. With the SnAPPii Live Build Preview App, you are able to build your app, then test it on any mobile device or tablet you'd like. If you find areas you'd like to change or correct, you can easily make those changes in the Snappii Platform Editor and retest the app before uploading it to either the Apple or Google stores.
• While 60 to 80 percent of the application costs charged by nearly all other developers goes to maintenance and adding features after the initial release, this is another important feature of the Snappii Platform.  Whether an OS (Operating System) changes its requirements or you would like to make more or new changes to your enterprise mobile app, you can ensure the Snappii Platform is kept up to date on any OS changes and you can easily make changes to your App and easily update all of your apps and test them as part of the services you receive as a Snappii customer.
• Finally, it's also important to have a deep understanding of the enterprise app trends within your business marketplace. With a rich library of pre-built business specific templates, you will find a template that will help you ensure your enterprise mobile application offers the features needed to ensure your app meets every industry standard and, in many cases, exceeds those standards.
• Go to http://www.snappii.com today and start building the enterprise mobile app that will grow your business and your customer loyalty in 2013.
• Alex