Johannesburg, 14 Sep 2011
The rapid adoption of mobile devices in the corporate world has made the task of designing business applications all the more complex.
Instead of designing and developing one application with a single interface for the enterprise, developers today have to integrate a host of end-point devices into their designs and deliver an efficient user interface for each that securely communicates with back-office servers.
“Not only does this make the development process more complex and fraught with pitfalls, it also makes maintenance and troubleshooting a nightmare,” says Hedley Hurwitz, MD of Magix Integration.
“While going through the development process, different code is generated for different devices. When the time comes to upgrade the software or deal with errors, someone has to troll through each application's code, understand it and correct it. As any development manager will tell you, that's asking for problems.”
Hurwitz explains that IT leaders need to reconsider the application development platforms their company uses and opt for one that incorporates automatic interface solutions for the many mobile (and the few desktop) operating systems out there. In this way, developers use one tool to develop systems based on the approved design and business logic.
The chosen platform must seamlessly produce the desktop and mobile interfaces integrated into the company's back-office servers, without reinventing the wheel or demanding innovative workarounds for platform-specific functions. This will ensure there is no additional integration or middleware required.
“Developing and deploying applications from a single studio makes technical and business sense,” Hurwitz continues. “A single development and deployment paradigm improves the speed at which applications that can exist in a number of environments can get to market. There is a decrease in the time required for debugging as well as for failure resolution. When something does go wrong, finding the root cause is also easier with one repository of source code and business logic to examine.”
The benefit for developers is they only need to work in one development studio, using one language to deliver a multi-platform solution. This means they are able to hone their skills to expert level faster, mastering the platform and increasing their value in the market. For the business, this means fewer skills are required, and those that are employed are able to deliver faster and more accurate work.
Unfortunately, many development platforms today, while providing amazing functionality, focus on delivering solutions for a specific platform. With the increase in mobile usage, this is an outdated and dangerous way to do business, as end-users tend to opt for the mobile device of their choice, not what suits a particular developer or organisation.
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