To thrive in an app-friendly environment, businesses need the right leadership as well as a commitment and focus on customer engagement.
So says Quinton Pienaar, CEO of Agilitude, who notes that just like every company today is a software business, every company today is also an app company.
"We're in the middle of an app revolution and the implications for business are huge, even if you don't think of yourself as an app business," he says.
According to Pienaar, the app-defined business is not just about fun, but rather business-focused apps that even non-IT users can create and use to drive operations in the front and back offices, changing the way businesses work and the way they engage with customers.
"Apps are a big part of an omni-channel customer strategy and vital to the focus on customers first", Pienaar adds.
"Today you need the agility to respond daily to the changing needs of your customers. In effect, software lifecycles are now counted in days, not years. This intensive new model has brought about the democratisation of business technology. More employees are using technology platforms to make their lives easier, and they're doing it for themselves."
Tarun Gujral, sales director at In2IT Technologies SA, says the true value of apps lies in their ability to provide another level of functionality and intelligence for business, which in turn requires that they be tailored for specific needs and requirements.
He believes customised apps, purpose-built or tailored for a particular enterprise, can help to drive increased productivity across areas such as supply chain management, human resources, finance, sales, marketing and more.
However, Indran Naick, IBM SA's master inventor, says in regards to app development, SA is slightly behind the rest of the world.
Nonetheless, he points out this is not due to lack of talent. "The local talent is as good as the best in the world, but where we lack is in quantity and practice.
"Unlike developed market, we do not have not the breadth of mobile development agencies that have the portfolio or the experience. Entrepreneurs who have ideas do not have a clear path to product development."
As demand increases, Naick says, more development agencies and skills will enter the market and this will improve our standing.
He believes that developing the necessary skills; incubating start-ups with potential, and ensuring South African developers are positioned to capitalise on Africa's app economy opportunities would be best achieved through a concerted, collaborative effort by enterprises, incubators and accelerators, government, academia and developers themselves.
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