While business mobile applications still lag behind the huge consumer offering, in future the 'services-on-demand' model is likely to drive development and uptake in the enterprise.
Konstantinos Tzingakis, director of innovations at Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, says interest in business-oriented mobile apps is definitely increasing. “Businesses are eager to reach consumers on new levels and be in contact with them instantly, providing services, information and content on a constant basis.”
He adds that while mobile applications initially addressed niche areas, such as specific banking services, they are now expanding to include insurance and financial industries. “Security companies and many others are looking to mobile applications to improve services and take their offerings to the next level - or to simply expand their customer base through innovative mobile services and methods.”
According to Nick Jones, Gartner VP and analyst, businesses are currently deploying mobile apps effectively in areas such as e-mail and calendaring, as well as communication and collaboration beyond voice, including instant messaging and unified communications. In a few years' time, adds Jones, this trend will develop to the point where businesses ask: 'why put a phone on your desk if you can have one in your pocket?'
Jones says using a cell network to move data around will change way business works, with connectivity enabling the user to pay for a service every time they use it. “So instead of buying a whole washing machine, you pay $2 for every time you wash something”.
He notes that solutions offering the best ROI and role-specific functions will be successful in future. “For example, an employee who travels around a lot needs time-sensitive information delivery, so business apps that provide information to workers in the field or sales force will likely become increasingly effective in the next 12 to 18 months.”
According to Julien Blin, CEO of analyst firm JBB Research, there is a growing demand for business-oriented mobile apps as more workers use their smartphone for private and professional use. “They need to be able to use those types of business-focused mobile apps anytime, anywhere.”
That being said, consumer mobile apps still capture the large majority of those available in the app stores, notes Blin. “Business-oriented mobile apps are likely to become more capable and affordable, but the price needs to come down, as it is probably one of the biggest hurdles,” he explains.
Enterprise on the go
Increasingly, players in the mobile space are recognising the potential for developing and deploying enterprise apps, as mobility becomes a dominant influence. SAP and Sybase partnered earlier this month to provide workers access to SAP applications on the move, via the Sybase Unwired Platform.
This means mobile workers will be able to access SAP CRM and back-end data sources, Web services, and enterprise applications that leverage service-oriented architecture, via the iPhone or Windows Mobile smartphones.
AT&T also released an iPhone app called WorkBench last week, which enables workers to securely access enterprise Web apps from their phones. Users can download WorkBench from the App Store, and access CRM and ERP software on the go.
While app stores have focused mainly on consumer apps, this may change as more companies begin making more use of UC and corporate social networking, says Jones.
“Businesses use different tools and technology applications for communication, and today businesses spend a lot of time on mobile management. Maybe in few years app stores could be a standard distribution channel for applications.”
Standard practice
The potential for an increasing number of mobile business apps also brings considerations regarding developer platforms and systems.
BMI-TechKnowledge research analyst Ryan Smit points out there is little standardisation between mobile operating systems in terms of development, resulting in many applications being launched for some systems and not others. “In most cases, application will be developed for the largest markets (currently iPhones) first, followed by the next most popular platforms,” he explains.
“In the short term, we are likely to see the emergence of multiple standardisation groups toward Web-based mobile apps,” notes Blin, pointing to the recent creation of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC).
The global alliance aims to create an open community of telecoms, mobile operators and device manufacturers, as a simple route to market for developers, and to provide customers worldwide access to a wide range of applications. This will allow innovative applications to be developed irrespective of device or technology.
Blin points out that Symbian/Nokia, through Symbian Horizon, is already in the process of standardising the process and helping solve interoperability issues between mobile app stores.
“In my opinion, Apple, Nokia/Symbian, and Google should lead the standardisation process, and join the WAC. But that's in theory, as I doubt they will ever do that. The solution might actually come from Google, and the mobile browser vendors, as I expect to see the emergence of Google Chrome-type mobile browsers capable of pushing Web-based mobile apps,” says Blin.
There's also the impact of cloud computing, which ABI Research says will heavily impact mobile platforms, as it could allow apps currently only available on smartphones to be accessed on feature handsets. This will bring increased sophistication to mobile applications, the firm states, allowing business users to benefit from improved collaboration and data sharing apps.
However, Jones notes that for now, the trend in the mobile operator market seems to be towards diversity, rather than standardisation. “We're still in the phase where things are becoming more complicated, rather than simpler.”
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