The mobile application industry may well be the only bright spot in an otherwise bleary tech industry landscape. Now, more than ever, stakes are high. The shift to mobilised enterprise systems from wired PC world is a big one. As with all big shifts, there are a lot of competing visions, often poorly explained and even more poorly executed.
Quite simply, almost everyone considering enterprise mobilisation is confused! The result: Healthy cynicism about the possible benefits and a strong desire to wait and see. Not surprising given the history.
This goes back a long way, to Palm, Handspring, to Psion in the 90's, and back to the 80s' Apple Newton and even to Radio Shack's TRS-80, for those old enough to remember! Each chapter, so rife with promise, somehow quickly went flat. There is understandable fatigue, particularly in the executive suite, where mobile computing costs have been high and benefits low.
Yet, at this moment, there is palpable excitement. At long last there are successes: iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile, and many other mobile computing/smart-phone platforms sitting on great networks with great software to run on them. Money is being made and the potential for new uses and applications has never been greater. But still, there is so much confusion! The main beneficiaries so far are the device and platform vendors and their carrier partners. For enterprise decision makers the question remains: How to reap the benefits and avoid the pitfalls that come back to haunt when salary review season kicks off?
In this series of posts we're going to cut through as much of this as possible with a boiled-down explanation you can take to the bank and the salary review! When it comes to harnessing mobile opportunities in the enterprise, there a just a few key questions everyone should explore. Perhaps the key one is: In what cases should I be developing applications to run on mobile platforms versus creating web applications that can be accessed from the mobile browser? Another key question: What tools and approaches should I be using? I'll address all of this and more.
There are great opportunities to do simple things to produce the most benefit for lowest cost and risk. And to do so without sacrificing any flexibility or opportunities to exploit the full potential of mobile applications, including integration into the business at large. And, better still, the simple things organizatons can do to leverage mobile opportunities have broader application and greater benefits well beyond the mobile space. I'll explain further in the next post.
Dave Dingle
Co-Founder, BoomBoat Inc.
Posted by: |