Mobile App Concepts/Ideas that an Enterprise can Build

Mobile Apps for an Enterprise and its Scope:

• Internet has been around the world since long time and has impacted many aspects of life, But the real internet revolution will be driven through the mobile device
• Rapid adoption of smart phones and Tablets has surprised many industries and most of the businesses want their enterprise data and processes to be available on their mobile devices
• Enterprise mobility has more than just the internet access through Smartphone because of its Consumerization, Globalization and digitalization
• To stay on top of the game, business world need to realize this silent revolution else it’ll be too late improve
• Enterprise Mobility Management is a form of Digitalization, which helps businesses to deal with Globalization, as well as consumerization
• The new players embrace the opportunity to become faster, smarter and better at executing their strategies by using the latest mobile technology. 
• Their aim is to reduce the distance between them and the current market leaders which is dramatically increasing the competitiveness
• CRM, Sales, Finance & SCM are the key functions and are the first few to see the advantage of not having to carry the laptop / Desktop. Then the functions like HRM, Knowledge Management, Social Networking, News & Announcement apps etc. joined the party. 

Key Facts of Enterprise Mobility:

• Today one in every five phones sold is a Smartphone; hence both Employees & Customers are using them and businesses are tapping into the devices to connect with them.
• Forty-three percent of businesses are planning to increase their mobile use in the future, and by 2015, it’s expected that half of all devices on corporate networks will be mobile devices. 
• This explosion in the use of mobile devices in the enterprise will help fuel demand for mobile apps, with the worldwide market expected to grow from approximately $6.8 billion in 2010 to $25 billion by 2015
• It is expected that within the next five years more than 500.000 businesses across Europe will go through some kind of „mobilization“ process.
• 38% of the businesses polled in a GigaOm Pro survey on the new workplace report using mobile phones more than the previous year.

Overview of Key Concepts and existing key apps:

• CRM Apps: Quick and easy access to Client Contact information
• Field Service Apps: Enables service agents to access and update key information of spare parts and customer requests
• iExpense: Employees can upload the expense claims using the device while traveling
• Inventory Management Apps: Sales people can benefit from the real-time inventory data
• Mobile Supply Chain Applications (MSCA): These are widely used for warehouse management processes in loading the tracking the shipments through mobile devices
• Knowledge Management Apps: Quickly and easily accessible library of all documents 
• Calendar and Scheduling Apps: Through this shared resource, other will be able to see your schedules
• News & Announcement Apps: Communicating big news from a single location
• Social Networking Apps: This will add strength to your business by increasing morale and accomplishing team-building exercises
• Parking Apps: In metros like Mumbai, Employees can see the parking availability before entering the premises
• Online Purchasing Apps: Employees can sale and purchase the used stuffs from their colleagues
• Online Training Apps: Employees can complete the mandatory trainings while travelling
• HRMS Apps: Tracking time, vacations, leaves, expenses, PMD, learning
• R&D: Just enter the component and you can find its ingredients and specifications
• Sourcing & Purchasing: Purchase department can mange the PO documents, approvals through mobile

Envision of additional features and Recommendations:

• Enterprises will go for their own in-house Apps Stores
• Business will adapt to MDM tools that allow to manage the device and set up policies and security, and most of those tools 
• A lot of the traditional mobile device management vendors are now building mobile application management features into their products
• It's not about only managing the device; you need to manage the applications. 
• Some companies are using the application virtualizing if there’s very secure data that can’t get out into the fields 

Implementation Roadmap:

• Which Apps? :- Ones that make things easier or let you do your job
• BYOD? :- Bring your own device or let enterprise provide them
• Mobile device Management : - Setup Policies and Security
• In-House or Volume Purchase?
• Building can be expensive
• But there's often a pretty good upside
• The expenses come in integrations with 
• the complicated enterprise systems

Challenges for Mobile Apps:

Challenges	Path Ahead
Data Access	synchronization capability to help ensure that once you are back in range, you can update again
Security	Secure Authentication Server side validation Data Encryption
User Interface	Use of icons Intuitiveness
Choosing Development Technology	Gartner, Inc., a leading information technology research and advisory firm, recently confirmed this trend by going on record to say that 90% of all enterprise apps in 2015 will be HTML5 or Hybrid and only 10% will be native.

ROI - Return on Investment:

While it would be ideal to have a cut and dry formula for calculating mobile app ROI, the truth is, not many companies have set baseline costs for processes like time spent on sitting down to fill out an expense report or count inventory in a stockroom. 

“E” metrics from Richard Marshall provide a good beginning framework: Efficiency, Effectiveness and Error Reduction.

• Efficiency Resources are precious at any organization and finding ways to conserve them or use them more wisely is always a good thing.
• Eliminate paper and printing costs.
• Reduce site visits.
• Cut internal communications costs. 
• Effectiveness Mobilizing your most important assets, your employees, to be more effective at their jobs is another good measure of success.
• Transform traditional processes.
• Drive additional revenue
• Improve customer support
• Error Reduction Minimizing mistakes, big and small, can add up to serious savings over time.
• Direct data entry.
• Automate inventory control.
• Reduce cycle times.  

Recommendations for Business Benefits:

• Robust Architecture
• Optimize development and testing efforts by accurately identifying which platforms  to target 
• Employ consistent and reliable development practices across all leading platforms
• The application development team should incorporate coding, testing, graphical design, and user experience skills to help applications to fulfill users’ needs
• With mobile technology still advancing, developers should look for ways to make applications perform even more efficiently, whether in terms of speed or features. 
• Creating capabilities for both initial downloads through managed application stores, periodic updates, and integrated device management for security purposes. 
• Because mobile applications do not run on an always-connected environment where IT can monitor clicks and other usage, it’s crucial to incorporate analytics features that track how users interact with the application.

Mobile Apps Case Studies:

Case Title	Muve Mag	Air Canada	Accenture Android Apps
Business	Muve Magazine is a lifestyle publication that has taken Oklahoma City by storm since its launch in 2012.	Beneath Air Canada’s leading self-service capabilities is an equally innovative technology	Develop an app for expense management, one that would potentially serve its more than 246,000 employees
Challenge	Andre LaMont, Muve Mag's creator and founder, was looking for new ways to engage his local readers with news and features about arts and culture in the OKC community.	Consolidate all self-service channels to enable a seamless customer experience	Simplifying the Road Warrior’s Travels
Solution	When LaMont discovered that he could easily build his own app with Como, he decided to "go mobile" and take the plunge.	Air Canada launched its latest industry first – the delivery of proactive travel services via iPhone® and BlackBerry® mobile devices.	Specific process based internal development of apps
Result	The Muve Mag app has made the popular publication more accessible to a considerably larger number of readers.	Relying on rules-based intelligence, the solution delivers notification messages that are always up to date.	To accommodate international travel, the Accenture MyExpenses app accommodates different currencies.