Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences.
Smartphones are set to become smarter than their users by 2017, according to analysts speaking at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, held earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain. Accumulated apps and contextual information – stored in the cloud and gathered by smartphones – will enable devices to deliver services automatically according to an individual’s requirements and habits, says the research firm.
Given the continued rise of mobility, enterprises will have widespread and powerful productivity tools in their hands in the coming years, but only if those devices and apps run smoothly and are easy to use. In 2016, an estimated 40% of the worldwide workforce will be mobile, and two-thirds of that mobile workforce will own a smartphone, says Gartner.
Yet the proliferation of smartphones creates new challenges for enterprises when it comes to ensuring quality across the myriad devices and operating systems deployed by their employees, customers and partners. Unless enterprises take a rigorous and methodical approach to mobile testing – based on clear business objectives – they face rising quality assurance budgets and degradation in the performance of their apps and services.
Smartphones certainly are getting smarter, and that is adding more complexity to mobile testing and emphasizing the need to address the physical characteristics of each device. For example, most mobile devices now have built-in cameras and GPS, tactile screens that enable users to touch handsets to NFC readers or use gestures in order to effect transactions and many boast sophisticated audio functions. Such functions cannot be fully scripted or simulated easily, and often require extensive manual testing on real devices.
Of course, there are many other areas to consider if organizations are to implement comprehensive mobile testing strategies that will drive innovative mobility solutions. Some of the key challenges include: platform fragmentation; user experience; performance; security; system integration; and managing app distribution.
The good news is that enterprises across different sectors are starting to act. More than half (55%) of the 1,500 organizations interviewed for the 2013-2014 World Quality Report from Capgemini, Sogeti and Hewlett-Packard have implemented new methods and tools to validate the functionality, performance and security of mobile applications and devices. That proportion is up from 31% a year ago. In addition, the average spend on quality assurance as a total percentage of the enterprise IT budget is forecast to grow from 18% in 2012 to 23% in 2013 and 28% in 2015, according to the report.
But there is still more to be done. The number of respondents who see the lack of an in-house testing environment as an obstacle to mobile testing doubled from 19% in 2012 to 38% in 2013. And some 48% of executives interviewed said they lack testing experts, a significant increase from 29% last year.
Smartphones might be getting smarter, but they will only be as effective as the testing practices and expertise put in place to ensure end-to-end quality assurance across the enterprise.
Fernando Alvarez is VP and leader of Capgemini’s Mobile Solutions practice. A thought leader and mobile solutions/technology subject matter expert, Alvarez has worked closely with multiple multinational corporations as well as global independent software vendors with regard to their enterprise mobile needs and strategies. Prior to joining Capgemini, Alvarez was president, CEO and chairman of Abaco Mobile, an Atlanta-based software company that provided enterprise mobile software solutions for more than 21 years. In 2000, Alvarez was honored as one of the 100 most influential U.S. Hispanic business leaders by Hispanic Business magazine. He is also a past recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Alvarez has a background in business, economics, and law, and is a frequent guest lecturer at industry events around the world.
