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.
Today, applications are as personal as the mobile handset is to end users, and their usage continues to explode. Gartner predicts that by 2017, more than 268 billion mobile apps will be downloaded worldwide, generating revenues of more than $77 billion. That could lead to a powerful, individualized marketing and sales tool. Mobile users on average will provide personalized data streams to more than 100 apps and services every day, says the research company.
For some CIOs, the breadth of available apps may be an unwelcome reminder of the growing complexity of mobile app development and management. Over the past few years “bring-your-own-device” policies have swelled the size of the mobile workforce, and the range of devices and apps being used, often in ways that are difficult to track and plan technology deployments around.
Many companies also realize the considerable commercial potential if they are able to rigorously analyze the personalized data generated by, and streamed to, apps. Take the rise of predictive apps, for example, that use big data and predictive analytics to learn about individuals in order to provide personalized, real-time services. Such apps will enable organizations to target individual customers with very specific, highly relevant content across devices.
But organizations need to take a structured, company-wide approach to mobile app development and management, as well as data analytics, if they are to personalize services, enhance employee productivity and increase marketing impact.
Organizations face a whole set of challenges when it comes to app development and management. A robust strategy will aim to:
–Maximize business relevancy through coherent deployment across all divisions.
–Accelerate time to market through agile development processes and accelerators.
–Provide a consistent user experience across mobile solutions.
–Reduce costs and complexity by industrializing processes through automation and re-usable assets.
–Ensure continuous and high levels of quality assurance.
–Consolidate design, development and testing to a single point of delivery.
–Keep mobile solutions up to date through platform and feature updates.
Few companies have the in-house resources and expertise to do all of these things themselves. Enterprises need to put in place a “mobile center of excellence” and appoint a chief mobility officer to ensure a structured approach to mobile app and service deployment throughout the company.
CIOs can then determine which elements of app development and management to keep in-house or outsource, and ultimately provide the optimum, personalized end-user experience.
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.
