Choose the Right Development Platform for Enterprise Mobile Applications
While developing a mobile web app affords legacy carryover, you need to consider a native/hybrid app if you require access to device-specific features.
- Businesses realize the perceived value of implementing mobile applications in improving productivity and reach of day-to-day business and IT operations. As a result, business strategies and objectives are being directed towards mobile as seen in large initiatives.
- Mobile technologies have matured to a point where mobile devices and platforms can be used to execute key enterprise processes.
- Mobile devices are in your workplace and employees are actively looking for ways to integrate traditional enterprise apps with their device.
- Outsourcing mobile development to agencies has often been considered when internal skills, processes, and technologies were not readily available.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Incorporating mobile access with your existing traffic can stress your existing back-end infrastructure. The increased traffic will introduce new network scalability and security issues.
- Enterprise mobile applications require support from legacy applications and systems to operate. End users need the ability to view and access back-end data which presents integration and security challenges.
- Use a mobile web platform to minimize disruptions to your existing development process and technical stack while addressing business needs. If you have to go native for hardware access, then select a a hybrid development model to abstract away from coding language differences.
- Always map your future trajectory. Your mobile platform needs to grow lockstep with non-mobile initiatives to avoid architecture fragmentation.
Impact and Result
- Implementing mobile development on any platform requires analysis of the current technical stack to assess reusability with mobile technologies. Development teams must look for ways to leverage existing toolsets and mid-tier and back-end support in order to minimize costs and maximize ROI.
- Lessons learned from traditional web development can be applied to mobile development, maximizing reusability and operating within constrained budgets.
- Selecting the right development, testing, and deployment tools for mobile development can help reuse existing processes and technologies to catch and fix bugs and defects early in the SDLC.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
10.0/10
Overall Impact
2
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Federated Co-operatives Limited
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
2
Very useful as it validated my thoughts and direction.
Sounds True
Guided Implementation
8/10
$12,399
5
Milwaukee County Department of Administrative Services – Information Management Division (DAS-IMSD)
Guided Implementation
9/10
$61,999
90
Andrew was very knowledgeable and was able to guide the discussion. He brought up areas that we had not yet thought to venture into; while working ... Read More
Workshop: Choose the Right Development Platform for Enterprise Mobile Applications
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Ensure the Right Motivation for Mobile Development
The Purpose
- Understand the drivers behind your need for a mobile platform selection.
- Understand the challenges with mobile development and mobile as a disruptive technology.
- See how mobile can be used as a catalyst to innovate within IT.
- Learn about the web, hybrid, and native mobile platforms.
Key Benefits Achieved
- See the value mobile will bring to your organization and IT teams.
- Solid understanding of the limitations and ideal cases of each mobile platform.
- Prepare to address the challenges with mobile development.
Activities
Outputs
Learn about the challenges of mobile development.
- Assessment of your organization for mobile platform implementation.
Understand the benefits and costs of each mobile platform.
Assess your current organizational gaps for engaging mobile.
Module 2: Structure Your Project
The Purpose
Create your project charter to gain the project go-ahead from stakeholders
- Set the project scope and context.
- Identify the project metrics and solution KPIs.
- Note of any project dependencies.
- Build your project team.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Obtain a clear direction of how mobile will be used and benefit the organization.
- Create a comprehensive charter to obtain the green light to proceed with the project.
- Ensure the right individuals are involved in the project.
Activities
Outputs
Identify the objectives of your mobile platform project.
- List of prioritized objectives to achieve in the mobile project.
Document related initiatives and dependencies.
- List of project metrics and solution KPIs
List the key participants who need to be involved in project.
- Roles and responsibilities of your project team.
Begin assembling your charter.
- List of project dependencies and related initiatives.
Module 3: Gather and Analyze Your Mobile-Specific User Stories and Use Cases
The Purpose
- Elicit requirements from your stakeholders through workshops and interviews.
- Break down your user stories to functional use cases.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Sets the functional context of the mobile platform.
- Establish the business and end-user expectations for your mobile platform.
Activities
Outputs
Create a list of your mobile user stories.
- List of high priority user stories.
Drive your mobile use cases from your user stories
- Comprehensive list of use cases mapped to each user story.
Module 4: Select the Mobile Platform and Your Mobile Development Tools
The Purpose
- Select the mobile platform that best fits your end users and IT drivers.
- Gather your technical requirements and map them to your user stories.
- Draw your target mobile architecture and identify the gaps with your current system.
- Select your mobile development tools.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Select the mobile platform based on your needs and requirements.
- Determine if your mobile use cases are realistic and user stories achievable.
- Tailor your target mobile architecture based your current system.
- Identify the tools the best fit your existing toolset.
Activities
Outputs
Select the mobile platform with a user-centric and enterprise-centric approach.
- Prioritized list of technical requirements in the context of the business.
Map your IT drivers to your user stories.
- Technical assessment of use cases.
Assess the technical feasibility of your mobile use cases.
Draw your current system with a data flow diagram.
- Data flow diagram of your current system.
Draw your target mobile platform stack.
- Data flow diagram of your target mobile stack.
Identify the gaps between your current and target state diagrams.
- Gap assessment between your current and target state.
Select your mobile development tools.
- List of development tools to implement.
Module 5: Create Your Metrics and Implementation Plan
The Purpose
List the expected implementation and ongoing costs. Create a metrics and implementation plan:
- Configure and integrate your mid-tier and back-end with your front-end.
- Test your mobile platform and inject your metrics.
- Install your development tool chain.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Key steps and insights in preparing your existing system for your mobile platform.
- Techniques to help improve the execution of your mobile platform and ensure alignment with IT requirements.
- Tips to gauge the performance of your mobile platform and execution of your project.
Activities
Outputs
Understand the key steps to implement, test and monitor your mobile platform and development tools.
- Steps and approaches to include in your metrics and implementation plan.
Module 6: Evaluate Your Mobile Platform Post-Implementation
The Purpose
- Analyze your metrics to gauge your project’s success.
- Adjust your technical stack to improve performance and functionality.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Key steps and insights in analyzing your project and metrics. Collectively determine if success factors have been met.
- Select the ideal techniques to optimize the operations of your mobile stack.
Activities
Outputs
Understand how to analyze your metrics and identify areas of improvements.
- Steps and approaches to continually monitor your mobile platform.
Learn of some tips to optimize your mobile stack.
- List of approaches to improve your mobile platform.
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 1-phase advisory process. You'll receive 5 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
- Call 1: Decide if it is go or no-go to move forward with mobile platform selection and implementation
Get off to a productive start: Determine if your organization has the right fit for mobile development. Review your mobile platform selection and implementation project charter. Develop a strategy to secure stakeholder approval.
- Call 2: Gather mobile user stories and perform a use case review
Review your user stories and use cases: Discuss the key mobile functional requirements you need out of your target mobile platform. Info-Tech will also review your use cases and verify their clarity and value.
- Call 3: Design your target mobile platform and development tool chain
Assess your mobile architecture: Once you have compiled your technical requirements and identified your target state of your mobile stack, Info-Tech will review your architecture and discuss potential pain points, risks, and mitigations.
- Call 4: Create a mobile platform implementation plan
Review the major milestones in your implementation plan: Receive Info-Tech input on your strategy for project steps, such as integration, data migration, security, configurations, and end-user training.
- Call 5: Perform a mobile platform post-implementation review
Review your metrics monitoring and stack optimization plan: Discuss the lessons learned from the implementation and operations of your mobile platform and tips to optimize your mobile stack.
Choose Your Mobile Platform and Tools
