Mobile Enterprise Application - A Component-Based App Development Approach

The components of mobile application development for enterprises are largely dissimilar, thus, the uses and design vary as per the needs of the organization. This article explores Component-based Development (CBD) for enterprise applications.

Mobile enterprises are common requirements for most organizations in a digitally-driven ecosystem. From delineating inventory management to keeping track of field operations, mobile enterprise applications are being employed to derive higher productivity from the workforce and faster turnaround. Hence, component-based development is becoming increasingly popular in enterprise mobile application development.

Here are some interesting facets of the process:

1. What is Component-based Development?

Component-based Development (CBD) refers to a software engineering development methodology that highlights the demarcation of concerns in the light of the multitude of functions being carried out in a software system. This process places emphasis on reusing different components and merging them into systems. This method has far-reaching benefits from a system as well as organization perspective (as compared to traditional mobile app development).

2. How can component-reuse be implemented?

Component reuse is a popular technique in enterprise-based mobile application development processes. An enterprise’s scale of operation makes available a range of different components in the company’s digital repository. Let’s consider the different components required to build an internal purchase application.

The latter will require a user interface design to accept information collated through data fields. This collated data can be used for pre-emptive ordering in the future and the inventory application can be directly connected to the storefront through a point of sale component. This process can be mirrored across different enterprise mobile apps to increase resource productivity and ROI.

3. What are the types of components in a mobile enterprise application?

Depending on the type and scale of the organization, different components are present in the repository. These include enterprise connectors, which comprise software used to intersect mobile components to create enterprise apps. Other components include business modules — the main module featuring basic functionalities based on industry type; technology components — functionalities that complete specific requirements of a business like GPS integration, notification & reminders, payment gateways, QR code scanning, and calendar sync.

The HokuApps automated platform includes inbuilt components like a communication platform, enterprise administration backend with dashboards and granular reporting engine, and a security framework. All apps created on the HokuApps mobile app development platform work on all mobile devices like phones, tablets, and PDAs that are crucial to the mobile app development process across Android, iOS and the Web.

HokuApps features deep libraries of business modules, technology components, and a design studio that goes into building apps and workflows. The list of technology is long and enables HokuApps to drag-drop any of the components to fit the unique requirements the business might need.

Summary

Mobile application development is an exercise that is crucial to the functioning of any modern day organization. Enterprise applications simplify the everyday operations of the business and help in a variety of functions ranging from inventory management to dissemination of promotional material remotely, from managing a field workforce to collecting product-related on the ground feedback to aid quicker management decision making.

The component-based application approach is a popular practice in mobile app development that offers apps that are affordable, scalable and reliable. It works on the underlying premise of reusing existing components present in the digital repository for building discrete but connected mobile applications.

This is a method that can increase ROI in the enterprise mobile application development and ensure higher productivity from technology and other resources in an organization. Mass producing applications in the workspace can be an expensive and time-consuming process; component-based app building can simplify this process and help reign in corporate budgets.

Sharing Mobile App Development Knowledge and Awareness With You

Mobile app development can be described as the process of making handheld portable devices as useful as computers are. The foundation for this development is to boost the internet experience for the mobile user who lacks a computer. Nowadays the demand for handheld internet devices is growing fast across the world. Users can now log onto their portable devices and perform the tasks they normally do via their desktop or laptop PCs thanks to the bubbly mobile evolution. Information technology trends are clever these days. A few years back cellular phones, better known as cell phones, were merely used for communication. They were tremendous substitutes for landline telephones.

Today mobile phones appear to be the centre of everything. The fact that individuals and businesses cannot do without them makes mobile app development a practical IT (Information Technology) discovery. It appears that the smartphone is particularly getting all the attention that the computer once got. Desktop computers are heavy and impractical choices for mobile workers. Laptops and notebooks are portable but bulkier than any existing cell phone. It is no wonder that the mobile web audience is growing fast and now there is a generation that wants to do everything on a mobile development platforms.

What does this mean for mobile app development companies? It means their developers are embracing the new culture and developing websites with it in mind. Their main focus is on the user experience when designing mobile applications. They want to create apps that shorten user navigations when they want to find something different or something they did during their last surfing session. While it may be easy to create an application, constructing a good user experience is not straightforward. Upcoming mobile apps programmers have to know how to confront the screen size constraint they are not accustomed to when developing desktop apps. Besides having smaller screens, cell phones and other portable internet access gadgets have smaller keyboards and touch screens.

One may wonder how developers deal with bandwidth and memory constraints. It is not a secret that various handheld portable devices lack abundant memory compared to computers. To avoid running out of memory, developers avoid loading full-resolution images onto the cell phone. Instead they load smaller-resolution icons. In addition to bandwidth and memory, these experts have to create their apps within other parameters such as the low battery life. Moreover, they have to decide if they want to offer a location based (native) or a web-based mobile application development services. Many users may be more interested in location-based apps that are downloaded onto their devices rather than web-based apps that operate via something like the mobile OS WebKit system.

The latter is often cheaper and less complicated than the former. How to synchronize and cache data on the handheld device is another challenge faced by mobile coders. Experienced developers synchronize and cache data from the server side rather than the mobile side to avoid corrupting it. Furthermore they strive to keep the inexperienced user in mind when designing and loading new features onto the smartphones. These gadgets are smaller than the computers the users are familiar with. They also have touch screens. So there is likelihood that some first time users will make input errors. A reputable and reliable mobile app development team creates a flexible and tolerant platform.

Stay Ahead Of Competitors By Hiring Mobile Application Development Services

For a business to thrive in this competitive business world, effective web presence is essential. Businesses across the globe are trying to yoke the power of the World Wide Web to promote their products and services. This would require engaging your visitors and clients to your site consistently. Application development is a must if you wish to take your business to a new-level. Hiring the services of a professional and skilled software development firm is the way to go.

These days more and more businesses are leveraging the power of applications to enhance brand value and draw maximum customers. Applications (web or mobile) have the potential to market a brand in a way that visitors turn into buying customers. Hiring the services of a professional firm offering Application development solutions can help businesses to address emerging technology and different business challenges. In fact, majority of consumers are focusing on outsourcing their services instead of hiring local resources.

Apart from offering cost-effectiveness, services offered by these firms are of high quality and flexible. Besides this flexibility, a high level of professionalism in delivering projects with complete honesty and within assured time frame are some of the factors that make this arrangement all the more favourable.

Vendors offering Application development services follow certain engagement models that have now become standard practice in the industry. These engagement models define the time limit for completion of a project. However, there are various factors that challenge the arrangement of offshore outsourcing. It thus becomes essential to select a service provider only after due consideration.

Have a quick glimpse at some of the vital tips that would help you select the most suitable application development service provider.

1. High Quality of Services - Only vendors offering high quality services at a reasonable price should be considered.

2. Experience and Skills - It is important to consider the skills and experience of the service provider before hiring its services. The best way to do so is checking the online reputation of the vendor in question so as to know about the strength and weaknesses of the organization you are willing to deal with.

3. Java as a Programming Language - It is advisable to select vendors that use Java as a programming language as it is considered to be the best platform for developing robust and flexible applications.

4. Proper Certifications and Authorizations - Make sure that the company you are willing to deal with has proper certifications and authorizations from concerned authorities.

So, hire the services of a reputed and professional mobile application development services provider to sustain in this competitive world.

Benefits of Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms.

If you’re looking for efficiency in the functioning of an organization, you needn’t look further than Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms. Read on to know their benefits.

Technology and efficiency have rapidly been developing an unbreakable bond, as we watch the world constantly tapping away at their various mobile devices. One way to fulfill this undying demand for efficiency within an organization is the development of mobile enterprise application development.

Mobile devices are quickly becoming an extension of the human psyche rather than a separate device. In such a mobile-laden consumer base, enterprise applications that run on mobile platforms are the most obvious answer to ensure their ability to transform to consume-driven trends. These mobile enterprise applications bring with them a bounty of benefits that aim at appeasing a widespread user base.

With streamlined operations and smooth workflows, there is no longer any space for infinite filing cabinets and neither time to organize stacks of paperwork that is constantly threatening to spill over. As every aspect of our business makes room for mobile enterprise application platforms, so does the functioning of organizations through the development of mobile enterprise application development.

In opposition to time and cost heavy traditional mobile enterprise application development, HokuApps has automated the mobile enterprise application development to deliver cross-platform apps that are reliable, affordable and made at 10x speed.

But how exactly does the environment of an organization benefit from mobile enterprise application platforms?

•   Ease of Accessibility

Due to the widespread use of mobile phones and similar devices, the development of mobile enterprise apps ensures maximum usage. Their availability creates a platform for communication and eliminates any obstructions to the flow of ideas and opinions. The HokuApps mobile enterprise application platform ingrains all apps with a communication framework for real-time chat and notifications.

As everyone gets connected under a single umbrella application with this framework, organizational efficiency rapidly increases. Enterprise mobility solutions also ensures constant connectivity. Space and time is no longer a barrier to communication. Mobile enterprise applications eliminate the issue of distance without compromising functionality. This allows employees a lot more freedom while simultaneously increasing efficiency.

•    Enable Creative Problem-Solving

With the increase in communication, solving problems and making decisions becomes an expedited process. MEAP applications provide a user-friendly network that permits quick discussions and fast exchange of suggestions. Decision makers have access to mobile apps with Enterprise Administration Backend to administer the apps, and come equipped with a granular reporting engine that provide real-time data analysis that if fully configurable.

Deliberations no longer remain confined to human data collation. The mobility of the mobile enterprise application platforms allow a larger thinking environment which becomes an inspirational backdrop that promotes out-of-the-box thinking. Decisions can hence be made immediately and responses can be received in real time.

•     Save Valuable Resources

Not only do mobile enterprise application platforms save time, they also reduce the requirement of manpower and cut down costs. Utilizing these applications allows a single employee to connect through several devices as this technology work on Android, iOS and the Web. It also eliminates the tedious requirement of paperwork as data can be accessed on all smart devices from anytime-anywhere, which in turn optimizes usage of time and financial resources. The enterprise applications reduce the involvement of humans in certain areas which brings down the cost of manual labor.

•     An App for Every Requirement

Mobile enterprise application development does not limit themselves to a singular function. There are several options within enterprise apps that are directed towards fulfilling specific requirements.

1.     Content Management Systems [CMS]

This help organizes a large amount of content of different types. They allow the exchange of content such as information, statistics etc. in a hassle-free manner.

2.     Enterprise Resource Planning [ERP]

These simplify the administrative aspects of the organization and ensure the smooth functioning of its various parts. They allow people in higher posts to supervise in an easier way. They also provide a platform for employees to communicate easily.

3.     Customer Relationship Management [CRM]

These accumulate customer related data which may be analyzed to employ methods that would lead to an increase in client satisfaction.

4.     Order Management Applications

These are aimed at overseeing orders from the early stages until the delivery takes place. They help in consolidation of order related data which makes answering questions related to orders much easier.

There are also other such mobile applications designed to serve specific functions depending on the personal requirement.

Get Ahead With HokuApps Mobile Enterprise Application Platform

With competition constantly building, there is a need to keep up with technology advancement and explore new possibilities. Mobile enterprise application platforms are a shining example of revolutionary technology that represents innovation which must be integrated into present systems to help businesses stay ahead of the competition.

The History of Enterprise Mobile App Development Platforms

In 2008, mobile enterprise application platforms (MEAPs) hit the market. These solutions were described as a “multichannel” suite of products and services designed to enable the development of mobile applications that have three or more operating systems or back-end systems. MEAP executives presented their solutions as integrated platforms that address app design to deployment. However, these one-size-fits-all solutions were high on promise and short on delivery, with significant limitations and inherent “vendor lock-in,” precluding the ability to move to other platforms.

By 2012, mobile application development platforms (MADPs) found their space in the marketplace, largely with the ambition to overcome the problems associated with MEAPs. The market quickly became fragmented in the form of native toolkits, web toolkits and cross-platform suites that offered a single code base. Since MADPs generally served professional developers, rather than democratizing app creation for “app developers,” they have often been considered slow, complex and expensive.

Around the same time, mobile back-end as a service (MBaaS) solutions emerged as back-end integration tools that could generate services that were consumed by front-end mobile apps. Providers strived to give developers the ability to focus on delivering rich user experiences instead of dealing with tedious back-end infrastructure. However, this put a burden on the enterprise to pair a best-of-breed MADP with a best-of-breed MBaaS, resulting in similar slow, complex and expensive approaches.

Come 2014 and Gartner established the category of rapid mobile app development (RMAD). These next gen solutions came to market promising to create mobile apps with faster and simpler development, and by a wide range of lower-cost resources such as a business analyst.

Source By

https://www.enterprise-cio.com/news/2017/jun/13/new-generation-enterprise-mobile-app-development-welcome-rmad-30/