Mobile apps: helping businesses connect with their customers

The mobile phone is the most widely used device in the e-commerce world today, and businesses are doing their best to reach their customers. Let’s find out why mobile apps are essential to the success of a modern business.

A mobile app strategy driven by business functions and processes can help organizations transform today. A technology strategy that analyzes the needs of a business, the mobile framework and platform to be used, and the readiness of the computing environment plays a vital role in designing this application. A mobile application that is user-centric from the conceptualization stage and uses workshops, focus groups, and demos during development is more likely to succeed.

There are many frameworks, languages, tools, and platforms available for developing mobile apps. Knowing the organization’s goals for establishing mobile as a channel for customer interaction will guide the choice and approach to implementing them. Developing a mobile application that meets customer expectations is key to gaining their trust and building brand perception.

Let’s look at the key considerations guiding the selection of a framework for a mobile development platform for an enterprise.

Considerations before developing enterprise mobile apps

As users shift from desktops and laptops to mobile devices and smartphones for all their technology needs, organizations must do so too to stay relevant. However, it’s not enough to define a mobile strategy, hire a few developers and wait for the magic to happen. There is still a long way to go before successfully transitioning to a customer-centric mobile technology strategy.

• Market research helps to understand exactly what the requirements are and what the competition is doing in relation to its strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, it is important to know the expectations of end users in order to avoid costly mistakes.
• Choose the right framework and the right platform for the development of mobile applications on Android and iOS. This selection will impact the adaptability of the minimum viable product and the initial effort it will take to make it work. In the long run, the framework and platforms will have a big impact on the flexibility and security of the mobile app.
• Target audience who will be using the mobile application – it is essential to clearly define the expectations and requirements of the public. Aligning app goals with customer needs is the most critical goal of an enterprise mobile app.
• User interface and user experience will define how the user sees the application. If users don’t like the user interface and user experience of the app, regardless of its content, it will fail. The initial phases of application development should focus heavily on creating wireframes of screens as well as mock visualizations. It would be a good idea to have a discussion group directing comments on the interface design.
• User security and data privacy are extremely important, as users will trust the application by feeding sensitive data. It is the responsibility of the organization to secure and protect this data by implementing appropriate privacy policies and adopting secure design principles as well as development and deployment practices.
• Deployment planning and marketing strategy alignmentThis is extremely critical for a successful launch of the mobile app. There are many cases of heavily marketed products failing due to poor deployment planning. Towards the end of the mobile application development phase, it is essential to test the application for its performance, usability and stability. It’s not a bad idea to roll out the app slowly by allowing a small number of users into the app, collecting feedback on the UI and UX, and fine-tuning the app’s performance before the big launch.

Enterprise Mobile Application Development Frameworks

There are many proven mobile application development frameworks. Selecting the right framework requires careful study, strategy development, comprehensive planning, and an understanding of today’s mobile environment.

There are native, web, and hybrid mobile apps available on Android, iOS, and Windows that support multiple devices, from mobile phones and tablets to desktops and laptops.

• Native app The development approach is costly and leads to a significant number of duplicate efforts across multiple operating systems like iOS and Android, at least. Native apps suffer from customer engagement issues due to siled channels and devices.
• Web apps are distributed via the web using the browser interface and work well for many business needs where static content with a limited interactive experience is expected. Sometimes these apps are used as an interim solution, while a rich mobile app is being developed for greater customization.
• Hybrid apps are primarily intended for smartphones. They feature a rich user interface and interactive experience, complemented by the ability to store local data for use when internet service is spotty or unavailable.

Popular mobile app development frameworks have robust features that address implementation challenges, allowing organizations to focus on UI and user experience with data integration to develop appropriate content. Selecting the right framework for a business would depend on the basic features that are essential for the development and maintenance of its mobile application. Along with performance, ease of use, and cross-platform development capability, features to consider when selecting a framework are UI consistency, compatibility with third-party integration, ability to work with other frameworks, data analysis and profitability. Finally, the language chosen to develop the mobile application, such as Python, Java, Flutter, React Native, Swift, Kotlin, etc., will influence the choice of framework and platform.

It is ultimately up to the organization to choose the framework that it believes will meet its current and future needs from a business, technology, operations, and support perspective. Each framework offers its own unique set of benefits, and the organization can make an informed assessment of the right framework for mobile application development, based on their priorities and business needs.

Enterprise Mobile Application Reference Architecture

Finally, it is important to understand the ecosystem in which the mobile application must be developed and deployed. Careful consideration of the presentation layer, business layer, and data layer components of the mobile application, overall application security, configuration, communication, and connectivity expectations will ensure a modular mobile application that can be easily maintained and scaled with the ever-changing world of technology. Applying industry best practices to identify critical use cases with their business requirements, data and governance, identity and personalization, design, management, and endpoint connectivity will help create an architecture reference. This architecture will act as a central focal point bringing together all stakeholders around a single mission: the successful development of a mobile application that meets the business needs of an organization.

Mobile data analysis

Better business insights are generated using real-time analytics of historical and flow data. The data platform is used as a single source of truth that users across the organization have access to. Such a goal requires planning right from the design phase of the mobile app, removing redundant tasks for front-line customer support, thus enabling a smart app that responds to customers.

Ultimately, a mobile app is a business asset that will help increase its reach to customers. While creating integrated flow and time series analytics for the mobile app, organizations can overcome the challenges of legacy systems from outdated data with new insights in real time. Detailed planning of the development process will help build lasting trust with prospects and customers.