Opinion The end of the app
Many businesses have been spending big money on creating mobile apps, but are these the best option for business-to-consumer mobile communication and interaction? James Rosewell believes they may be approaching their use-by date
B
y the end of 2011, 5·2 billion out of the 6·9 billion people on the planet were subscribed to mobile accounts. Our
fi gures show that 10 per cent of all Web traf- fi c in the UK originates from mobile devices. In India, the fi gure rises beyond 90 per cent. With global mobile Internet users forecast to reach 788 million by the end of 2015, it is in- creasingly important for every business to have a strategy for mobile connectivity. Businesses often consider creating mobile ap-
plications – ‘apps’ – in the hope of driving and capturing customers. T ese apps often contain just a fraction of their products and usually lack the functionality to execute a purchase. So the mobile app isn’t adequately fulfi lling the consumer’s needs – and whilst the business is shouting about how innovative its mobile app is, other parts of the company may be secretly disappointed by poor consumer reviews, little return on investment and pricey maintenance charges.
Proliferating, fragmenting A desktop application written for Windows 7 can be tested on a HP computer and can be assumed to work equally as well on a Dell, Le novo, Sony, Samsung or any other vendor’s hardware. But the same assumption does not apply to mobile applications. Major diff erences are experienced across versions or vendor im- plementations of the same operating system.
About the author
James Rosewell is founder and managing director of
51Degrees.mobi, whose databases enable Web servers to detect and identify mobile devices
which access them. The company has recently been adopted as a data source by Apache, which holds an almost two- thirds share of the Web server market
LAND mobile January 2012
‘Native applications can offer a rich user experience, employing the resources of the mobile phone directly’
Testing costs associated with native applica- tions are considerable. Businesses therefore need to understand the
diff erent ways of optimizing interaction and ways of communicating with their consumers before investing large sums of money. Five major mobile operating systems are in
use today: Apple’s iOS, Android from Google, RIM’s BlackBerry, Microsoft Windows Phone and Nokia’s Symbian. Waiting in the wings are MeeGo (Intel), WebOS (currently HP) and Bada (Samsung). Each has its own develop- ment platform requiring unique source code, and so there is little opportunity for reuse on other platforms, beyond the text, graphics, vid- eo and other content. Supporting the fi ve ma- jor operating systems will require fi ve unique applications.
Rapid change T e app market is deeply saturated. Numer- ous device platforms need to be considered and ‘app store’ approvals, updates and distribution can be painful. However, native applications can off er a rich user experience, employing the resources of the mobile phone directly, assum- ing the user has provided permission for them to do so. For example, they can interact with the contact list, send and receive text messages, initiate phone calls or access local storage. However, unless the business case can be nar-
rowed to support a single operating system, a native applications will be expensive to build, test, deploy and maintain over the software life-cycle. Even if the operating system can be narrowed, it is likely to change extensively over the next two years. As an example, Windows Mobile 6.5 applications will not run on Win- dows Phone 7. Device fragmentation within some operat-
ing systems – notably Android and, to a lesser extent, BlackBerry and Symbian – also presents challenges for developers. Design considera-
tions such as screen size and input method all need to be catered for, either with separate applications, or with ones that automatically adapt to their environment.
The universal Web Website optimization for mobile access is the most common denominator: there is only one Web. Creating a platform which can be ac- cessed from both a Nokia 3310 and an iPad is key. Almost every mobile device sold in the past
fi ve years comes with a mobile browser ena- bling Web access. Most businesses already have a website, with its address included in all ma- terial from business cards to TV adverts, plus supporting activities such as search engine op- timization (SEO) or social media. A mobile- optimized website built using basic user in- terface features, sharing the same address and other benefi ts therefore represents a compelling choice.
Business cases During 2011, signs appeared of an interesting shift from the development of native applica- tions to mobile Web optimization. T is shift will continue as many business abandon native applications in 2012. Searching for options to battle the recession, they are recognizing that the relative costs and resource consumption associated with developing, maintaining and refreshing apps cannot be justifi ed. Risk-aware technology leaders should con-
sider Web-based mobile solutions building on existing technology architecture and skill sets for consumer-focused business cases. Internal business cases could be built for one
operating system, but the organization will be tied to the mobile vendor for the lifetime of the application. Overall, Web-based applications are a more cost-effi cient means of facilitating mobile interaction.
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