Though businesses have to leverage the potential of mobile technologies to move ahead of competitors in this age, many are still hesitant to do just that. They do use a number of apps however but rely a lot on legacy systems to run their core processes.

One reason for their indifference to enterprise mobility is the thought that they will need to invest a lot in building a fully functional mobile app that can deliver the same results as the apps running on their legacy systems. This can take months or even years. Many misconceptions about mobile application development and enterprise mobility also attribute to deterring businesses from going the mobile way.

Let’s explore a few such popular myths and the truth behind them.

#1. Optimizing a desktop app to work on mobile devices will work

Many businesses have the wrong notion that the best approach to adopting mobility is to have their existing desktop apps transformed to work on mobile devices at a low investment. This is mostly seen as a first step to mobility. Such a transformation won’t be worthwhile as most legacy desktop apps would only be able to run on smaller mobile screens while being incapable of utilizing mobile hardware to make operations easier and faster. In addition, they will also lack many mobile-friendly functionalities that a business will need.

Users will have to spend more time pinching and zooming to access the app’s functions, and scroll a lot for navigating too. This would eventually force them to find a different, more convenient solution.

#2. In-house mobile app development is the best bet

Some enterprises do find success with their in-house development teams. But there are potentially hundreds of apps that have been shelved or is taking too long to enter the market. Mobile app development is a challenging process that takes a lot of time. Additionally, mobile apps require more time and cost for maintenance and upgrades compared to other technologies.

With technologies evolving dynamically and becoming harder to keep track of, it may not always be possible for the in-house team to customize the mobile solution accordingly unless the enterprise is willing to spend vast resources on achieving mobility. Ultimately, the cost and the requirements would be challenging to meet for a growing enterprise.

A professional mobile application development company can do justice in such a situation, and build the app much faster at a much lower cost.

#3. Businesses and its operations can keep going without mobility

Many businesses that haven’t adopted mobility can give many reasons for why they don’t need a mobile app to keep moving forward. The truth is that those enterprises failed to see the revolution that’s been happening around them. Mobile devices have become personal for people, providing businesses with new, innovative opportunities to reach their consumers on their own personal devices anywhere across the globe.

The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend is gaining more momentum every day, with many businesses adopting it. Smart businesses have found that it’s statistically feasible to take ways that beget more productivity from users rather than keeping their focus on user preferences. High performance, mobile-ready business processes are being introduced every day. All these facts are a testament to the fact that enterprise mobility can indeed turn the tides for a business, facilitating a more accelerated growth.

Conclusion

If a business is still not convinced that mobility is the gamechanger, they would just fall behind competitors very soon. The investment has proved worthy for businesses across various domains. Mobility is changing the way businesses operate, especially when technologies like IoT and the cloud keep growing at incredible pace. Enterprise mobility is now or never.

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Here are 6 things developers should consider before commencing development.

1. Setting the goals

The first step is to identify a clear goal. What you want to achieve with the mobile application, how it can be monetized to generate revenue, the kind of experience a user gets while using the app etc. – these questions can help the development get a clear picture of the purpose of the application. This can give them an idea of where to start, and a direction to take the development work to.

2. Understanding the audience

User base is the most important factor a developer should consider as it determines whether the app would succeed or fail. For the app to satisfy its user base, the developers should be aware of the technologies that users utilize, and what they are expecting the application to do as well.

A proficient mobile application development company would have the development and testing team interact with users, understand them, and consolidate their findings about user expectations, user behavior etc. This will help the developers tailor an app that meets user expectations, and keep them engaged.

3. Getting early feedback from users

Getting feedback from users post-launch to improve the app with updates is necessary. But getting early feedback from users is just as important. This phase is when the developers build the first version of the application. When ‘version 1.0’ is ready, they can approach a few users to do a test run of the app.

Obviously, this feedback can help them plan the next step considering those aspects in the app that need improvement. What makes this different from standard testing is the fact that users tend to explore the app in unique ways, subsequently detecting bugs in the process that eluded testers, and finding areas that could be improved.

The result of getting early feedback?

A better experience for users in the final version of the app.

4. Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Minimum Viable Product can be give great leverage for app developers. Fully developing the app take a lot of time and money. A better approach is to develop a base version of the app first, and test the market with it. This will give developers valuable insights on what a full build can potentially do in that same market.

It also allows them to release a full build faster and enter the market much quicker. The key is to build a version that has only the essential features necessary to gain access into the market. This strategy can in turn save money, and allows you to build agile mobile applications.

5. App Updates

Updating the features of an application frequently encourages users to re-engage the application. A lot of research back up this fact that many users who have chosen not to use the app much returns once an update adds more features. For developers, this strategy can be effective in retaining active users and keeping them engaged. Instead of releasing every new feature with a single update, it’s better to add them with smaller, more frequent updates.

6. Checking out other similar apps

It’s important to know of apps in the market that are similar to the one they are going to develop. Checking them out would give insights to the developers as to how other apps engage users, and what competitors are doing with their apps.

The difference in platforms can make things a bit complicated, as a feature that’s present in one platform may not be present in the same app in a different platform. Nevertheless, the developers will be aware of technological possibilities with this tactic.

7. Choosing the technology for the app

Mobile technologies keep evolving every year, and each new trend and technique open new doors to both the developers and the mobile market. Choosing the right technology for the application requires developers to go over the business goals.

The developers will have to figure out whether a native app would be a better choice instead of a cross-platform app, or if they need a web app, the screen sizes that the app should support, the language for the back end etc. Collaborating with the IT team and sharing pre-development phase findings with them can make it easier to shortlist the technologies that serve the business goals.

8. Determining key metrics

This step is crucial as it helps the developers measure the success of the app once it goes online. To begin, they can start by creating a list of key metrics. They can then consolidate, measure, and analyze app usage to determine if the goals are met.

If the app failed to meet the goals, there obviously has been a mistake at some point. Nevertheless, they can still rectify the issues with updates. Planning the update frequency early on can help a lot in such a situation.

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Here are a few common mistakes mobile testers generally tend to make.

1) Focusing too much on the looks

Mobile apps should certainly provide a great user experience. So there should be focus on the UI/UX. However, testers tend to focus more on this aspect while not giving much thought to the actual purpose of the app. If the app fails in performing the actions it was designed for, even if it’s good looking, it will deter users. This applies to standard software testing as well.

2) Networking issues

The app’s offline and online functionalities are normally tested. However, testers may overlook a critical issue. The app should be able to function properly across various bandwidths. Testing this may uncover networking issues as well. Not all users will have good network capabilities.

3) Opting not to prepare a complete report

Inadequate knowledge, miscommunication, impending launch deadlines etc. may force a tester to prepare an incomplete report on bugs. Consequently, the developers won’t be able to rectify all the bugs in time resulting in an app with glitches that may even impede its performance. Though this issue is not a big concern in an Agile ecosystem, it’s still something testers need to work around.

4) A single tester may not be enough

Employing just one tester to test the mobile application is something even a development company with sufficient resources may do, though it’s commonly practiced by companies with limited resources. The mobile application development company should make it a policy to hire experienced testers on different environments on the team. Their varying capabilities essentially help detect more potential flaws in the app, and at a shorter time.

5) Wrong notion that web and mobile testing are similar

A tester familiar with both will know that website testing and mobile app testing are fundamentally different. First off, a mobile application requires more frequent updates than a web application. The mobile tester should be able to figure out an approach where the app functionality can be validated in sync along with scheduled updates.

6) Not utilizing crash logs

Of the various factors that contributes to a poor rating of an application, frequent crashes is at the top. The tester should maintain a report of every occurrence of an app crash, which will subsequently make it easier for them to prioritize major bugs across the various sections of the app. This reduces the likelihood of crashes post launch.

7) Taking customer feedback into account

The mobile tester’s job isn’t over once the app is launched. In many cases, despite great effort from the testers, the app may still have some bugs that they may have missed. Regular users may come across that particular issue more often. Most of those users report the bugs through reviews or other feedback options. So the tester must be going through user reviews post launch to see if any bugs they missed have been spotted by users, and report them to get them rectified with the next update.

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Fortunately, there are signs that indicate that you are doing it the wrong way. The next best option in such a situation is to outsource the development to a mobile application development company equipped to plough through the mess and deliver a polished, robust product that your business can rely on.

Here are 3 signs that indicate that you need to outsource your mobile application development.

Lengthy Development Time

Many recent surveys claim that, generally, for a company to build a mobile app in-house and deploy it for their business, it may take 6 months to a year or more on average. A year is a long time if you consider the fast paced evolution of this mobile-first world. If the business takes too long to develop and deploy the app, by the time the app does get deployed, it may be obsolete.

Among the many obstacles in app development, resource limitations would be the most common. A few other major factors include:

• Lack of a solid design
• Lack of proper communication between the UX team and the backend team
• Lack of knowledge of the best practices of application development
• Poor project management

Accomplishing all of this during the development phase can be challenging even for enterprise-level firms. Even one of these factors can delay the delivery of the application. If you ever have to keep pushing your app’s launch date, consider it a sign to outsource the development.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Pushing your MVP live and then finishing the app with iterations is an advice you get from various tech blogs. It’s quite effective too. However, when it comes to mobile applications, releasing MVP is a bad idea. The reason is evident from the present behavior of smartphone users.

Hundreds of thousands of mobile applications come out every month. However, once users get comfortable with an app, they wouldn’t generally bother to give new apps a shot. Why download a new app and spend time getting used to it when you can use a perfectly functioning app that you are already used to?

This could be one of the reasons. If you take a look at the figures, you will see that app downloads have slowed down considerably at present. People don’t download new apps like they used to. Considering such a situation, releasing a half-baked mobile app promising to fix it with updates certainly does more harm than good for your business.

First impressions do count for something these days. An MVP may not give your business a second chance if it fails to impress users. You should deliver a fully functioning app with an impressive interface to have a lasting impression on users. Outsourcing app development to a reliable developer actually increases ROI with a better product.

Lack of Expertise

Knowledge-gap in the development team does delay the delivery of the application. Many companies make the mistake of going forward with developing a sophisticated application despite the lack of skill set. We have to take into account the fact there’s a shortage of mobile app developers which forces individual companies to rely on rather unpopular talents to build their apps.

Their end-goal is to deploy an app that impresses users. Most of them tend to neglect other aspects of the app like integration with the backend, with the cloud, scalability, security etc. Even if the companies have resources, they don’t always have the expertise, which consequently delays the delivery of the application.

Companies may have to invest a lot of time on learning the skill set rather than developing the app; yet another sign for those companies to start outsourcing.

Conclusion

Even if you decide to outsource mobile app development, there is yet another challenge to overcome – finding the right developer to outsource to. If you manage to find the right developer, you can have your app deployed in no time, and at a quarter of the cost you would’ve incurred had you developed the app in-house.

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