Enterprise Application Development: Expectations vs Reality

Every time there is a mention of new technology, the first impression that is made on non-technical population is that it is identically Magic. Enterprise applications are the same.
People expect them to glide over in functions and perform flawlessly – like magic. But do they tend to this expectation as well as they can?

In the next 7 minutes, we will find out the answer to this question. But before we move over the deets of our magical expectations from enterprise apps and the reality of their working, we need to dig into the answers to What are Enterprise Apps and what is Enterprise App development?

What Are Enterprise Apps?

As per the definition from Techopedia, An enterprise application or EA is a specially designed (and large) software system platform that operates in a corporate environment like a local, state or federal Government body, a Medium to large business, Schooling systems or districts, non-profit groups, etc.

Though there is no defined set of properties that Enterprise apps or software should have, there are some characteristics which are found common across different enterprise applications, such as:

• Central management
• Scalability
• Robustness
• Business-orientation
• Critical for the vision and mission of the enterprise
• The built-in ability or communicate over interfaces of other enterprise software.

These characteristics are what make an Enterprise app better than normal applications.
And As it can be made out that Enterprise app Development is becoming More evolved in order to become more collaborative and Agile.

Also, it has been made possible due to the prompt adoption of cloud-based technologies. IT sector around the globe is working in a collaborative way to build mobile applications with, both, internal business teams and external agencies that a company depends upon. With the availability of services and solutions through online mode, enterprise software development services in California or anywhere else focus on an approach to business transformation that puts people first.

And when we say “Enterprise App Development”, we are enclosing all the unique requirements there are in order to build an Enterprise app, such as:

• Having multiple users with identical requirements that have to use the same app
• A need for the said application to deliver value consistently and at scale.
• Mammoth reserves of data to manage and integrate (sometimes at multiple levels).
• Following all the above-mentioned conditions along with industry-specific guidelines and strict regulations, for instance, the Financial sector or healthcare.
• Catering to Forever evolving and changing roles and responsibilities.

For all of these reasons combined, there is always a gap being created between what the customers expect and what is being delivered to them. And thus, Enterprise app development is a gargantuan task and people often fail to either understand the customer needs or to deliver them well.
For a better understanding, let us take a trip of the user expectations from Enterprise apps.

How Enterprise App development should work?

An Enterprise App Development task is almost always taken upon by a well-managed enterprise mobile App Development company. And a team is designated for this purpose, wherein, everyone in the team has specific tasks to attend to. And thus, depending upon the role assigned to different people, they end up having a different vision about what the Enterprise mobile app Development process should look like.

This is where the first loophole is created when the vision of the team is not aligned. Nevertheless, whether your role in the team is of a developer, tester or deployer, there are some key values where we can linearly define our visions. So, in the end, we all want the process of Mobile Enterprise app development to be:

User-Focused:

This goes without saying that  Enterprise App Development must be User Centric. Every user expects the mobile apps (Enterprise Applications, here) to provide them with high, consumer-grade usage experience. And besides, the primary intention of all the mobile app developers and designers to build applications that actually get used by as many people as possible and thus help both, their external and internal clients. Only then will they be able to meet their ultimate goals.

Highly secure:

Before the commencement of the Enterprise App development process, the primary question from the client’s side will be raised about the safety and security of the app or in other words, the security of their own data fed into the app.
In the present world, the media reports are filled with the news of security breaches, even in the highest level of company software. In such scenarios, it is crucial for the enterprise app developers to pay attention to safeguarding the valuable user data that is stored in the app.

Integration and connection:

The unique thing about Enterprises is that they use a number of software and applications that can be built independently as the need arises. But, it is one of the main requirement of enterprise app development that every new software or application must be able to seamlessly connect with all the existing data sources. This ensures better user experience and eliminates the extra work for software integrations.

Speed:

With the release plan of 5G technology in the world, it is only obvious that today, digital technology users give utmost priority to the high speed of network and applications. Gone are the days when people were patient enough to watch their web pages load in the dial-up internet service.
And besides, with the ever-rising backlog of data, the developers are more concerned with working on critical projects, rather than writing and rewriting front-end and back-end codes. After all, the business leaders require the updated technologies to be delivered to them as quickly as their business plans need change.

These four characteristics make up the foundation of an ideal enterprise app development process. But as we all can guess, the reality may not always align with our expectations of the ideal scenario. So, let us take a look at how the Enterprise app development actually works.

[Also Read: How Can Enterprise Mobile App Development Accelerate Your Business Growth]

How Enterprise App development actually works?

There might be a few myths around Enterprise app development that are circling around the world, In all reality, there’s a diametrical difference between the ideal and the real scenario of Enterprise app development. Let us take a look at what the actual process goes like:

Project-Focused:

Even though all the developers and other people involved in Enterprise application development projects are well aware of the need that every app should be made keeping the end-user requirements in mind, too often, the teams working upon mobile app development for Enterprises with all the other enterprise mobility solutions, the reality-check says otherwise. In actuality, the apps are siloed and enterprise ends up on multiple disengaged and stand-alone databases stored in different digital systems which are either impossible to integrate or are an extra burden for the enterprise’s IT team.

Slow:

Yes, even in today’s forever rushing, technologically advanced world, custom enterprise application development is a tough task. Hence the project of enterprise app development ends up taking longer than contracted. Somehow, there are never enough man-hours available for timely delivery.

But of course, the blame can not be put on the app development team alone. Enterprise app development is a big task and there are significant challenges attached to it.

Key challenges in Enterprise application development:

Data Encryption:

One of the biggest challenges faced in the enterprise application development is the proper and secure encryption of sensitive data stored on smartphones. And as mLearning is getting more and more popular at workplaces, the concept of BYOD (Bring your own device) is making it more difficult for app developers to keep the data encrypted.
Nevertheless, encryption and secure containment of data are crucial for enterprise app development because it can save the data from leakage in case of device theft.

Access to data:

Mobile applications for enterprises has a number of challenges which are faced by developers at different degrees. One of the most crucial and common problems is offline access to data. This has become one of the biggest challenges that are faced by the mobile app development companies, especially in big enterprises that see a need for urgent access to data even when there is no connection to any online portal.

Device Fragmentation – BYOD

BYOD is sure the talk of the town but it has shown an equal amount challenge to the developers. The rise in “bring your own device” policies across multiple enterprises, mobile app developers are facing the challenge of accommodating a plethora of mobile devices in their enterprise applications. Previously, developers had to focus on only a few kinds of operating systems and mobile devices which is not the case with BYOD.
This scenario has given rise to the challenge of device fragmentation because of the adoption of “one size fits all” technique for the development of Enterprise mobility solutions.

There are numerous ways to increase the chances of your enterprise app failure, But the good thing is that every challenge has a solution. It might not be the best solution but it can substantially decrease the problem that was being faced initially so as to make matters simpler. For instance, we, at Appinventiv, ensure that these issues don’t show up in your enterprise app dev.

Overcoming the Challenges in Enterprise App development

• There is a major requirement of a strong defence system in place for all the digital devices that comprises data encryption, firewalls for individual applications and at the host and network levels.
• Since the data stored in an enterprise mobile app is highly crucial to the enterprise. Therefore, the use of competent security software in place to make the data secure is required. Along with other data, the privacy of sensitive user data and information is to be protected.
• Web applications and mobile applications which are cloud-based are highly prone to cyber-attacks. Therefore, in order to safeguard the data of this software, the security software must be competent and updated which latest security patches.
• Application vulnerability tests must be held on a periodic basis.
• The environment that includes multiple systems must ensure careful designing keeping in mind the diversity of devices.
• To avoid the problem of device fragmentation, developers must recognize the most common digital system or device in order to make the enterprise mobile app compatible with a maximum of devices.
• A smart link can be established between applications that are using a similar set of data in order to achieve optimization.

Of course, there is a gap being created in the enterprise app development process. The reality of the scenario is much different from the one we expect in reality. However, every loophole can be fixed with careful operations and systems in place. Hence, it is safe to say that even though there is a gap in the app development process, there is enough room for improvement as well.

We, at Appinventiv, as an Enterprise mobile app development company are working towards a standardised procedure to minimise all the possible gap in these processes. But, the roadmap to being a successful app startup company consists of more than just following the SOP.

And we all are aware that the enterprise software development services in California and around the world have created some very intricate and reliable mobile applications for big enterprises which can only be cited as a development in the course if nothing else.

THE AUTHOR

Saurabh Singh

CEO & Director