1. Info-Tech Research Group1 Choose a Mobile Development Strategy You already have the tools, so ignore the hype and go mobile your way! Info-Tech's products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.© 1997 - 2012 Info-Tech Research Group

2. Info-Tech Research Group2 Get informed on the options in mobile application development, ranging from native web, to HTML5, to MEAP, in order to create a user-friendly application. Mobile is an essential technology and organizations are taking advantage of its strengths Application Development Managers responsible for setting a mobile development strategy Systems Architects looking to build sustainable solutions that include mobile components Software Developers tasked with writing code for one or more mobile platforms Quality Assurance Managers leading a mobile testing effort Better understand the mobile development landscape today Understand where mobile development is headed in the short and long term Caution you on risks in mobile development Allow you to make informed decisions about next steps in developing a mobile application strategy This Research Is Designed For:This Research Will Help You:

3. Info-Tech Research Group3 Understand that mobile development is a manageable process that isn’t as radical as you may think. Executive Summary Recognize that mobile applications are ubiquitous, but the hype is not as daunting as it may seem. Use your existing principles when developing a mobile strategy. With many options to choose from, such as iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, you must develop a clear strategy. Due to consumerization, the mobile device market is controlled by end users. These end users dictate which devices they use, and in what context. Choosing the correct mobile development tool for your organization is critical. Companies should veer from hyped products, and be conscious of future vendor lock-in with proprietary tools, which do no integrate with current development standards and practices. Understand the entire ecosystem of native apps, being cautious of the complications that can come with developing an Enterprise Application Store (EAS). Organizations should develop web apps to avoid code fragmentation and long-term maintenance and version complexities that can arise from side-by-side web and native app development. Native apps should be considered when specific hardware features, like cameras or contacts, is essential to application functionality. Tool selection for native apps should remain simplified.

4. Info-Tech Research Group4 See the challenges of mobile development as opportunities for end-user creativity The pervasiveness, and fragmentation of mobile devices leads to challenges, and opportunities for mobile app development. Mobile applications are an excellent way for businesses to engage with customers and employees. They are designed so that a single task can be completed anywhere, at any time, making them extremely appealing to users. The different form factors and platforms each have specific features. Businesses can build use-cases for these different features, and create mobile experiences that satisfy the majority of end users. Challenges Opportunities The large number of different mobile devices has created a high level of fragmentation, yet users expect the same features and experience across platforms, and form factors. The mobile development market is not as mature as desktop and web. Mobile applications require a sound strategy to guide a development team forward without introducing unnecessary risk that locks users into a platform that may not be supported in the future. Even within a single platform, upgrades are not always backward compatible. This introduces risk in redevelopment efforts. We know that mobile apps are going to become more prevalent, not less. -Peter Coppola, Associate Director Australian Catholic University

5. Info-Tech Research Group5 MOBILE STRATEGY Without a sound strategy, requirements will spiral into a wish list of unnecessary user, and technical requirements that serve no purpose to the business. This wastes precious resources, and capital on development that has no ROI. Over time, useful applications tend to see increased take up. Without a governing strategy, the mobile application will eventually bloat into its own team, and processes that may not utilize existing infrastructure and processes. Left unchecked, integration of two development silos at this stage becomes extraordinarily difficult, and expensive. A lack of strategic mobile development focus will result in problematic apps. Organizations will struggle with uncontrolled requirements testing. Target your end users with solid requirements building, and avoid a spontaneous mobile development strategy Developing a right-size mobile strategy is necessary because there are implications across the development stack. DEPLOYMENT TESTING DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS

6. Info-Tech Research Group6 Justify your strategy with proper measurement tools to gauge the success of your application What will this cost? How do I justify the investment How do I measure success? If you have a well defined process, adding new form factors should not be a significant impact to the current process. However, if your process is not well defined, it could be very expensive with duplication in effort. Your ROI will be higher if you have a well established process in place. However, if you must develop a process from scratch, these efforts will be applicable for future development endeavors. Measure the usage amongst the end users. This will measure the quantity of people using your application. Request feedback from the end users to gauge their satisfaction. This will measure the quality of your application. Measure the usage amongst the end users. This will measure the quantity of people using your application. Request feedback from the end users to gauge their satisfaction. This will measure the quality of your application. It is essential to continually measure your applications’ success. Without this information it is impossible to know how to move forward. Improvement in user productivity. New, and more suitable channels for application deployment. Leverages existing mid, and backend investments. Improvement in user productivity. New, and more suitable channels for application deployment. Leverages existing mid, and backend investments. If developing your mobile application yields these three results, the investment is justified. The benefits will certainly outweigh the costs in the long run.

7. Info-Tech Research Group7 When comparing native, and web applications, it is imperative that you consider the difference in price. Understand where your development costs are coming from to optimize your mobile development strategy Native Application Web Application ConstructionTestingDistribution Construction Testing Distribution While developing native applications enables organizations to take full advantage of different devices’ unique hardware features, it certainly costs more. For each step, organizations must pay for the development for each platform, whereas with web applications they pay per step.

8. Info-Tech Research Group8 Conclusion Mobile development techniques are not radically new. They are a natural evolution from desktop to laptop, and now into mobile and tablet form factors. Therefore, the same principles that apply to traditional non-mobile development still apply, such as requirements gathering, development practices, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Organizations must have a very clear mobile development strategy to avoid plunging existing development practices into chaos. An ad hoc mobile development approach can pull away critical resources, and funds from other projects. Failed mobile development projects can be costly, but a solid strategy will keep people, and processes aligned for mobile development success. Mobile development is governed by three dimensions: form factor, platform, and application. Organizations should understand the pros and cons of choosing where to play in this space. Choice of mobile development tools is critically important. Organizations should stay away from the hype, and be careful about future vendor lock-in with proprietary tools, which do not integrate with current development standards and practices. Mobile web apps will provide the greatest long term flexibility for organizations as compared to native mobile apps. Organizations should develop web apps as a default to avoid code fragmentation, and long term maintenance, and version complexities. Native apps should be considered only if local hardware features are required in the app functionality. It is imperative to continually measure your success. To do this, measure the usage of your apps amongst your users, and request feedback.

9. Info-Tech Research Group9 Appendix: Survey Results Conclusion Survey Respondents Mobile Development Hypotheses IT Involvement in mobile development processes Reflection Current state of mobile development team

10. Info-Tech Research Group10 Conclusion Mobile development techniques are not radically new. They are a natural evolution from desktop to laptop and now into mobile and tablet form factors. Therefore, the same principles that apply to traditional non-mobile development still apply, such as requirements gathering, development practices, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Organizations must have a very clear mobile development strategy to avoid plunging existing development practices into chaos. An ad hoc mobile development approach can pull away critical resources and funds from other projects. Failed mobile development projects can be costly but a solid strategy will keep people and processes aligned for mobile development success. Mobile development is governed by three dimensions: form factor, platform, and application. Organizations should understand the pros and cons of choosing where to play in this space. Choice of mobile development tools is critically important. Organizations should stay away from the hype and be careful about future vendor lock-in with proprietary tools, which do not integrate with current development standards and practices. Mobile web apps will provide the greatest long term flexibility for organizations as compared to native mobile apps. Organizations should develop web apps as a default to avoid code fragmentation and long term maintenance and version complexities. Native apps should be considered only if local hardware features are required in the app functionality. It is imperative to continually measure your success. To do this, measure the usage of your apps amongst your users and request feedback.

11. Info-Tech Research Group11 Survey Respondents - Industry

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