Nearly 10 million software developers worldwide are focused on building mobile apps. Yet three quarters of the total developer community have less than three years of experience under their belt, and they lack the business experience today’s enterprises expect.
With developers continuously being challenged to learn the necessary technical and design skills needed to build compelling apps for ever-changing devices and platforms, many are faced with misconceptions about the best way to develop successful apps for the enterprise.
(Related: Five must-have skills for today’s successful mobile app developers)
Here are some common myths and misconceptions among the developer community today:
Myth: Enterprise mobile solutions are difficult to use. Many developers assume that enterprise-grade mobile solution platforms are bulky, difficult to use and don’t provide the desired agile app development for enterprise apps. Technology has come a long way in a short amount of time, and the open-source platform approach enables the desired agility developers need today and in the future to quickly develop secure and compelling apps.
Myth: A beautiful app = 5-star app store rating. So much misconception today is that apps have to be good looking to get a 5-star rating. While this is important, performance and integration with valuable data is critical to the success of an app. The truth is developers today must have the skills and tools to build for both function and form.
Myth: A company isn’t ready to go mobile because its data isn’t mobile-ready. The data itself doesn’t need to be ready; data will always be ready for mobile. It’s the interface and how the data is processed that usually isn’t ready and prevents a company from jumping into mobile. Many companies simply aren’t ready to expose their systems due to the security risks. Enterprise mobility platforms offer security, authentication and data handling that enable enterprises to provide secure, well-performing apps ready for external access to corporate back ends.
Myth: Rapid app development tools provide more value and bring apps to market quicker. App development shortcuts may seem like a quick and easy way to get apps to market in a timely fashion. Rapid app tools actually present developers with greater risks in security, quality and being able to update without a full redeploy. These greatly affect an organization’s ability to deliver apps and new capability rapidly, and to manage app issues as they come up. With extremely fast turnaround times expected from mobile, this can upset users leading to uninstallations and lack of app use.
Myth: By building in native, complexity is reduced. Developers often think that it’s easier to strictly focus on building apps with the manufacturer SDKs and getting them to market. Native development has advantages, but without an integrated approach that provides app management, analytics, testing and back-end integration, native app development has the potential to create more issues, more complexity and increased spending down the road. If integration isn’t done right the first time, future projects will be delayed, and it will lead to an influx of performance issues that will only lead to more work for the developers and potentially unsatisfied users.
Myth: Developers benefit more from using the latest frameworks. Many developers are spending lots of time constantly learning the next new framework. There are many existing frameworks, and they move in and out of vogue rapidly. As mobility matures, developers will benefit more from consistent approaches to mobile development as they move across SDKs and frameworks. A consistent approach to security, integration, development and management enable quality and speed.
Myth: Multi-platform apps are low fidelity. There is a misconception that cross-platform apps are weak and don’t have full functionality. Every platform may not be equal and will have its own challenges and benefits, but it’s possible to develop apps that are rich in functionality and that run across multiple platforms. As companies move deeper into the world of app development, the mixing of native and hybrid will become the norm, and there will be even more solutions and platforms to facilitate it.
Myth: App development platforms are closed and proprietary. Since most app development platforms are closed and proprietary, there is a misconception that developers will get locked into a set of tools that they may later want to move away from. On the contrary: The right mobility platforms will provide the flexibility that allows developers to make any real-time changes needed.
With open platforms making new resources available, and with the agile nature of enterprise apps, developers are well prepared to meet the demands of a new class of mobile-centric businesses.