AnyPresence, the leading enterprise backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, today released a report titled, The State of Enterprise Mobile Readiness 2013, which analyzes how businesses are preparing to embrace enterprise mobility needs across the organization. Among the research findings was that 25% of the respondents spend over $100,000 on average for initial development of an enterprise mobile app. To see more findings, download a copy of The State of Enterprise Mobile Readiness 2013 by visiting: http://www.anypresence.com/Mobile_Readiness_Report_2013.php.
"The high cost of development among respondents reflects the inherent complexity of enterprise apps," said Richard Mendis, AnyPresence CMO and Co-Founder. "Whether the app is targeted at employees, partners, or customers, enterprise mobile applications can have sophisticated integration, security, and performance needs that often make them more complex to develop, test, and maintain than the typical consumer app. That said, the research also indicates an increasing number of enterprises are adopting multiple development approaches to reduce their overall costs."
A Multitude of Development Approaches
The mobile development tools in use range widely, with some notable common practices. More than half of respondents indicate they use Mobile Application Development Platforms (MADP) and almost half say they use Mobile Web Frameworks. Mobile backend / mobile middleware platforms and Mobile UI frameworks are reported in use by more than a third of respondents. Over the next 12 months, more companies expect to avoid any limitations inherent in a third-party development environment, by using a combination of custom development and platform solutions to meet their unique mobile application requirements (see chart below).
Which of the following best describes how your mobile applications are being developed today? How
do you expect them to be developed in 12 months?
Source: AnyPresence – The State of Enterprise Mobile Readiness, 2013
Use both custom
development and
platforms or frameworks
Use one or more mobile
development platforms
or frameworks
Use custom development with no
reliance on platforms or
frameworks
Today
27%
45%
28%
In 12 months
39%
38%
23%
Platform Lock-In a Continuing Headache for CIOs
Given the variation in development and deployment strategies, it's not surprising that IT departments are carefully examining the implications inherent in the selection of their solution providers. More than half of respondents indicate that they are "locked in" to their choice of development platform, an obvious detriment to ongoing flexibility or ability to adapt quickly when devices are updated or released. In order to maintain or enhance their mobile applications, they are required to continue using that technology (see chart below).
Has the choice of development platforms or tool "locked" you in to that solution?
Source: AnyPresence – The State of Enterprise Mobile Readiness, 2013
No
42%
Yes
52%
Don't know
6%
Additional findings from the report include:
More than 50% report that the average time to develop a mobile application is at least 3 months.
Almost 75% expect their companies to add 3 or more mobile apps in 2013; 38% expect to deploy 6 or more mobile apps in 2013.
Approximately 33% report releasing updates or enhancements to each app at least once a month.
Enterprises plan to deploy 63% more apps for channel partners in 2013.
52% deploy server-side components of mobile applications in their own data center; 44% use a private or dedicated "cloud"; and 38% leverage the "public cloud".
