Essential Guide to Becoming A Mobile App Rock Star - part II - Enterprise Apps

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A

MOBILE APP ROCK STAR

Part 2:Creating a mobile enterprise application business case

1THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)

Enterprise mobility is one of the most exciting opportunities in the workplace today. That’s because mobile introduces so many remarkable ways to transform operations. Mobile technologies are driving an irresistible paradigm shift in how organizations look at their business processes and how they can change – really CHANGE – them with mobile enterprise applications.

This 3 part series will guide you and your enterprise through:

Developing an actionable mobile enterprise application strategy

Creating a mobile enterprise application business case

Choosing the right Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) partner

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Source: Symantec 2012

Introduction

Over Half

of businesses are making line-of-business apps accessible

from mobile devices


By 2015, four times as many mobile apps will be developed as traditional PC apps today. Before they get overwhelmed by demand, organizations must plan around this.

Gartner (January 2013) How to Estimate the ROI of Mobile Apps for Employees

It’s tempting to dive head-first into mobile app development especially when you read, daily, about other organizations that use them to transform business operations, enhance productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. But it’s important to take the time to define a proper business case to prioritize projects, get buy in, and measure success.

But building your business case is no easy task! Some cost and revenue models for application development are well-understood for web apps, but the the development and operational costs for mobile enterprise apps are very different and enterprises are faced with added challenges:

It is often difficult to determine the ROI for employee-facing mobile apps that do not fall into well-defined categories, such as sales and field force automation.

Cost savings from mobile projects are often associated with process transformations, making them difficult to assess, especially because most organizations have not baselined the time and effort required by these processes.

Creating a strong mobile enterprise business case

73 percent of businesses rated

“increased efficiency” as very important key benefit of mobile computing

Source: Symantec 2012


DEVELOPMENTCOSTS

StaffingTestingIntegration

OPERATIONAL COSTS

LicensingInfrastructureMobile Data

CloudSupport & TrainingUpdates

BENEFITS

EfficiencyEffectivenessError Reduction

Inspired by the ancient Project Management proverb - “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” – this paper offers a discussion of how to create a strong mobile enterprise business case by breaking down the work into 3 bite-sized pieces:

Determine Development Costs

Determine Operational Costs

Calculate Benefits, Cost Savings and Revenue

After completing this process at your business, you’ll will have a better idea of how to set appropriate budgets, know where best to direct investment and you’ll understand how to assess the potential revenue, cost savings and intangible benefits derived from mobile enterprise applications.

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StaffingHere are the staff and skills you’ll need:

App development for each platform

User experience design

Visual design

Backend/middleware development

Project management

If you have some or all of these resources internally and would prefer to run the project in-house, we recommend that you consult with mobile development specialists to assist in designing the service concept. This will to minimize the overall risk of the project. This is likely to raise the cost in the short-term, but with the rapid evolution of mobile application development platforms, technology and capabilities, you’ll want to ensure that your team has the most up-to-date knowledge/recommendations/ideas from a team of professionals who live and breathe mobile.

TestingConsider:

Do you have the capabilities in-house to test all platforms or will you need to outsource?

Estimate approximately 50% of the overall cost of development for QA

What about devices? You’ll enhance the overall quality of the app by testing frequently on actual devices rather than emulators

Development Costs1

DEVELOPMENTCOSTS

StaffingTestingIntegration


Testing is often under prioritized in development projects, but the reality is that mobile testing remains a complex, multifaceted activity. Take it seriously because users will not adopt a buggy app! That being said, we recommend limiting deployment to certain approved devices to reduce the scale of testing required.

Integration What is the cost of integrating with your existing IT Systems if there are no web services available today?

Would it be worth investing in middleware that exposes your legacy services to mobile? This way you can build a future-proof solution that scales and is cheaper to maintain.

Do you have costs associated with opening and securing back-end systems? These could be amortized as part of a general move to multichannel delivery.

Is there a need for containerization or virtual private network solutions for private connectivity?

The lack of suitable integration points is one of the most common issues encountered in mobile development. Don’t take it lightly. Allow sufficient lead time or budget to consult with mobile API specialist to help you design the best architecture for your applications.


Mobility is driving major changes in the way organizations source technology and technology services. In fact, Forrester states that 71% of IT services executives say that increased employee use of apps on tablets and smartphones also increases services spend (in business and in IT), creates more software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployment on mobile devices, and drives them to hire more third-party services firms across multiple areas, including specialized development and security.

But mobile app operational costs are different from those of traditional enterprise offerings. Here are some costs to consider for your business case:

Licensing Are there any volume-based licensing fees to consider for your app (CRM, Document Repository, MDM, MAM, Enterprise app store, etc)?

Infrastructure How will the added number of devices impact the usage of corporate Wi-Fi?

Will you need to extend coverage to all areas where the apps are to be used?

Time for a mobile device management (MDM) partner?

Make sure to consider these and any other potential impacts that deploying an app can have on your existing infrastructure. Consider the costs of upgrading bandwidth and equipment if you want to ensure quality service for your users.

Operational Costs2

OPERATIONALCOSTS

LicensingInfrastructureMobile DataCloudSupport & TrainingUpdates


Mobile Data More apps mean more data charges on the device, what’s a fair estimate?

What should you account for in added roaming costs?

Cloud Will you be using cloud services for your app middleware?

Support & Training Training courses on new systems for internal support staff?

By how much will you have to increase the head count?

What is the cost/time associated with onboarding training for new users?

As the range of supported systems and devices expands, so does the need for support staff and training. There are companies that you can outsource this to, but at the very least you must consider the cost associated with growing your team’s size and knowledge.

Updates No matter what, if it’s an app, it will need to be updated. In development, you’ll probably decide some features will have to wait till Version 1.1, or Version 2.0. How frequently will you update your app? Point releases? Major upgrades?

As they use it, employees and business stakeholders will ask for enhancements and updates. How will you support enhancement requests and bug reports?

What about security updates?

Don’t pretend it’s not going to happen. How much will each update cost to develop, test and deploy?


Define project benefits metrics based on efficiency, effectiveness and error reduction.

Some tips:

Think about how much time people wasted before

Estimate benefit per employee to generate a more realistic estimate (don’t just wave the magic wand and assign a number)

EfficiencyEliminating hardware

Can a mobile device replace a more expensive piece of equipment?

Eliminating paper handling & printing

How much will you reduce paper costs by switching to direct data entry into a mobile device or by eliminating paper catalogs/brochures?

How does that impact your printing and shipping costs?

Cutting internal communications costs

Can you reduce the load on admin staff and contact centers by equipping your field team with self-service content?

Is the impact large enough to lower telecom costs?

Cutting internal communications costs

What can people get done with mobile apps during otherwise idle time?

More sales? Calls? Emails? CRM updates?

3 Calculating Benefits, Cost Savings & Revenue

BENEFITS

EfficiencyEffectivenessError Reduction


EffectivenessProcess transformation What is the long-term impact of mobilizing a business process (e.g. Enabling maintenance crews to receive their work orders directly without having to collect a paper roster from the office)?

Driving revenue How will the app increase traditional sales and field force metrics, such as calls per week and time to repair?

If you deploy digital catalogs that help your customers more quickly understand and desire your products, how could this increase revenue?

Intangible operational improvements If your app increases communication between your staff and your customers and prospects, what’s the value of that?

Mobile Data How much less data is consumed by replacing web with native apps?

Error reductionDirect data entry How much time did staff previously spend correcting data entry errors?

Automated parts control How much can you reduce return-to-base requirements if your enterprise app provides a manifest of parts needing replacement in field staff vans before the service agent leaves the depot?

Automated process How much faster can a service agent detect a fault with mobile workflow automation or advanced technology such as augmented reality?

Always up-to-date reference material How much time did staff previously spend organizing and filing new content?

What about time spent destroying old paper copies?


National Range Officers Institute metrics for mobile app development are not black and white. The metrics described in this report are a combination of industry research and 8 years of application development experience. Take this model and work with both the business and end users to uncover other business processes that could be improved and quantified. Find the ones that work best for your company and your app.

It’s a big task, but the reality is that mobile has the power to move from a cost center to a driver of business innovation—so getting a benefit template in place for each of the typical enterprise apps you plan to deploy will be an essential planning exercise. Break it down:

Identify a small number of tools and vendors to estimate costs

Use the metrics derived from the model above to assemble a case based on specific benefits and values

For more information on how to become an enterprise app rockstar read the other parts of our series.

Part 1: Developing an actionable mobile enterprise application strategy

Coming Soon! Part 3: Choosing the right Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) partner

Conclusion

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DMI is the world’s leading provider of enterprise mobility services and solutions. We build enterprise class mobile solutions that generate results for the world’s top brands and businesses. Our mobile solutions combine the award-winning user experience design that has made us one of the top creators of consumer apps, with the deep middleware and engineering expertise that we’ve used to build and manage enterprise applications for the most demanding IT departments in the world. DMI mobility solutions improve business processes, tap new revenue streams, build customer loyalty, and increase employee productivity. And we offer a full range of Managed Services to securely set up, configure, and manage your mobile devices.

The proof:

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DMI Sales TeamU.S. Sales: 855.963.2099Int’l Sales: [email protected]

We’ve built more than 400 mobile apps—in the past 12 months alone—for more than 150 leading organizations— like Disney, Coca Cola, Toyota, Vodafone, P&G, The National Guard, and Universal Studios.

We offer brilliant creative and user experience: Our mobile app development group was named the Best Branded App Developer at the 2012 Mobile Entertainment Awards.

We have 500,000 devices under management for more that 100+ clients, including many Fortune 500 companies—like BP, Johnson & Johnson, Sears, The Associated Press, Allergan, and more. At BP, we’re deploying 1,000 managed mobile devices each day.

We provide 24 x 7 x 365 mobile service support for more than 500,000 users. DMI is the one call our customers need to make to resolve any issue—devices, apps, infrastructure, even carriers.

We offer a full range of security options that include Federal-grade hardware-based security, two-factor authentication, secure container, and sophisticated encryption solutions.

With our expertise and economies of scale, we can provide mobility management at a higher service level and on average 20% lower cost than most companies can do on their own.

Pervasive excellence is our commitment to quality service. DMI is one of only a handful of companies that is CMMI L3 appraised for both application development and services, as well as ISO 9001:2008, ISO 27001:2005, and ISO 200001:2011 certified. Our average D&B Open Ratings performance score from our clients is 94/100.

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Essential Guide to Becoming A Mobile App Rock Star - part II - Enterprise Apps