It’s always surprising how quickly times flies. Take the London 2012 Olympics for example, only yesterday it was hosted in London. Now in the midst of summer, the hype around Rio is rising alongside a summer of sports causing a patriotic surge. It’s events like the Olympics that reminds us how quickly time whizzes by, but this shouldn’t be a trap for your app.
In the 90’s when businesses decided it was time to launch a website, many were unsure why they actually needed it – they just did. Fast forward to today, companies wouldn’t dream of launching or running a business without a website. It’s the face of your company; it serves as your window to the world and is a huge driver of growth.
But, times are changing and businesses now face the same confusion about why they should or should not launch an app. Companies are launching apps whether they have a clear business reason or not. Organisations know that in 2016 the vast majority of employees are going to use applications to accomplish tasks at work, or consumers to engage with their brand. For example, 50 per cent of employers are using apps to engage employees in their health[1]. Couple this with the fact that it’s predicted that there will be 268,692m app downloads in 2017[2]. Development teams must therefore be prepared for increased user expectations, particularly with regards to keeping applications connected to ensure business operations [and customer engagement] run smoothly[3].
The legacy systems born over the last thirty years are now needed to support our new way of working and engagement, but that’s the problem – getting the data out of these systems to feed our digital lives isn’t easy. It’s a real challenge for any company deploying apps in 2016 and even more so when businesses are budgeting just 10 per cent to mobile[4].
Make sure your app doesn’t get stuck in the 90’s with these three tips.
1. Continually develop your app – making a cool, trendy and easy-to-use application is great for engaging users but if it isn’t developed it will ultimately be deleted
2. Decouple your systems – separate your app from your back end systems i.e.
3. Continue to understand and update data – employ a Reactive Data Layer that sits between the back end systems and your front end app
The result is your app is launched faster; you can access data in legacy systems earlier and in a cost-effective and simplified way. As an added bonus, your apps will also be built for scale and performance so when adoption rates increase, you are all set to deliver against that.
[1] http://mobihealthnews.com/content/survey-50-percent-employers-use-mobile-apps-engage-employees-their-health
2 http://www.statista.com/topics/1002/mobile-app-usage/
3 http://www.apmdigest.com/2016-application-performance-management-predictions-1
4 http://www.itproportal.com/2016/06/21/mobile-app-development-spend-still-low/
