It is always nice to hear when people are predicting a positive direction for mobile enterprise apps. It is even nicer when that person co-founded the most used mobile operating system in the universe. Google Ventures partner Rich Miner, a co-founder of Google’s Android operating system is predicting that we will see a new wave of mobile enterprise apps coming soon and he has some pretty good reasons to back up his prediction.
Miner believes that corporate CIOs are beginning to master mobile device management plans. He also credits them for utilizing consumer based business apps like Dropbox in a secure manner. Miner believes that due to these developments companies are now ready for the next evolution of mobile enterprise apps that will change entire industries. “Now that [developers] realize there are tens of millions of workers with smartphones. You’re going to see a wave of what was traditionally enterprise and SAS based applications for tablets.” He made his comments during the WSJ CIO Network conference while talking specifically about the construction and trucking industries.
One specific example that Miner used was the billions of dollars spent each year printing blueprints for the construction industry. He explained that now workers are able to carry hardened cases instead of flimsy pieces of paper. If they see a problem in the blue print they can message or email the architect right from the same device and maybe even the same app. In a short amount of time they can have a new version of the same plan in front of them on the exact same device.
Miner did point out that these changes would cost billions of dollars before the wave is truly complete. While this sounds like a lot of time and money it is not the first time that industries have had to shell out some cash to keep up with the times. This usually occurs when there are major breakthroughs in technology such as mobile enterprise apps.
Not that the co-founder of Android would be that far off of the mark, but Miner pretty much hit the nail on the head in his interview. It is likely that 2013 will be a huge year for mobile enterprise apps and it will only mark the beginning of a bright future for enterprise mobility. We will see more companies embracing mobile enterprise apps including smaller companies as they begin to understand that mobile enterprise apps are cost effective.
This new wave will bring a few challenges along the way including enterprise app security. Security is a hot button issue especially with more companies than ever allowing employees to use their personal devices for business tasks. The cost of mobile app development and integration is also another concern that companies are facing which includes hiring and training IT that have experience with mobile device management. At the heart of everything this wave of mobile enterprise apps is sure to spark competition for both mobile app developers and enterprises which only helps to boost the economy and create a market that is conducive to revenue creation.
