Custom apps enable customer engagement and collaboration

The Good Technology Mobility Index Report Q3 2014, which focuses on the impact of mobile application and device adoption, shows enterprise mobility is moving beyond mobile device management (MDM) and basic email on smart devices.

The in custom apps was particularly significant, with a growth of 700 percent year over year and 107 percent quarter over quarter.

“This continues a trend of exponential growth in custom app development over the last three years,” the report states.

According to the report, custom apps extend existing business processes and impact business transformation.

“The increase in custom apps is driven by businesses who want to do more on site," says David Balazsy, vice president and general manager, APAC, Good Technology. "It is enabling the workforce to do more and expand."

Balazsy says businesses are using custom apps in a number of ways, from mobile banking to increasing customer engagement with a greater array of targeted services.

Following custom app activations, secure IM and secure browser use are more popular in the business landscape.

The report also displayed an increase in third party apps, namely document editing, document access, instant messaging and mobile customer relationship management (CRM).

Document editing apps allows for increased collaboration opportunities, says Balazsy. “People anywhere within the organisation can collaborate on documents,” he says.

For instance, lawyers can use their iPads to update documents and conduct transactions wherever they are, without having to print sections or worry about security.

In New Zealand, local councils now have access to 1,000 processes developed by other councils so they can collectively share proven and valuable resources.

According to the report, iOS is the preferred choice over Android, with 69 percent of enterprises opting for iOS and 29 percent choosing Android. In regards to tablets, 89 percent of activations were with iOS while 11 percent were with Android.

Moving forward, Balazsy says there will be a greater focus on communicating internally in real time. This could lead to updates with chat such as the ability to send documents, images and more, and could see instant messaging bypass email.

Furthermore, Balazsy says the immediacy of mobility will further drive collaboration and help with business processes. Mobility apps and devices will continue to help businesses explore what is possible and extend capabilities, he says.