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Contents: LetsBuildaMobileAppNoSweat! ....................................................................................................... 2 ADevelopersDilemmaCostvs.Functionality:LookingforaBetterWay............................................ 3 WhatifMobileApplicationsWereBrowserBasedWebApplications? ................................................................3 HybridApplicationsPuttingHTML5AppsInsideNativeAppContainers............................................... 5 EmpoweringHybridApplicationswithaMobileEnterpriseApplicationPlatform(MEAP) ..................................6 AdvantagesofHybridApplications.......................................................................................................................6 RealLifeExample:UsingHybridAppsforDynamicFieldSurveys ............................................................ 8 GoingHybridorGoingNativeWhenItMakesTheMostSense .......................................................... 10 Notes ...................................................................................................................................................................11
WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
LetsBuildaMobileAppNoSweat!
Considerthisscenario. Acompanydecidestheyneedamobilecompanydirectorythat workerscanaccessfromtheirsmartphones. Thisisalargeorganizationinwhichpeopleareonthego.When theyrenotmeetingwitheachother,theyaremeetingwith customers.Theyonlyspend20%oftheirtimeattheirdesks.Inthe courseofatypicalday,theyshareinformationonthefly,andthey needtoknowhowtocontacteachother.Also,thiscompanyjust mergedwithanothercompany.Managementwantstoget everybodyuptospeedasquicklyaspossible. DeveloperBobintheITdepartmenthasbeenstudyingupon HTML5.Acompanydirectoryseemsliketheperfectkindof applicationforthis.Theappwillneedtoworkonacoupleof differentkindsofphones,butthatseasywithaninternetbrowser basedsolution,andHTML5hassomegreatdatahandlingfunctions. DeveloperBobsaystohisboss,NoSweat!Hereshowtheproject goes: 1. DeveloperBobgetstowork.Hisbossstopsby. Managementsaystheywantthisbytheannualcompany meetinginfourweeks.HedropsapaperonBobsdesk. Thatsthefinaltallyofdevicesweneedtosupport.Five differentsmartphonesplustheiPadtablet.DeveloperBob saysOK,buthewondersaboutthattablet. Bobsbossstopsby.Turnsoutallthedirectoryinfois comingoutofthreedifferentdatabases.DeveloperBob blinks. Bobsbossstopsby.Absolutelyhavetohaveironclad securityonallthatpersonalinfo.Whatifsomebodyleaves theirphoneinataxi?Belikegivingawaythekeystothe store.DeveloperBobthinksaboutsecuringdataonall thosedifferentdevices.Hedetectsastrangeemptinessin thepitofhisstomach. Bobsbossstopsby.Wedecidedtoaddalittlesocial networkingtothemobiledirectorytoencourage collaboration.Wewanteverybodytobeabletobuildtheir owncolleagueslist.Wealsowantpeopletobeabletopost picturestheytakewiththeirphone.Nicetouch,eh?Could comeinhandy.DeveloperBobhasanewtwitchunder oneeye,andhenoticesatremorinhislefthand. Bobsbossstopsby.Annualmeetingscomingrightup. HowsitgoingBob?
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ADevelopersDilemmaCostvs.Functionality: LookingforaBetterWay
Untilrecently,companiesgoingmobilefacedachoice.Theycouldbuyandcustomizeoutoftheboxmobile applications,ortheycouldbuildtheirownusinganintegrateddevelopmentenvironmentnativetothe devicesthatwillruntheirapplications. Outoftheboxpointsolutionsarequickertodeploy,buttheyhavedisadvantages.Theyoftenneed customizationtoworkjustrightforaparticularbusinessusecase.Theyalsohaveproprietarytoolsfor customization,configuration,andmanagementthatarespecifictotheapplication.Afterdeployingafew outoftheboxpointsolutions,companiesfindthemselvesspendingenormousamountsoftimemanaging them. Buildingyourownnativeappsenablesyoutohavetheexactfunctionalityyouwant.Thereis,however,a catch.Buildingnativeapplicationsrequiresspecialknowledgeofthelanguages,SoftwareDevelopmentKit tools,anddevicefeaturesuniquetoeachnativeenvironment.Mobileapplicationdevelopersaretypically specialists.IfyouneedaniPhoneapp,youfindaniOSdeveloper.Thenifyouneedthatapptoworkonan Androiddevice,youfindanAndroiddeveloperwhocanrebuildtheapplicationfortheAndroiddevice. Companiesenvisioningtheirmobilizedfutureworryovertheprospectofusinghighpricedspecialiststo buildeachapplicationseveraltimesover,orusinghighpricedresourcestocustomizecommercial applicationsforeachdevice.Thisisespeciallytrueinlightoftodaysbusinessimperatives: Surveysshowthatover50%ofenterprisesnowsupportmorethanonemobileoperatingsystem, and25%supportmorethanthree1,butthenumbercould,infact,behigherthanthat.Thereisa growingtrendformobileworkerstobringtheirowndevicestowork.Arecentsurveyrevealedthat over80%ofITdepartmentshavehadrequeststomigratebusinessapplicationstopersonalmobile devices.2 Companieswhoavoiddevelopmentcostsbybuyingoutoftheboxsolutionscustomizethoseapps 70%ofthetime.3Thismeanscustomizingforallsupporteddevicesisveryexpensive.
Ifonlytherewasasimplerwaytobuildmobileapplications
WhatifMobileApplicationswereBrowserBasedWebApplications?
Turningwebapplicationsintomobileappshasacertainappeal.Anyonewithabrowserenabled smartphoneortablet,whichisprettymuchanysmartphoneortabletonthemarkettoday,wouldbeableto runawebapplication.Webapplicationscouldbebuiltonce,andtheywouldworkonanymobiledevice withabrowser.Also,theskillsrequiredtobuildwebappsaremucheasiertofindthanthoseneededto buildiPhoneorAndroidorWindowsPhoneapplications. Itsaniceidea,butuptonowHTML,thetechnologyusedtobuildwebpages,hasbeenverylimitedinthe wayitcanrunapplications.However,recentadvancesinHTML,collectivelyreferredtoasHTML5,havethe wholeindustrytakingacloserlook.Andwhatistheindustryseeing? ItseemsthatHTML5offersagreatwaytobuildsimplemobileapplicationsthatworkonanydevice. HoweverasDeveloperBobfoundoutthehardway,therecanbecomplications.Forinstance: Bobsbosstoldhimtosecurethedirectoryinformationthatdownloadstodevices.Everydevice andbrowserhandlesdatadifferently,sonowhesgottocreatesomethingdifferentforeach device; Collectingdirectoryinformationfromdifferentbackendserversiscomplexandtimeconsuming; ThewholesocialnetworkingfeatureisimpossibleforBob.HTML5doesntevensupportdirect controlsoverphonehardwarelikecameras.
WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
Native Applications
Use of device specific hardware and associated functionalities. Use of native SDK applications such as: personal information management, email, SMS, photostream, browser. Much larger data storage. Enhanced security features mean native apps can be built more secure. Native apps run faster: better integration with graphical processor, and native languages operate much faster than JavaScript.
Disadvantages Native apps are not compatible with other operating systems. This means a version of the app needs to be built for each operating system supported by the organization. Collecting developer expertise for multiple platforms can be challenging. Maintaining native apps on different devices and operating systems is time consuming and expensive. Trying to develop consistent content for each supported platform on different SDKs can be challenging.
DeveloperBobisinatoughspot.However,thereisasimplerwaytosolvethisproblem,anditdoesnt involvechoosingbetweenHTML5andnativeapplications.
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WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
HybridApplicationsPuttingHTML5AppsInside NativeAppContainers
Whatifyoucouldmarryawebapplicationwithanativeapplication? WhatifyoucoulddothissotheHTML5applicationcanperformdevicespecificfunctionsthroughanative applicationcomponentofsomekind?IfDeveloperBobhadsomethinglikethat,hecoulddoeverythinghis bosswasaskingfor,nosweat! Itturnsoutthereissuchathing,anditiscalledaweb container.Awebcontainerisanativeapplicationdesigned toprocessgenericfunctioncallsfromawebapplication. Thisdoestwothings: ItenablesagenericHTML5webapptoperform functionsthatarehighlyspecifictoaparticular devicetypeshardwareanddatahandling capabilities; Byusingnativeappcontainersforeachdevicetype supportedinabusinessmobilityenvironment,it becomespossibletocreateasingleHTML5 applicationthatperformsadvanced,devicespecific operationsonallthedifferentdevices.
Suddenlyasinglewebapplicationcanhavenearlythesamecapabilityasnativeappscreatedforeach supporteddevice.Butwheredoallthehybridappcontainerscomefrom?
WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
EmpoweringHybridApplicationswithaMobileEnterpriseApplication Platform(MEAP)
Creatingacontainerforawebapplicationishalfthesolution.Containersarethemselvesnative applications,andyouwillneedasmanydifferentcontainersasdevicetypesyousupport.Managingan enterpriseofdevices,containers,andhybridapplicationsisnearlyimpossiblewithoutamobileapplication platformhavingthesecapabilities: Containersthatarefullyintegratedintotheplatformenvironment.Notallwebcontainersare createdequal.Anenterprisegradewebcontainershould: o tieintobackenddataandsupportserverdrivenevents,messages,andnotifications; o managecontentthroughasingleadministrativeinterfacethatisintegratedwiththe platformidentityandsecurityservices; o supportsingle,consistentencryptionacrossdifferentdevices. Applicationscanbewritten instandardsbasedHTML5, JavaScript(thestandard scriptinglanguageusedto createwebapplications), andCSS(CascadingStyle Sheetsthestandardstyle sheetlanguageusedto definetheformattingand appearanceofwebpages). Thesearetechnologies familiartowebdevelopers. Thisenablesthemto incorporateopensource frameworksandalsoselect theirpreferreddevelopment environment. Strongapplication managementcapabilities thatenableyoutodistribute applicationsbasedon operationalrolesanddevicetypes,andenforceadeviceandapplicationmanagementstrategy.
AMEAPsimplifiestheprocessofbuildinganddeployinghybridapplications.
AdvantagesofHybridApplications
Hybridapplicationsofferveryspecificadvantagesinabusinessmobilityenvironment.Theseinclude: Hybridapplicationsreduceapplicationdevelopmentcosts:Hybridapplicationsenabledevelopers withlessspecializedskillsetstobuildanapplicationonceforallthedevicesinabusinessmobility environment.Howimportantisthis?Researchshowsthatbuildinghybridapplicationsisabout1/3 thecostofbuildingequivalentfunctionalityinnativeapplications.Insomeinstances,costsavings canbefargreaterthanthat.4Thesesavingsaddupwhenmultipliedbyallmobileapplicationsand supporteddevicetypes. HybridapplicationsdelivercriticalnativeenhancementstothecrossplatformbenefitsofHTML5 andwebapplications:Theseincludesuchfeaturesaspush,deviceAPIs,security,andprovisioning,
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WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
Hybridapplicationsprovideaconsistentlevelofdatasecurityacrossalldevices:Containers enabledeveloperstousenativedevicememoryfordatastorage.Thismeansyoucanstoremore datathanwouldbepossiblewithasimplewebapplication,andthedatacanbestoredmore securelyusingtechniqueslikedataencryption. Hybridapplicationssimplifydevelopers'accesstobackenddata:BecauseMEAPcontainerscan haveallthenecessaryhookstobackenddatasourcesbuiltintothem,itiseasyforadeveloperto connecttoacorporatedatasourceandbuilddatarichmobileapplications. Hybridapplicationssimplifyapplicationmanagement:Ascompaniesbecomemoremobilized, theywillbesupportinganevergrowingportfolioofmobileapplications.Applicationmanagement becomesamatterofsomeimportanceinamobileenterprise.AMEAPbasedmobilitystrategythat includesappcontainersaspartoftheplatformsolutionsimplifiesapplicationmanagementinthese ways: o Itbecomesasimplematter topushnewhybrid applicationsouttoworkers whosedevicesarealready setupwithcontainers. Inmobilebusiness environmentswhere companiespermitpersonal liabledevices(theseare personaldevicesworkers adaptforbusinessuse somethingthatsurveys showisnowdoneby nearly60%ofmobile workers5),hybridapp containersmakeitiseasy toseparatebusiness applicationsfrompersonal useapplications. Incaseswhereadeviceis retiredoranemployee leavesthecompany,it becomesaneasymattertoremovebusinessapplicationsfromthedevicewithout affectingnonbusinessrelatedfeaturesandapplications. Hybridapplicationsareeasiertoupdate.Whenitcomestimetomodifyorupdatean application,thechangeismadeonceinthehybridappandthenpushedouttoallthe usersandtheirdifferentdevicetypesacrosstheenterprise.
Sohowcantheseadvantagesbeputtopracticaluse?Letslookatanactualcase.
WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
RealLifeExample:UsingHybridAppsforDynamic FieldSurveys
Foramajorglobalfastfoodbrand,maintainingfoodandservicequalityisintegraltothebrandandtothe business.Tokeeptabsonhoweachofitsmanythousandsofrestaurantlocationsisdoing,onecompany has3500auditorslocatedaroundtheworld.Theseauditorsgotorestaurants,ordermeals,andevaluate theexperiencebyansweringsurveyquestions. AuditorsuseaWindowsbasedlaptoprunningaspecialsurveyapplication.Eachdaytheyloginandsync theirsystem.Whentheydothis,theydownloadalistofplacestheywillaudit,alongwithinformation specifictoeachbusiness(suchaslocation,contactinformation,andthemanagersname).Theyalsogeta questionnaireuniquetoeachbusiness.Thisquestionnairevariesdependingonfactorslikethecountry (language),thetypeoffacility(notallrestaurantsofferexactlythesamemenusorservices,soquestions varydependingontherestauranttype),andthepurposeoftheevaluation(afoodqualityevaluationwill havedifferentquestionsthanafacilitiesmanagementevaluation).Thequestionnairealsohasdesign featuresthatmakeitfastandeasyforauditors,likequestiontreesandcollapsingquestioncategories. Thissystemworksprettywell,butitisshowingitsage.Acoupleofkeyissues: Theoriginaldeveloperisnolongergoingtosupportoldtechnologyusedtobuildthisapplication. Surveyquestionsareaddedandchangedallthetime.Anynewsolutionneedstobeableto generatethehighlydynamicsurveyformsauditorsuseinthefield. Surveyresultsarestoredonauditorslaptopsuntiltheyloginandsynchtheirsystem.Thenthe datadownloadstothemasterdatabase.Ifauditorsstoremorethanafewsurveysbeforesynching anddownloading,dataisgarbledandtheylosesurveyresults.Toavoidthis,theysyncupafter everysurvey. Auditorswouldliketousedevices thataremoreportablethanthebig, clunkylaptops.Theywouldpreferto usetabletsandsmartphonesto capturetheirsurveydata.
Oneapproachwouldbetoturnthesurvey applicationintonativeapplicationsforspecific mobiledevices.However,thiswouldrequire buildinginhousedeveloperexpertisesothat theycouldmaintaintheeverchangingsurvey forms.Themaintenancecostswouldbehuge. Anew,MEAPbasedhybridapplicationsolution offersafarmorecosteffectivewaytodothis. Allthebackenddataexchangeismanaged throughnativeappcontainers.Thedynamic survey,whichisuserinterfacedesignintensive, wouldbehandledasanHTML5web application.Thisapproachhasclear advantages: Applicationcodeandlogicalready writteninJavaScriptorHTMLcanbe cutandpastedintonewhybridapps builtontheMEAPplatform.
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WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
GoingHybridorGoingNativeWhenItMakesThe MostSense
Hybridappsmakealotofsenseformanydifferentkindsofmobilebusinessapplications.Theremaybe times,though,whenanativeapplicationprovidessomeadvantages. Hybridapplicationsareidealinthesesituations: Yourorganizationhasaccesstowebdevelopers,butyoudonothavemobiledeveloperswho cansupportmultipledeviceoperatingsystems. Youarebuildinganapplicationthatwillrunacrosstheenterpriseorrunonavarietyofmobile devices. Theapplicationneedstolookdifferentondifferentmobiledevicesorfordifferentusers(if,for instance,youhavelocalizationrequirements,oryouaredeployingthesameapptodifferent businessesordivisions). Youneedtoproducetheapplicationquicklyandkeepdevelopmentcostslow. Purenativeapplicationsmaymakesenseinthesesituations: Yourorganizationhasnativeapplicationdevelopmentexpertisereadilyavailable. Youarebuildingaspecializedapplicationthatwillrunononlyonekindofdevice,andyouhave theexpertisetodevelopandmaintainit. Theapplicationreliesheavilyongraphicalorprocessingperformance,suchasan analytics/businessintelligenceinterface. Torealizethegreatestadvantagefromthehybridapp approachtobuildinganddeployingmobileapplications, youwillneedaplatformbasedmobilitystrategyin whichtheMEAPsupportsfullyintegratedapp containers.Thatmeansthecontainers: tieintobackenddataandsupportserver driveneventslikemessagesand notifications; useopensource,standardsbasedHTML(5) andJavaScriptlibrariesaswellasexisting applications;
WhataboutDeveloperBob?
Without going into all the details, Developer Bob is doing fine. Its true he totally blew his deadline of delivering the new mobile company directory in time for the annual meeting. However ever since he championed the use of hybrid web apps, Bob has become widely regarded throughout the organization as a very brilliant guy.
supportsingle,consistentencryptionacrossdifferentdevices.
Formoreinformationaboutusinganddeployinghybridmobileapplications,clickhere,orcontactaSybase orSAPrepresentative.
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WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?
Notes
1Reitsma,Reineke.TheDataDigest:WhichMobileOperatingSystemsDoEnterprisesSupport?ForesterBlog,
January7,2011.
April6,
2011.
4Sybasepragmaticresearch.
5MobileAppManagement&theEnterpriseAppStore.AppCentral,2011.
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