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WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBe GoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?

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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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Atthiscriticaljunctureinourstory,weleaveDeveloperBlobina tightspotsowecantakeacloserlookatsomeofthechallengeshe facesinbuildingthecompanysmobiledirectoryapplication. 2


WebBasedMobileBusinessAppsMayBeGoodButAreTheyGoodEnough?

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?

WhatseemedlikeastraightforwardprojectquicklyevolvedintosomethingDeveloperBobcouldnthandle withHTML5,andhehasnonativeappdeveloperskills.Theywillneedtofindfivenativeapplication developerstodoallthis,andthecostwillbehuge.ItsnowonderBobisabouttogoovertheedge. NativeapplicationsandHTML5applicationseachhaveadvantagesanddisadvantagesassummarizedinthe followingtable:

Mobile Browser HTML5 Applications


Advantages Ability to provide offline data storage using the native cache in the browsers device, which may be secured if the device file system is encrypted. Portability of these applications between devices lowers development costs. Less specialized app development skills also lowers development costs. JavaScript language is cross-platform. Improvements over previous HTML capabilities include: threaded performance, more graphic capabilities, support for video playback. Limited ability to process large data volumes. No direct access to device specific hardware. No control over which devices are connecting to the enterprises web server. End users must self-provision apps & bookmark links; not able to send one app to all device users at one time. No ability to use push messaging to distribute notifications and content to employees. Not able to securely access and handle extensive amounts of business data. Unable to customize the look and feel of the HTML pages for different devices; each page needs to be changed individually for this to occur. HTML5 applications are slower than native apps more difficult to give the on device application user experience. HTML5 and CSS3 are not supported on all device platforms' browsers.

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?

Generatingdynamicformsandupdatingquestionsismucheasierusingawebapplication approach,anditdoesnotrequirethecompanytobuildawholenewkindoftechnicalexpertise. Thesurveyapplicationistotallyportabletodifferentmobiledevicetypes,liketabletsand smartphonesrunningwebappcontainers. Thesurveyworkswhetherthedeviceisonlineoroffline,andifthedeviceistemporarily disconnected,thedataisqueued,thensynchedinthebackgroundwhentheconnectionis restored.Thismeansauditorsnolongerneedtostop,findaplacetheycanlogin,andsynchronize aftereachaudit.Itenablesthemtobemoreproductiveauditors.

Inadditiontothesebenefits,thehybridapplicationapproachopensthedoortoeasilyaddingcompletely newcapabilities,suchas: Pushingauditingschedulesouttoauditorsratherthanwaitingforthemtodownloadaschedule.It alsosimplifiesscheduleschanges.Ifanauditorisunavailable,thatpersonsschedulecanbepushed tosomeoneelse. Addingmappingandnavigationinsteadofsimplypostinganaddressaspartofanauditing assignment,thatinformationcannowhookdirectlytoamappingornavigationfunctionavailable onthemobiledevice. Addingimagery,soauditorscanphotographthatpoorlyassembledburgerorthatkitchenhazard.

Thisapproachtofieldauditingiseasilyadaptabletootherkindsofbusinesses,suchasinsuranceadjusting andunderwriting,homeinspectionsaspartofamortgageoriginationprocess,propertysurveys,andany kindofoperationthatrequiresonsiteinspection. Clearlyhybridmobileapplicationsofferuniqueadvantages,butaretheyalwaysthebestapproach?Are theretimeswhenapurenativeapplicationisthebetterwaytogo?

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.

2Herrema,John.PersonalMobileDevicesintheEnterprise:WhatITNeedstoKnow.DigitalDiscourse,May 17,2011. 3Frost&Sullivan.AdoptionofPremiumMobileEnterpriseApplicationsTheU.S.Perspectivein2010.

April6,

2011.
4Sybasepragmaticresearch.

5MobileAppManagement&theEnterpriseAppStore.AppCentral,2011.


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