How to Craft an Enterprise Mobility Strategy for Business Growth | Invonto

An effective enterprise mobility strategy is not about determining pros and cons, rather it is about embracing the overall impact that new mobile technology will have on the future of your business.

Mobile applications are a huge part of our everyday lives. In the U.S. alone, consumers now spend an average of over four hours per day on mobile devices, not including work-related smartphone use. Data continues to show mobile usage on a sharp incline, making a robust enterprise mobility strategy a critical requirement for businesses of all sizes, from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. This is especially true given that a significant percentage of Americans still rely on their smartphones as their primary means of internet access.

New technologies such as AR (augmented reality),VR (virtual reality) and AI (artificial intelligence) open up entirely new use cases for mobile applications – all of which can enable your business to achieve digital transformation.

Over the last decade, we have seen rapid advancements in mobile app development technology and network accessibility. Today’s mobile devices offer better performance and user experience. Eco-systems for apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play have grown drastically. Most major brands have invested in an enterprise mobility strategy, leading to their development and launch of increasingly sophisticated, productive mobile apps. Growing investments and advancements in mobile technology make it the preferred platform for accessing and sharing data information.

Millennials and Generation Z see mobile as the only viable platform. As they continue to join the workforce, demands for mobility solutions will continue to rise. Today, enterprise mobile app development has become a crucial part of digital strategy for all businesses.

Attentive CIOs not only recognize this shift, they are investing in technology solutions to take advantage of these changes. The long-term success of the modern enterprise depends on their ability to deliver mobile applications for their business and customers. The growing demand for mobility is already driving innovation. Companies are reinventing business operations and capitalizing on the benefits of mobile apps. That’s why today, more than 77% CIOs are considering a mobile-first approach for their digital transformation strategy. However, few businesses are prepared to create and implement a cohesive plan. This provides a clear opportunity for those who invest in a winning app development strategy to become more competitive.

In this article, we provide you with a comprehensive guide to craft an effective enterprise mobility strategy for your business.

We’ll dive into:

• Enterprise mobility trends in the 2020s
• 6 steps for a winning app development strategy
• Key questions to ask during each phase

But first…

What is Enterprise Mobility?

Enterprise mobility is the deployment of mobile solutions across an organization. It leverages mobile tech to connect people, processes, and data. An effective enterprise mobility strategy improves how consumers and employees interact with an enterprise’s products and services.

Highly robust enterprise mobile solutions can offer your employees numerous ways to produce a positive impact on business growth. They allow consumers to purchase and use your products and services easily. At the same time, they increase customer touch points with your business.

A well-defined App Development Strategy leads to successful enterprise mobile app development that can:

Provide customers with the ability to self-provision services
Create new user experiences that are simple, personal and smart
Remove complexities from internal processes
Build new revenue systems around data

Of course, enterprise mobility strategy is ineffective in a silo. Enterprise mobility strategy is part of an overall tech narrative of an organization leading to digital transformation. An enterprise mobility strategy takes into account the entire range of digital initiatives within your business.

“Developing a successful enterprise mobility strategy is no longer just ahead-of-the-curve thinking. Enterprise mobility is a must for any company seeking to stay competitive.”

Benefits of enterprise mobility solutions

An effective enterprise mobile strategy can benefit your customers, business, employees, vendors and partners.

Improve Security

Mobile devices are now a necessity. Your employees will use their own devices for work if they aren’t equipped with a company-owned device. That can lead to costly data security breaches, the smallest of which can cost millions. An enterprise mobility strategy that takes company-owned and employee-owned devices into account can address potential security risks, helping to safeguard your employees, your customers, your company as well as your data.

Increase Productivity

Increase Productivity: Employees that can access their work from anywhere through enterprise mobile app development are more versatile, efficient, and productive. They gain the ability to work offsite, from home, or during their commute. Studies continue to show that a well-executed enterprise mobility strategy can significantly improve productivity, with some reports citing gains of up to 30%.

Reduce Costs

Employees tend to be more comfortable using their own devices. Companies that have a BYOD (bring your own device) policy can save money if they implement an enterprise mobile strategy that includes securing employee devices. When done correctly, businesses can greatly reduce overall spending through a comprehensive enterprise mobility solution.

Make Informed Decisions Faster

Data accessibility becomes critical when employee decisions impact the business. Real-time access to data can make employees more efficient and productive and increase the accuracy of their judgment. Field service employees can quickly communicate with employees in the office. Businesses can run meetings regardless of whether everyone is physically present. Work progress can be reviewed from anywhere. With an enterprise mobility solution, your team can make informed decisions faster.

Be Prepared

An enterprise mobility solution can help you withstand natural disasters, which can present risks to any business. Such a solution could prevent the disastrous loss of documents and locally-stored data, empowering your business to continue to operate uninterrupted.

Improve Employee Retention

When work is simpler, employees are happier. An enterprise mobility solution can simplify processes, enabling your staff to focus on tasks and improve productivity with less stress. These changes can result in better work-life balance and build a strong company culture. This can lead to an increase in employee satisfaction and retention.

Foster a Culture of Innovation

Through smart enterprise mobile app development, companies can experiment with modern digital technologies like augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things. This can lead to finding innovative ways to improve business processes, engage customers, and develop new products. A culture of innovation can help companies with their digital transformation and become industry leaders.

Recent Enterprise Mobile App Development Trends Across Industries

Enterprise mobility solutions vary widely by industry. However, every business must have an enterprise mobility strategy that is:

• Unique to its own industry
• Addressing its specific business needs
• Based on its current stage of mobile adoption

Below are some examples of mobility solutions that have disrupted several industries:

FinTech

Mobile payment solutions are advancing quickly, with digital wallets now accounting for over half of all global e-commerce payments. In the U.S. alone, mobile wallet adoption has surged, with over 50% of consumers regularly using services like Apple Pay and Google Pay for in-store and online purchases. This trend will likely increase, providing tremendous opportunities for growth in FinTech, including:

• Mobile banking services
• Mobile wallets with enhanced security
• Mobile commerce applications
• Mobile real-time investing
• Mobile payment solutions

Construction

Mobile is transforming the real estate and construction industries. For example, augmented reality for mobile devices allows anyone to visualize a space. Builders can overlay BIM models on the construction site. Architects can present architectural models in 3D. Home buyers can “walk” into their new home miles away without leaving their living room.

Cost and pressure on the industry will drive the adoption of augmented reality across all phases of the construction process. Home builders and construction companies will embrace mobile technologies for:

• Field service solutions with access to actionable data in real time
• Customer, builder, and vendor collaboration solutions
• Optimizing and mobilizing business processes
• Product visualization

Retail

Mobile apps are capable of providing a richer in-store customer experience. Consumers can receive personalized notifications about sales as they walk through store aisles, and regular customers can enjoy the benefits of a loyalty program. Early adopters in the retail industry are taking full advantage of mobile technology. With custom mobile app development, retailers can strategically differentiate their products and services as part of their App Development Strategy.

A perfect example of this concept is the Target mobile app. Users can access the app to locate products at their preferred store, plan grocery lists in advance, and purchase items for pick-up. Shoppers can also use the app to scan in-store items for additional savings and rewards, or even manage their Drive Up orders.

Retailers can add value by personalizing mobile experiences. They can seamlessly integrate voice & AI functions with digital assistants, providing a frictionless shopping journey. Brands are learning to differentiate on more than just price, instead focusing on redefining the entire customer experience through a strong Mobile Development Strategy.

Emerging technology can also make retail apps more powerful when the shopper is not in the store. For instance, augmented reality enables customers to “virtually” try on products in their home before purchasing, showcasing an advanced App Development Strategy in action.

Logistics

Real-time logistics management technology offers so many advantages that it has disrupted traditional freight, logistics and supply chain operations. This technology gives businesses access to actionable data as a core component of their Mobile Development Strategy to:

• Optimize lead time schedules
• Manage the supply chain
• Streamline processes for error reductions and operational efficiencies
• Utilize geospatial data from transportation networks
• Improve inventory turns
• Reduce inventory holding costs

Enterprise mobile app development is moving the supply chain with sophisticated apps for fleet tracking, inventory management, and order fulfillment. In logistics, the advantages of working smarter with these apps are apparent.

Healthcare

Mobile telehealth and telemedicine applications provide real value to patients and clinicians. Healthcare providers can offer remote digital healthcare services, delivering convenience, choice, personalization, and control to patients. The rise of these solutions is a direct result of effective enterprise mobile app development.

The adoption of telehealth has become a permanent fixture in healthcare. A recent American Medical Association (AMA) report shows that over 74% of physicians’ practices offer telehealth services. This includes providing telehealth services for managing chronic disease, ongoing medical treatment, care coordination, mental and behavioral health, and specialty care.

As more patients and healthcare providers become accustomed to remote medical care services, opportunities in the sector will grow. Several other technologies making strides can help make healthcare more accessible. They include augmented reality, voice, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

The global fitness app market was valued at over $8 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach nearly $20 billion by 2030. While major brands like Nike and Adidas have invested heavily, top apps continue to be driven by innovative newcomers. This demonstrates that the best apps have the strongest ideas and provide the best user experience, not necessarily name recognition, and that there’s significant room to enter this sector through a strong App Development Strategy.

This demonstrates that the top apps have the best ideas and provide the best user experience, not necessarily name recognition, and that there’s significant room to enter this sector with a strong App Development Strategy.

The benefits of mobile solutions are infinite. With all these opportunities, you might ask, “why isn’t every business focusing on enterprise mobility or have a clear mobile development strategy?”

In our years of enterprise mobile app development experience, we’ve discovered a common pain point: Most businesses don’t know where to begin. Implementing a new strategy can be daunting. Below, we’ll show you how to develop an effective enterprise mobility strategy with a winning app development strategy, no matter your sector.

Key Steps for Your App Development Strategy

An enterprise mobility strategy is a foundational part of your overall digital transformation strategy. While many digital transformations fail, a key factor for success is a clear roadmap. If done right, a well-defined app development strategy can scale business growth by guiding your enterprise mobile app development efforts. As a guiding document, it can help you evolve with the changing tech landscape and growing business needs.

“Your overarching mobility strategy goal should be to improve business operations for both your customers and employees.”

An enterprise mobility strategy can:

• Increase market share
• Improve staff productivity
• Reduce operational costs
• Provide real time access to data
• Enable multi-channel collaboration
• Identify the unique selling proposition (USP)
• Level the competitive landscape

There are six steps to create any successful app development strategy as part of your overall enterprise mobility strategy.

1. Defining Your Business Needs: What Problems Can Your App Development Strategy Solve?

Enterprise mobile solutions can help solve your business problems, find new customers, and create innovative digital products to grow your business. To start, first establish your business needs. Work toward understanding your company’s strategic goals. Use key performance indicators (KPIs), customer feedback, and industry trends to define your App Development Strategy’s core objectives.

You may ask yourself:

• What are the enterprise mobility trends in your industry?
• What are your business’s core products and services?
• Where do you see your business in the next 3, 5, and 10 years?
• Where are the bottlenecks in your business?
• Who are your customers?
• Are you meeting their needs?
• Who needs access to your data? Do you need different levels of access?
• How will you handle data privacy for your organization?

An enterprise mobility strategy does not replace your overall digital strategy. While mobile apps are a powerful tool, they will not solve all business problems in isolation. Enterprise mobile solutions are a part of your overall digital goals, which is why identifying your business needs is crucial to the success of your enterprise mobile strategy.

“Oftentimes your employees and your customers will experience the same challenge from different perspectives.”

Let’s use a popular restaurant chain as an example. This chain wants to integrate geo-tracking into their mobile app to accomplish several business goals related to delivery, a key element of their App Development Strategy. Identifying these business goals will lead to defining business solutions through enterprise mobile app development. The example above is the reason why Uber Eats and DoorDash are so popular.

Business goals

The business wants to reduce the amount of calls received about customer deliveries. It distracts employees from other tasks and negatively affects the brand. Geo-tracking enables employees to spend less time fielding customer calls about deliveries and helps the business see the driver’s location in real-time. This keeps the drivers accountable while on the clock.

Employee goals

The employees don’t want to take phone calls from unhappy customers about their delivery. The driver wants to know the fastest route from the restaurant to the customer, enabling them to make more deliveries and more money.

Customer goals

The customer just wants to know when they’ll get their food. Geo-tracking lets customers see in real time where the driver is and when their delivery is expected to arrive. They become happier and more satisfied, are far less likely to call the restaurant about their order, and far more likely to order again in the future.

Identifying business goals and aligning them with a clear App Development Strategy will lead to defining business solutions. The example above is the reason why Uber Eats and DoorDash are so popular. These businesses identified a customer need and, through successful enterprise mobile app development, created apps that can be used by restaurants and consumers.

Here are a few more questions to help you further:

• How does your client buy or receive your product or service?
• When in the buying process do customers interact with employees?
• How do customers interact with employees?
• How can you improve customer experience?
• Which solutions help increase customer touch points?
• How can a mobile solution address employee experience and efficiency?

2. Conducting Competitive Research for Your Mobile Initiatives

Now that you have identified your goals, it is time to research competitors and their mobile offerings. This crucial step informs your entire Mobile Development Strategy

Select a minimum of three competitors to analyze. Choose competitors based on your business objectives and industry trends. When selecting competitors, choosing a mix of top companies and innovative startups in your sector can enable you to cover all bases.

“If your competitor is a new player in the industry, understand how they may be offering mobility solutions that lead to industry disruption.”

First question:

What enterprise mobility solutions have your competitors built for their employees and customers?

Search competitor websites and online mentions. If they have applications, you can learn more about them on the app store. You can also download their app and try it. Even if you only have access to conceptual information it may be enough to piece together the “what” and “why.”

Furthermore, try to research their timeline and budget. Tools like Appfigures and AppTweak offer competitive intelligence on app store rankings, keywords, and even download and revenue estimates. Companies also discuss some of this in their press releases and media interviews, which can help you budget appropriately for your own enterprise mobile app development project.

Once you identify mobile solutions based on your competitive research, answer these questions to fine tune your App Development Strategy:

• Will this app solve any business problems or create value?
• How will you address feedback app users have provided for the competitors apps?
• What impact will new mobile apps have on your business processes?
• Does your business have the necessary technology infrastructure to build and support a mobile app?
• How are your competitors marketing their apps?

Next, create a competitor analysis spreadsheet and document your research. This will help as you move to the next phases of your mobility strategy.

In some cases, none of your competitors may have an app, providing a tremendous opportunity for your business to become an industry leader.

3. Setting Strategic Goals for Your Mobile Development Strategy

The first two steps in our strategy guide can help you identify your needs. Next, we want to prioritize those needs with goals and objectives that will form the basis of your App Development Strategy.

Important questions to ask:

• Which apps will have the most impact on your business, employees, and users?
• Is your business ready to support this app?
• Is mobility the right channel to deliver the solutions your business needs?

Your long-term implementation objectives relate to usage and scalability. In addition to the day-to-day usage, you’ll be gathering endless amounts of data.

Consider these additional questions:

• What new opportunities will your mobile app solution create? (Step 1 can help you here)
• How will you determine your return on investment (ROI)?
• How can your business benefit from the collected data?
• How will you scale your app as your business needs grow?
• How will you support and maintain your apps?

The time you take to clarify your goals and objectives will make it easier to measure key metrics for the future success of your enterprise mobility strategy.

4. Choosing the Right Mobile Experience and Platform for Your App Development Strategy

Developing a mobile app is not the same as developing a web application. While it’s common to think of it as a screen size adjustment, it’s not the case. In fact, more work goes into creating a mobile app than creating a website with the same features. There are two popular mobile platforms: iOS from Apple and Android from Google. These mobile platforms require developing apps using their unique development environment. A mobile app’s functions are custom-designed for each mobile platform. This provides app users with a unique user experience specific to their mobile devices. The decisions you make here are a critical component of your overall App Development Strategy.

Native Mobile Apps

Native mobile apps are built specifically for iOS or Android. Users must download them from the appropriate app store to a mobile phone or tablet. Native mobile apps make the most of a mobile device’s firmware and hardware, allowing them to take full advantage of the device’s capabilities. Native mobile apps perform well and deliver the best user experience. Most companies prefer developing native mobile apps.

For your initial launch, we recommend creating either an iOS app or Android app based on your target audience. By choosing one platform, you will shorten the delivery timeline, reduce investment and have an opportunity to perfect the app. You can then use everything you and your team learned on the first mobile platform, making it easier to build mobile app for other platform.

Mobile Web Apps

Mobile web apps are technically websites accessed from a browser like safari and chrome on mobile devices. These types of apps are responsive and can look like a mobile app, and work across all iOS and Android devices. This capability reduces initial investment and timeline for creating mobile web apps. Users can even add a launch icon to their mobile device, making access to them similar to native apps.

The downside is that mobile web apps get limited access to a mobile device’s hardware capabilities. The upside is that companies with existing enterprise web applications will find mobile web apps as an inexpensive, rapid way to launch new enterprise mobility solutions.

Below, see a comparison of both approaches.

Hybrid Apps / Cross Platform Apps

Cross-platform mobile apps use frameworks such as React Native and Flutter. These apps have a common codebase and can run across all mobile platforms. Hybrid apps use web technologies like Javascript and HTML5. These apps run within a native app container. Its name comes from the dual structure of the app being part web and part mobile. Like cross-platform mobile apps, hybrid apps also run across all mobile platforms.

The reason we don’t recommend hybrid and cross-platform apps is because they do not perform as well as native apps. Savings in initial mobile app development costs will be limited to 10-15 percent. However, these apps require more effort to scale and maintain because they are not as widely supported as native apps. Most companies prefer to build native mobile apps or mobile web apps.

Choosing the right mobile platform is essential to the success of your enterprise mobility strategy. Once you make this decision, it can be difficult and costly to reverse it. This is a critical component of your overall enterprise mobile app development plan.

These questions will guide you in the right direction:

• Who are the primary end users of your enterprise mobility solution?
• What devices will be used?
• For enterprise mobile apps, will you provide mobile devices for your employees or will you have a BYOD (bring your own device) policy?
• What mobile platform will your app support: iOS, Android, or both?
• What device type will your app support: smartphone, tablet, or both?
• How will users interact with your applications?
• Will your mobile app need access to a device feature like camera, speaker, GPS, accelerometer, or bluetooth?
• Will your mobile app require AR technology for features like product try-on, employee training?
• Will your mobile app include image recognition or data personalization through machine learning?
• Will your digital transformation roadmap also include web applications?

Sometimes, the discovery phase will require you to separate app requirements across multiple solutions. The end result is a suite of applications each serving a particular function. For example, Microsoft has the Office suite including Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Adobe has a large suite of design software including Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign. If you are finding it difficult to include every feature in your app, consider building a family of apps that do specific things really well rather than releasing an app that’s complicated to use.

5. Creating a Plan for Continuous Enterprise Mobile App Development Delivery

The landscape for enterprise mobile app development changes quickly, with companies like Google, Samsung, and Apple rapidly advancing technology and releasing new versions of devices and platforms every year. Because of this, agility is crucial to a successful App Development Strategy. Alongside your long-term plan, consider short-term requirements. In mobile app development, continuous support to address bugs, new features and security vulnerabilities is just part of the process.

Does your brand already have preexisting app development and deployment methodologies? If so, they may need to be revamped to keep pace with continuous delivery for new mobile applications. If you do not have established development processes then our article Mobile App Development Process: A Step by Step Guide can offer you guidance.

Another aspect to remember is that data-driven mobile apps rely on robust APIs (application programming interfaces). A strong API infrastructure will aid in the scalability, interoperability, and maintainability of your mobile apps. Therefore, your continuous delivery plan must support the server back-end and database changes required for successful enterprise mobile app development.

These questions will help you create your agile development plan:

• What apps and features will be of most value to users?
• Can you prioritize your app features in high, medium, and low categories?
• What new services will your business be introducing in the coming years?
• How frequently can your team release updates for your mobile apps?
• Can you ensure continuous delivery on the back-end to support your app?

Some of these questions may be difficult to answer. Please let Invonto know if you’d like to speak with us about your app.

6. Outlining a Robust Security Strategy and Governance Policy for Your App Development Strategy

A well-crafted app can significantly improve how customers interact with your business and how your employees perform their jobs. However, an unstable or unsecure app can do immense damage, underscoring the critical need for a robust security framework within your enterprise mobile app development.

Your governance policy should address:

• The development processes
• Device provisioning
• Data access and security
• Interruption coverage / disaster recovery
• Enterprise mobile app development management
• Ongoing infrastructure improvement needs

Larger organizations may need to establish a governance team. This team will have members representing each department affected by mobility solutions. The following questions will help you establish an effective governance policy:

• Who are the different stakeholders and personnel involved with your mobile initiatives?
• What device policy will you need? For instance BYOD, CYOD (choose your own device), or COPE (corporate-owned, personally-enabled)
• How will you secure your APIs?
• What security solution will you use to ensure data security?
• How will your app users be authenticated (SSO, OAuth, OpenID, Fingerprint, Facial Recognition, 3rd party credentials)?
• What development and deployment process will you follow?
• Will your apps have role-based access? Do you have the required identity management systems in place?
• What parameters will your app testing cover? For example usability, functionality, performance, security
• How should your app users be notified of new releases?
• What industry-specific compliance measures do you have to consider?
• How will your customer service and product tech team interact with users for product support?
• What steps do you need to take in the event of a service interruption?

Consistency across your business in enforcing the mobility governance policy and enabling IT to be proactive will help protect your company, your customers, and employees, as well as related data, ensuring the long-term success of your enterprise mobility strategy.

Strategic Considerations for Long-Term Mobile Success

Developing your enterprise mobility strategy is a long, but rewarding process. Our extensive experience helping clients with their app development strategy has led to the following critical takeaways for success:

Device Flexibility

You might consider incorporating a BYOD policy. If you do, understand that your employees will all have different devices. Your App Development Strategy must account for this, ensuring your apps function securely and effectively across all employee devices.

Embrace New Opportunities

It is easy to dismiss new ideas. Instead, we encourage you to evaluate every potential solution for its opportunity to provide innovation. Conducting a little bit of research as part of your App Development Strategy can result in significant savings and benefits.

Estimate Each Initiative

A key criterion for success is delivering your custom mobile app development projects on time and within budget. To do this, you must find out how long does it take and how much does it cost. We’ve also created an app cost calculator that can help you get a ballpark estimate for any app idea within five minutes. Such estimates will help you plan and fund your enterprise mobile app development initiatives.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Your enterprise mobility strategy should account for all departments in your organization. A company with multiple departments will have different needs, requiring a tailored approach. Identify primary users, both internal and external, for your mobile apps. If the needs of each group vary too much, your App Development Strategy may need to build different, focused solutions for each.

Secure, Scalable, Supportable

Secure, scalable, and supportable are non-negotiable pillars of successful enterprise mobile app development. An app that fails to account for these will be difficult to maintain and can jeopardize your business.

Focus on Short-Term Goals

Planning a long-term enterprise mobility strategy ensures a successful implementation. However, setting short-term goals helps you track progress toward long-term goals. Goal tracking, as part of a well-defined App Development Strategy, also keeps your team motivated as they achieve each milestone.

Hire The Right Team

If you are new to the world of mobile applications, then custom mobile app development is likely to be a major undertaking. You might not have the mobile UI designers, app developers, and project managers on your team as enterprise mobile app development is not the core of your business. This is why many companies hire professional app development agencies for their mobile app development services, allowing them to access the specialized expertise and efficient processes required for a successful project.

Conclusion

A successful enterprise mobility strategy needs sufficient planning and coordination within your business. When executed correctly, a strong App Development Strategy can be a cornerstone of your company’s digital transformation journey.

To review, prepare a mobile strategy that’s right for your business in 6 steps:

1. Define your business needs
2. Conduct research and perform competitive analysis
3. Set strategic goals and objectives
4. Choose the right mobile experience and platform
5. Create a plan for continuous delivery
6. Outline a security strategy and incorporate governance policy

Enterprise mobile solutions can deliver significant ROI for your business:

• Increase market share
• Improve staff productivity
• Reduce operational costs
• Provide real time accessibility to data
• Enable multi-channel collaboration
• Identify your unique selling proposition (USP)
• Increase your competitiveness

What goals do you want to achieve with your enterprise mobility strategy? Do you need help to craft a winning App Development Strategy that aligns with your business goals? Contact our experienced mobile app development team today to schedule your consultation.