During the last couple of months the number of articles on B2B predictions has been phenomenal, and while most of them haven’t really surprised me, one really stood out in the crowd.
The forecast in question, constructed by Gartner, was that by 2017 one in four organisations will deploy an enterprise app store where employees can download company-approved apps.
So, it looks like it could be a busy couple of years for enterprise apps, and companies looking to exert some control over the tech their employees regularly use. This is a real innovation for apps as the most pioneering ones will be used by very niche groups and select numbers of people.
There’s lots of interesting things going on in the B2B apps field to help solve some common problems such as security issues, work place productivity, collaboration and remote working. Although I think enterprise apps that are designed to manage corporate data will empower employees, they could present them with problems on keeping their online environments secure and preventing data loss or leaks.
When bringing apps in to the enterprise fold it’s critical that users are given a support, training and FAQ destination. At the very minimum, basic security standards should be put in place to avoid any data blunders. For those taking the brave step to develop their own inhouse app(s), most important of all is testing. Get multiple people to test it on various mobile devices to get a well rounded view of the overall experience, and make tweaks accordingly.
It’s also imperative to monitor the app’s usage; how many times is it being downloaded and are employees using the app after they’ve downloaded it? How often are they using it and is it building on their professional development?
What do you make of where enterprise apps are going in 2014?
