Kick start your

M BILE APP
strategy
Why do I need to go mobile?
Is delivering mobile applications really worth the efort? Will mobile
applications really add value to the business?
It is clear that mobility brings improvements to the enterprise in terms of
efciency and lower operational costs. This means that by investing in
a mobile strategy, employees are given the tools needed to make better
and faster decisions.
Better yet, theres evidence that investing in mobile pays. In a recent
Forrester survey, 75 percent of decision makers indicated that deploying
mobile apps had increased worker productivity, while 65 percent
acknowledged that mobile apps increased employee responsiveness
and decision-making speed. Mobile is not a shot in the dark; its something
that has already proven its benefts.
The way mobile apps achieve these benefts is by providing access to
relevant information at the right time and place, in an easy-to-use, consum-
able and actionable form. This gives workers the insight and tools needed to
accomplish more.
Employees are aware of this productivity increase and theyre the ones
driving the mobility trend. They bring their own mobile devices to the
workplace and expect to be able to access applications from their devices.
The challenge is building and maintaining these applications in light of
the evolving technology and device options.
Mobile gives you an
opportunity to
increase your
workforce efciency.
Mobile gives you an
opportunity to
increase your
workforce efciency.
/ Kick start your mobile app strategy 2
What are my options to go mobile?
There are a lot of technologies out there to help enable mobile strategies.
There are frameworks, IDEs, debuggers, emulators the works! But before
deciding on a mobile approach, a decision should be made on the type of
mobile application to build. There are three types of mobile applications
to choose from:
Native applications
These are mobile applications that are written in the sometimes-proprietary
language(s) prescribed or allowed by the mobile OS manufacturer. Usually
these apps provide a very rich user experience, because they are built
specifcally for a particular devices hardware. On the downside, for each
device supported, a specifc version of the app must be built. This approach
tends to require specifc teams dedicated to each platform because of the
uniqueness of each language and device or outsourcing to companies that
specialize in building and supporting native apps.
Mobile web applications
These are increasingly rich mobile applications that are accessed via the
devices web browser. These applications can take a variety of design forms.
Historically, companies that went down the path of mobile web enablement
created specifc mobile-only versions of their websites or applications.
Recently, a methodology known as responsive design has taken hold.
Enabled by advancing technologies, such as HTML5, responsive design
allows developers to create one application that seamlessly responds to the
form factor of the accessing device.
Hybrid applications
The main goal of this type of application is to leverage the power of native
and simplicity of mobile web. This is achieved by building a thin native shell
around a mobile web application. Companies use this technique most
frequently, mainly to get the mobile app listed on a variety of app stores.
A secondary use case for hybrid apps is to implement the most-used func-
tions natively. Lastly, some companies use the native layer to gain access to
additional local sensors or applications and data (e.g. accessing contacts,
etc.)

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Which way should I go?
Mobile web applications provide the quickest way to get started. When
compared with native apps, a mobile web app ofers some very strong
benefts:
Its not a whole new technology
The jump from web development to mobile is much smaller than having to
learn native. Modern devices deal quite well with most recent and evolving
web standards, like HTML5 (HTML, CSS3 and JavaScript). The technology
behind these standards is very powerful and can be used to build apps that
provide a phenomenal user experience. Companies can now bridge the
perceived gap between native and mobile web by directly integrating to
the device platform giving their applications amazingly useful functions
such as utilizing the devices camera, location sensors, and more.
No need to install the app on users devices
Simply publish the app to the web server and its ready. No need to force
users to install a new app, and when new versions are released, everyone
stays up-to-date automatically. Leveraging great technology, such as
HTML5 ofine cache manifest and storage, allows these applications to
handle intermittent and ofine connectivity, removing one of the fnal barri-
ers to mobile web ubiquity.
Build once and run on all devices
When going native, it is necessary to build and maintain diferent versions of
the app for each device supported. Given that mobile web applications are
based on standards embraced by all modern devices, only one version of
the application is needed to run across multiple devices.
Be agile
In order to publish a native app to an app store, typically there is a need to
go through an approval process. This extra step can add signifcant time to
the delivery of new functionality. With mobile web applications, the app is
published to a public stack and is immediately available to users. There is no
extra step.
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What app should I build frst?
After deciding on the type of mobile applications to be built, its time to pick
an actual application to spearhead the mobile strategy.
The best way to get started is to bet on a simple and fast-to-build
application that quickly brings value to the business. This method provides
a good sense for some of the challenges around mobile and lends the
experience needed to graduate to more demanding applications. Here are
three types of projects that make good test beds for mobile:
Download a sample template app and experiment
Find a template from any platform of choice and get it up and running.
Tweak it, learn the boundaries of the platform, and see how easy it is to
change, update, and deploy. This method tests the platform and existing
skill set at the same time.
Build a mobile front-end on top of an existing system
The idea is to pick a system that would beneft from being mobile and add
a mobile system of engagement on top of it. Assuming the platform will
easily integrate with existing systems, this type of app allows for focus on
getting the mobile part right, while delivering something useful very
quickly.
Grab an existing web app need and make it responsive
While creating a new web app, instead of just creating it for one form factor
(full browser), try embracing the principles of responsive web design. Going
this route will result in the desired web application and also one that works
seamlessly across all target devices.
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/ Kick start your mobile app strategy 5

How do I get started fast?
Even though existing web application development experience can be
leveraged, there are still some big challenges when building mobile
web applications. There are lots of technology frameworks and technical
debates an IT team will want to hash over. On the other hand these discus-
sions can be eliminated and the focus put on the business problem. Thats
where the OutSystems
TM
Platform comes in.
The OutSystems Platform is the only open application platform that makes
it easy to build, deploy and manage enterprise web and mobile applications
that are extremely usable and look beautiful across multiple devices. Heres
why OutSystems should be used to get kick started:
Build, deploy and manage in the cloud, on-premises or hybrid
Easily integrate with existing systems like SAP, current databases,
salesforce.com, in-house applications, etc...
Experience a 4-5x increase in productivity using existing skills
Easily build multi-device apps using built-in responsive design
principles
Sign up for access to a free personal environment of the OutSystems Platform:
The built-in tutorial application is responsive by nature, which will give you
a feel for how easy it is to create and maintain applications along with how
beautifully they run across all of your diferent devices.
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/ Kick start your mobile app strategy 6