With the rising adoption of mobile devices in the workplace and field, users are becoming more open to incorporating their tech in workflows. Unfortunately, the pressure to create highly focused custom apps for certain use cases is too much for many IT departments to handle.
As FierceMobileIT has previously reported, 67 percent of mobile executives surveyed by Apperian expect their mobile efforts to improve business processes. Those surveyed said they will look to apps to execute that aim, with nearly all planning to equip 1,000 users or more with apps over the next two years.
However, according to Hormazd Romer, director of product marketing at Accellion, many businesses have so far shied away from creating custom apps tailored to address their specific needs for two reasons: logistics and security.
"There are businesses saying, 'Look, we need this stuff to be competitive, we need this stuff to be more agile, we need this stuff to keep up with the productivity that is happening across the industry,'" Romer said in an interview with FierceMobileIT. "But IT folks are struggling with the lack of resources and just know-how of how to go about doing it. The notion of doing this from scratch can be overwhelming."
He added that the ever-present concern about data security prevents many firms from putting their most sensitive processes on mobile networks.
With those challenges in mind, Romer's company set about developing their kiteworks secure enterprise mobile content platform that looks to streamline the development process for IT teams. The undertaking--currently in a limited beta among some of the company's clients--provides tools for in-house developers to get the use cases they want out of their programs. It is built on existing Accellion security and control features, so remote-wipe, whitelisting, encryption, secure containers, private cloud options and other features come readily available.
So far, Accellion has devised a few sample use cases for the new platform, including Census workers using tablets in the field to tabulate, police officers using data-secure personal cameras while patrolling and a secure digital environment for retail workers on the floor. The company also created an illustrative build for surgeons in the emergency room that showed the potential uses of Google Glass for doctors, including remotely accessing test results and freeing up hands for medical processes.
As more companies understand the power of mobility and device programs become the norm, Romer expects a natural progression across industries to create custom apps.
"In many of the discussions leading up to this with IT organizations as well as industry analysts, the response has been the same: This is where people need to go next to really realize the potential of mobility," Romer said