Mobile apps, as you are already aware, have changed the landscape of enterprise application development. According to Apperian’s 2014 Executive Enterprise Mobility report, good progress has been made. The survey revealed that more than 70 percent of executives plan to equip more than 1,000 users with mobile apps in the next 2 years. 1/3 of survey respondents plan to equip more than 5,000 users with mobile apps.
However, web apps aren’t being shut down by this growth in enterprise mobility and application development. While mobile apps have been called the ‘future’ when it comes to enterprise application use, web apps still have a role to play as the web has matured into a fully-featured application platform over the years – it simply can’t be neglected.
What are web apps?
Web apps imply standard-based technologies like CSS3 and HTML5. They can work in any platform with a modern web browser, without re-programming or special translations. A web app, when launched, can be accessed from Windows, iOS, Mac, Android as well as any other platform.
The web is no longer limited to the days of scrolling marquee. Web apps now stand toe to toe with the aesthetic capabilities of native apps. For the technical lot, they query the content server and generate web documents to serve the users. A standard document is used to generate the app to enable support by all web browsers.
Web apps will perform their function irrespective of the browser and OS running at the user’s end. They can be quickly deployed anywhere almost without any installation requirements, again at the user’s end.
The increasing adoption of extranets and intranets in the enterprise sector have made web applications an important aspect in any corporation’s communication infrastructure.
Creating web apps for your enterprise
You have two options: outsource the entire development process to an application developer or build a web app yourself. For enterprises who want to keep the development process in-house, these two tips should greatly help:
- Avoid complexity in the development process
The more complex the development process grows, the harder it is to make modifications and adapt to the user’s preferences. The answer? The development process should be split into different parts when it starts getting too complex.
To adapt and change quickly, the IT department needs to be certain that any changes will not damage what’s already working. This problem can be minimized through impact analysis tools: any change in database that breaks the app logic needs to be obvious.
- Automate testing
Tricentis states that test automation is more than just useful for web app environments: in practical terms, it is the only way to guarantee efficiency across different web browsers users have access to. Combining automation with virtualization technology can be used to mimic the behavior of different browsers to provide the efficiency you require.
Also, testing and moving a web app into production needs to be as quick as possible. To be agile and keep up with user demands, testing and deployment to the production needs to be frequent, or delays may stack up in the development cycle. Productivity can suffer it if takes two days to test new versions before they are allowed in the production phase.
Ultimately, mobile will take over the enterprise sector, but desktop access will remain a necessity and will hold the case for web apps in the future.
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