Have your say? Is the future of mobility more about developers than the device of the day? dakine kane/Flickr
Ask any attendee at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to define “mobility,” and most would likely answer, “Having my device work anywhere at any time.” But is that all there is? We’ve had portable devices for decades, that’s nothing new. No, mobility means more. It has a much broader scope, especially to the developers responsible for creating apps supporting the hundreds of mobile devices available today. That doesn’t even include those yet to be invented. Take a look at iWatch and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
As mobile industry developers, we must now help redefine the terms “mobile” and “mobility.” The complete definition stretches beyond devices. It’s more complex than mere portability, and needs to factor in the entire ecosystem, including the developer community, available development tools and enterprise priorities.
When Joe consumer downloads an app, he has no clue it took a huge pool of developers coding day and night to make an app ready for any one the multitude of devices he may choose to use. Some devs code each device natively. Some take advantage of cross-platform tools to deploy hybrid apps for many devices all at once. Let’s not forget about all the coding languages — Objective C, Swift, C#, Java… you get the idea. No matter their methods and practices for development, the dev community is working at a fever pace and because of the mobile revolution, has more visibility (and more accountability) within the enterprise than ever before.
Yet, while everyone is screaming for more mobile, are they really ready? We recently conducted a survey of 2,200 developers and IT execs, half of whom said they’ve not yet started doing mobile development.
Don’t get me wrong, there are businesses that can’t wait to make mobile happen. Take the average HVAC guy. He’s in and out of basements and attics where connectivity is not always possible. He needs to be mobile — in the most extreme sense — to be more efficient: check for parts online, identify manufacturer’s defects and even process billing and payment. You know, the fun stuff. For this group, the mobile revolution can’t come fast enough.
Before, these onsite workers carried indestructible devices that were clunky, weighed a ton and cost even more. Now, they use personal devices to make life easier. From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense. iPhones, Droids and even Windows Phones are light weight, fairly inexpensive and most people already own them. The issue then becomes access. What to do when access is limited? How can a worker be effective without cell coverage or Wi-Fi? What about remote parts of the country and entire global regions where Internet access is not readily available?
Given the current, narrowly defined, description of mobility — would you say the guy on the road, day in and day out, visiting hundreds of homes and businesses per week is not mobile? I wouldn’t say that. They’re far more mobile than the average business person who spends the majority of their time at a desk. But based on current definitions, the person using their iPad to do expense reports is considered “mobile” but the other is not.
Mobility is an all-encompassing concept — from device to developer to backend systems, connecting devices with data, to always-on access. There is a distinct difference between mobility, mobile devices and our ability to mobilize a workforce. People need training to recognize the intricacies of the mobile landscape, so they can understand the different ways to become “mobile.”
So how do we do this? How do we educate the masses? Let’s start with acknowledging the developer. The developer community hasn’t had the luxury to sit and ponder. They’re too busy keeping this mobile lifeline open to the world by constantly coding — then evolving that code — to meet market need. Whether we’re dealing with an enterprise-level app or the next version of Candy Crush: coding persists.
Next, let’s look at the technology — the platforms used to create these complex applications. They’re often overlooked, as is the massive amount of data associated with them. Shining light on the intricacies of mobile apps, their inner-workings, including that every device is different and not all apps work on all devices, is a huge step forward. Factor in the backend systems that support them — and make line-of-business apps, chock-full-of real-time data. Now we’re really talking.
This idea of fully-defined mobility is basic knowledge to the dev community, but is a virtually unknown to the larger consumer marketplace. But, when centralized under this basic way of thinking, everyone can benefit. Why? Because we’ll be looking at the big picture, the true definition of mobility and not just the device of the day.
Aaron Mahimainathan is CPO of Telerik.
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