research2guidance looks at enterprise mobile apps

The following is a research2guidance press release about enterprise mobile apps:

Enterprise mobile apps: 200.000 in stores, but only 14% address core enterprise needs
The number of enterprise-relevant apps has doubled from 100.000 to 200.000 over the past 12 months (Q1 2011 to Q1 2012).

There will definitely be a market for mobilizing core enterprise functions, like sales and services. “What we see today is just the tip of the iceberg. There will be lot more innovations within the next 2-3 years” states Ralf-Gordon Jahns research director at research2guidance who just released their “Enterprise Mobile App Status Report 2012”.

Following the successful adoption of customer-focused mobile applications, companies are increasingly deploying mobile apps to connect to partners and employees.



Despite this massive increase in “off the shelf” enterprise-relevant offerings, which can be primarily found within Business, Communications/Social Networking, Finance, News & Magazines, Productivity and Tools/Utilities categories, companies looking to source enterprise-relevant apps from public app stores will find the task of identifying high value apps extremely time consuming.

“The “off-the-shelf” enterprise mobile apps can vary widely in terms of addressing core enterprise needs due the broad range of functionality the aforementioned categories encompass” explains Daiana Bassi analyst at research2guidance, adding that “apps within those categories, which are present in all major app stores, can include Dictaphone and CRM applications, and hence, only 14% of those truly address enterprise functional needs.”

Companies are mainly sourcing these apps through internal or external app development projects. Nonetheless, both established enterprise software vendors and emerging, mobile only vendors have been targeting this market segment by publishing “off the self” enterprise mobile apps and making them available on main public app stores.

Traditional and emerging vendors tend to tackle the issue of enterprise mobility from different angles; the former focuses on mobilizing existing software solutions, whilst the later focuses on creating solutions around the capabilities of mobile devices. But, given how young the market for enterprise mobility is, neither one approach nor one vendor has yet come to dominate the market.

If classified according to value provided to enterprises “off the shelf” apps can be grouped into four categories.

- Core enterprise apps (high value):
-- Characterized by a complete lack of functionality for private consumers
-- Not tied to a specific business
-- Generally relates to core enterprise software functionality
-- Example: SAP BusinessObjects Explorer

- Business Tools (medium value):
-- Characterized by productivity-enhancing features
-- Could be of use to both enterprises and private users
-- Example: Documents To Go® Premium Office Suite

- Business Contingent (low value):
-- Not exclusively business focused but can provide solutions for specific businesses or business segments
-- Reference (i.e. terminology, foreign language, etc.)
-- Example: Business Terms Glossary

- Irrelevant/ Misplaced (no value):
-- Of very little use to most enterprises/ businesses
-- Mistakenly included in “Business” app category
-- Example: Ringtones Uncensored Pro

The new Enterprise Mobile App Market Status Report 2012 by research2guidance contains additional insights, metrics and analyses on the status of enterprise mobility.