G08.2013 magic quadrant for mobile application development platforms

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G00248487
Magic Quadrant for Mobile Application
Development Platforms
Published: 7 August 2013
Analyst(s): Ian Finley, Van L. Baker, Ken Parmelee, David Mitchell Smith, Ray Valdes, Gordon Van Huizen
As unprecedented numbers of enterprises build mobile applications, the
mobile application development platform market continues to grow and
evolve rapidly. We assess the major vendors that enable enterprise IT
developers to create mobile applications for customers, partners and
employees.
Market Definition/Description
The mobile application development platform (MADP) market remains largely distinct from the larger
AD tool market, because developing mobile applications for enterprises presents unique challenges,
including:
Each mobile OS has a unique presentation style, interaction style and software stack.
Devices have different screen sizes, input modes and hardware capabilities.
New devices and OS versions are introduced multiple times per year.
Network connectivity and power levels fluctuate widely in typical usage scenarios.
New consumer applications regularly extend and revise the standards for good mobile
applications.
MADPs are generally based on one of three technologies. Each technology requires different
investments and skills:
Native toolkits, such as Apple's iOS development toolkit, enable the development of native
applications for a single mobile OS platform. Native toolkits generally provide the best
performance and the most access to a specific OS platform, but are limited to only one OS
platform.
Web toolkits, such as jQuery Mobile, enable the development of Web-based applications that
perform well in Web browsers for various mobile OSs and devices. Web toolkits are inherently
multiplatform, and leverage standard Web skill sets, but can have performance and interaction
style limitations, lack feature phone support and require a network connection.

Specialized platforms, like the ones from Appcelerator and DSI, provide proprietary
capabilities designed to protect the developer from the differences between OS platforms and
limitations of browser-based applications. Specialized platforms take a more proprietary route,
but generally provide more out-of-the-box enterprise capability than Web and native toolkits.
They also often address more of the full software development life cycle — from application
design, development and integration to testing, deployment and management. Some
specialized platforms are optimized for high developer productivity, and others are optimized
for high application performance and developer control.
Recognizing the popularity of native and Web toolkits, many MADP vendors have built or
repackaged their platforms as a series of tools to complement, rather than compete with, them:
Wrapper tools, such as Adobe PhoneGap, allow mobile Web applications to work like native
applications. They compile mobile Web applications into OS-specific applications, often called
hybrid applications, that can be downloaded to a mobile device, access device functions
beyond those provided by the browser, and run without a network connection like a native
application.
Mobile middleware, such as IBM Worklight, enables native and hybrid applications to
communicate securely with enterprise applications running on servers and cloud services, as
well as providing application management functions.
Application generators, like the one in KonyOne Studio, produce Web, hybrid and native
applications from a single set of application specifications.
Because enterprise requirements are similar, but wide ranging, we expect vendors and open-source
project teams to assemble a portfolio of tools that users can combine in different tool chains to
meet the requirements of specific mobile application projects.
In addition to different technology approaches, MADP vendors have different business strategies:
Pure-play MADP vendors, such as Antenna, primarily provide mobile AD tools, services,
applications and templates. Some hope to become large public companies.
Enterprise software vendors, such as SAP, have broad customer bases and product suites
that extend well beyond mobile AD. For these vendors, MADPs represent a way to expand
within their customer bases and open doors to new customers.
Mobile application vendors, such as salesforce.com, primarily provide applications, but make
the underlying platform available to customers. Their MADPs help them sell their applications.
OS platform and device vendors, such as Apple, BlackBerry, Google, Microsoft and Motorola
Solutions, use their MADPs to encourage developers to build new apps, because apps help
drive the sale of their OS platforms and/or devices.
Open-source projects, such as jQuery Mobile, provide focused frameworks augmented by
proprietary products and support from their contributor community. The projects support the
common interests of their contributors.
Page 2 of 34 Gartner, Inc. | G00248487

One of the most interesting aspects of the MADP market is that traditional enterprise software, low-
cost disruptors and open-source sales models are simultaneously having an impact on the market.
Given history, one might have expected the market to move from high-priced enterprise software to
low-cost disruptors and to open source over a decade or more, but enterprise have all three
choices today. This, plus the rapid evolution and fragmentation of mobile technology in general,
means today's leaders can easily be tomorrow's laggards. Hence, we advise that enterprises avoid
long-term commitments to any one vendor or technology and re-evaluate their mobile AD strategy
often.
Gartner, Inc. | G00248487 Page 3 of 34

Magic Quadrant
Figure 1. Magic Quadrant for Mobile Application Development Platforms
Source: Gartner (August 2013)
Vendor Strengths and Cautions
Adobe
Adobe is engaged in a multiyear transition from a desktop-centric, Flash-oriented platform to a
portfolio centered on HTML5, mobile and cloud computing. Adobe can now be considered the

leading vendor of commercial HTML5 tools. Adobe Edge provides development and design tools
for HTML5, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) responsive Web design, and multi-form-factor testing.
Key to Adobe's transition was its 2011 acquisition of Nitobi, the vendor behind the popular
PhoneGap Web hybrid wrapper technology for cross-platform mobile apps. Adobe has managed
this acquisition well, allowing PhoneGap to continue its high-growth trajectory. Adobe also regularly
updates Apache Cordova, an open-source version of PhoneGap. PhoneGap/Cordova is integrated
with other MADPs, including those of IBM, SAP and salesforce.com. Adobe AIR was enhanced and
repositioned as a cross-platform mechanism for deploying code written in Flash ActionScript or C+
+ onto native apps for iOS, Kindle, Nook and other Android devices.
Appropriate Use: Adobe PhoneGap is appropriate for projects where cross-platform reach is more
important than high performance, and where developers have solid HTML, CSS and JavaScript
skills. Adobe AIR is for ActionScript/Flash developers who want to leverage their skills onto a range
of mobile and desktop platforms.
Strengths
Adobe's product portfolio covers a diverse range of scenarios, requirements, platforms, skill
sets and deployment models centered on HTML5 and mobile.
Adobe PhoneGap is simple in concept and compatible with a wide range of cross-platform Web
technologies, including HTML5, CSS, JavaScript libraries and frameworks from other vendors.
Adobe PhoneGap has a burgeoning ecosystem of plug-ins that address specialized scenarios,
such as geofencing, image recognition, PDF viewing, power management and social network
interoperability. Support and integration are available from a wide range of industry players and
system integrators.
Cautions
Adobe PhoneGap's wrapped hybrid architecture model means reduced performance,
compared with native and some other MADPs. However, developers with native-code skills can
extend PhoneGap with plug-ins to address specific areas of functionality or performance
concerns.
Cross-platform portability expectations of PhoneGap often fall short of expectations. While
code reuse can be high between iOS and Android apps, portability to other platforms can dip to
70% or 80%.
Adobe AIR has a limited appeal outside Adobe Flash and ActionScript developers.
Antenna
Antenna has been a longstanding leader in Gartner's mobile application platform Magic Quadrants.
The company has expanded its offerings and customer base through a combination of organic
growth and acquisitions. Antenna offers its combined technology as the AMPchroma platform,
which enables enterprises to build, run and manage mobile applications through four components:

AMP Studio, AMP Client, AMP Server and AMP Manager. The platform, which can be deployed on-
site or in the cloud, delivers a hybrid container that runs across multiple devices and supports over-
the-air app management and multiple Web apps per container. AMPchroma supports the
deployment of Web, hybrid and native applications, and addresses multiple vertical markets, with
emphasis on financial services, manufacturing, retail, consumer packaged goods, life sciences, and
travel and transportation.
Appropriate Use: Antenna is likely to be used successfully in organizations that are managing a
portfolio of mobile applications, and looking for reusability across multiple applications for multiple
types of mobile devices.
Strengths
Antenna sports one of the more powerful, flexible and easy-to-use AD studios among the
MADP vendors. Antenna has opened up its platform to support HTML5/JavaScript mobile
development frameworks, such as jQuery Mobile, Sencha and Dojo, to give developers
additional flexibility in their choice of tools.
The AMPchroma platform can be deployed behind the firewall or as a hosted solution.
Antenna's middleware enables enterprises to connect multiple back-end systems and data
sources via a range of connectors that it has built. If the enterprise has a back end that Antenna
has not integrated, the company offers a well-documented framework for data integration
connector development and deployment.
While Antenna has historically excelled at business-to-employee (B2E) mobile development, its
platform is well-suited for the full range of AD. The ability to integrate other frameworks and
tools further enhances this capability.
Customers like Antenna's breadth of capabilities, especially for B2E scenarios, and its product
vision. This was reflected in Antenna's strong revenue growth in 2012.
Cautions
The relatively limited pool of people trained on the Antenna platform can pose a hiring challenge
for companies that need Antenna expertise. This can be partially addressed with the use of
third-party tools.
The Antenna platform is required to support the applications that were developed on that
platform. Moving off the platform may require significant recoding of applications.
Gartner observed a few customer support issues with organizations delivering their first
applications using Antenna and its partners.
Antenna's mobile software pricing is roughly comparable to other leading MADP providers and
represents a significant investment for large application deployments.

Appcelerator
Appcelerator's Titanium offering is designed to enable developers to rapidly build native, hybrid or
mobile Web applications. Developers code in JavaScript, which then exposes the native capabilities
of each device. Unlike many platform providers, Appcelerator focused first on building a developer
community and has created a large following. The resulting ecosystem includes a variety of public
code, applications and capabilities that are significant enablers for rapid application development
(RAD). This unique model enables Appcelerator to identify and promote ecosystem technologies
that drive the most interest. In the past year, Appcelerator introduced Appcelerator Platform,
including development tools, cloud mobile back-end services, an enterprise app store, application
analytics and additional deployment options. The company has greatly increased its partner
ecosystem by being an OEM for app testing and app performance monitoring technologies from
Soasta and Crittercism. Appcelerator is ranked as the most visionary company in this year's MADP
Magic Quadrant.
Appropriate Use: Appcelerator is appropriate for enterprises with requirements for multi-OS AD,
app life cycle support and JavaScript skill sets.
Strengths
Appcelerator has a large base of 450,000 developers who have deployed more than 50,000
apps on more than 130 million devices. The Titanium development environment is a free
download that supports quick onboarding of mobile development skills.
Significant prebuilt assets are available for use from Appcelerator's community, including code,
apps and cloud services.
Appcelerator has a clear vision, market understanding, focus and financial backing.
Appcelerator's ecosystem of system integrators and independent software vendors (ISVs)
provides enterprises with a wide variety of sourcing options and extensions.
Cautions
While the company counts over 450,000 registered Titanium developers, a low volume of
Gartner client inquiries suggests that relatively few midsize and large enterprises have evaluated
the Appcelerator offering. This may be the result of the company's short history targeting
enterprise buyers. As with any MADP vendor, ask for enterprise references similar to yours
before investing.
Outside of the developer tools, much of the enterprise life cycle capability that Appcelerator
provides has come in recent releases, and some through integrations. Enterprise purchasers
should understand the product's maturity.
As with all developer ecosystems, code and apps provided through the developer community
must be tested fully before use in applications.

Apple
During the past year, Apple successfully launched iOS 6, the iPhone 5, and a next generation of the
iPad and the iPad mini. The demand for Apple products continues to rise significantly. Although
Apple provides development platforms focused on its own products, its support for the enterprise
requirements of those products continues to improve. The iPad has become the de facto tablet for
many enterprises, driving tablet AD and deployments in enterprises worldwide. Apple's AD tools for
iOS devices include the iOS Software Development Kit (SDK) and the Xcode integrated
development environment (IDE). Apple released a configuration utility that enterprises can use to
install iOS device profiles, which can be distributed via email or over the air using a mobile device
management (MDM) server. Apple does not provide packaged enterprise mobile applications,
although it does support general-purpose enterprise application integration. Enterprises developing
in the iOS SDK can leverage application investments across the iPhone, iPad and iPod based on
shared OS code and tool bases. For enterprises targeting the consumer segment or wishing to
leverage the distribution capabilities of Apple's App Store, Apple has strong subcategories (such as
business and productivity) that can enable the easy discovery of applications.
Appropriate Use: Apple is an appropriate choice for enterprises that have standardized on iOS
devices for their employees or whose app strategy includes building iOS-only apps, in addition to
apps for other platforms.
Strengths
Apple's toolkit provides strong support for iOS devices, which is sometimes more important
than cross-platform support. For customer-facing apps, the improved performance, capability
and usability of some native apps can make a competitive difference, justifying building those
apps with Apple's iOS-only MADP.
The iOS devices are making inroads into the realm of ruggedized devices, as their consumer
price points and effective case technologies make them appealing in all but the harshest
environments. Many enterprises are implementing an iOS-only device strategy, which makes an
iOS-only development platform a reasonable option.
The iOS SDK remains solid, with significant enhancements and loosening of restrictions in the
4.6 release of the Xcode IDE and SDK v.6.1. The iOS SDK continues to be one of the most
popular MADPs with developers.
Cautions
Few organizations and developers have the luxury of focusing solely on iOS support. Apple's
singular focus on iOS devices limits the development environment and the applications created
with it.
Apple's MADP requires skills in Objective-C, Xcode IDE and the iOS SDK. Typical IT
organizations don't employ developers with these skills.

BlackBerry
In the past year, BlackBerry (formerly known as Research In Motion) worked to recreate its platform
to be more competitive with the leading smartphone platforms, such as those from Apple and
Google, to halt its decline in the market. The company recently launched the BlackBerry Z10 and
BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10, and has worked to attract developers to the new BlackBerry 10
OS, a derivative of QNX. This effort has been helped by the ability to easily port Android
applications to BlackBerry 10 OS via the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps offering. Native
application developers can use the BlackBerry Native SDK and the Cascades UI framework. Web
developers can utilize the BlackBerry 10 WebWorks SDK to create applications that use HTML5,
CSS and JavaScript. The company provides the BlackBerry SDK for Adobe AIR for developers who
need a runtime for AIR applications. BlackBerry is supporting and/or partnering with a number of
MADP vendors to provide support in the BlackBerry 10 platform, including IBM, SAP, Adobe,
Appcelerator, jQuery, Sencha and Dojo. With the number of development and porting options
available, mobile application developers will be able to reuse their skill sets when developing for the
BlackBerry 10 platform.
Appropriate Use: The BlackBerry development tools are good for developers who want to target
the new BlackBerry 10 devices.
Strengths
BlackBerry's development platform is very open, accommodating use of many other tools and
platforms at the discretion of the developer.
BlackBerry provides native and HTML5 development tools in its SDK, giving developers
flexibility in app development.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 enables developers to distribute apps securely to BlackBerry
devices, and enables IT departments to deploy apps to an enterprise workspace that is secure
and separate from the personal space.
Cautions
Today's highly consumer-oriented enterprise landscape is driving enterprises toward bring your
own device (BYOD) programs that support the use of employee-owned devices. This makes
single-platform AD increasingly unrealistic and will continue to force many BlackBerry-only
enterprises toward other options.
The change in the BlackBerry OS requires developers to use different tools from earlier versions
of the native SDK. The impact on WebWorks is not as significant.
ClickSoftware
ClickSoftware is a vendor of mobile workforce management and service optimization software with
a full MADP offering. Presently, the company focuses on apps for workers who spend most of their
time in the field. Industries include communications, utilities, oil and gas, office equipment, medical

and capital equipment, insurance and home healthcare services. ClickSoftware has deployments
worldwide, and is the largest ISV worldwide for field service management and mobile workforce
optimization. Using its MADP, the company has developed products covering the full service chain
cycle. ClickSoftware was one of the first field service management vendors to adopt HTML5 for
mobile applications. Its development platform includes a full development studio with a visual forms
editor and an enterprise-focused mobile application framework, which features compositions of
apps from building blocks (built from scratch or downloaded from the company's ClickAppStore),
context-aware guidance and notifications, back-end integration, data synchronization; and role-
based security. The platform has been proven in the field through years of enterprise deployments,
and its applications can also run on top of the mobility infrastructure services offered by IBM, SAP
and salesforce.com. ClickButler, an engine based on artificial intelligence, enables the development
of mobile intelligent personal assistants that anticipate user needs and acts on them proactively.
Appropriate Use: The company's focus on mobile workers, along with its position as the largest
ISV worldwide for mobile workforce management and optimization, lends ClickSoftware credibility
and appeal for organizations with resource and service optimization and productivity application
requirements.
Strengths
ClickSoftware's combination of development tools and framework, scheduling platform and
packaged mobile applications gives it a number of entry points with enterprise customers.
The company has strong geographic coverage and a growing set of partners, including a
successful strategic partnership with SAP and IBM.
It has a strong focus on the energy, oil and gas, utilities and telecommunications sectors, while
home services, computer and office equipment, insurance and government agencies are other
areas of industry knowledge.
The vendor boasts a wide range of GIS and application partners, as well as the ClickAppStore,
where hundreds of add-on widgets and functional applications are available.
Cautions
Enterprises that are not using ClickSoftware's packaged field workforce optimization solutions
should look for proof points for its use as an independent MADP supporting broader resource
optimization uses.
Dojo
The Dojo Toolkit (or Dojo for short) is a set of related open-source projects supported by the Dojo
Foundation. Dojo makes it possible to use standard Web technologies — including HTML,
JavaScript and CSS — to build interactive mobile Web pages for desktop devices and WebKit-
enabled mobile devices, such as the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android, and BlackBerry
smartphones and tablets. Developers can also use Cordova or PhoneGap with Dojo to create
hybrid mobile applications. Dojo Mobile is a mobile JavaScript framework. Coupled with Dojo's Dijit
(an extensive collection of UI widgets) and GFX (a native cross-browser, 2D graphics framework),

Dojo provides an extensive collection of UI components for mobile devices. Maqetta, a drag-and-
drop UI design tool supported by the Dojo Foundation, works with Dojo and Dojo Mobile. Dojo is
available as an open-source offering and via commercial distribution within several vendors'
offerings. Several organizations, including SitePen, offer commercial support, training and
development services. The open-source community provides all code, documentation,
enhancements, bug fixes and support. Project sponsors include IBM, BlackBerry and Orange.
Appropriate Use: Dojo is best-suited for development organizations looking for a lightweight,
open-source mobile Web framework, especially those with experience using Dojo to build desktop
rich Internet applications (RIAs).
Strengths
The Dojo Toolkit is an open framework; it is an independent, open-source project based on
HTML, JavaScript and CSS standards.
Because Dojo Mobile extends the popular Dojo Toolkit for desktop applications, many
developers will find it easy to learn and use.
When Dojo is used with Cordova, it is possible to build hybrid mobile applications without any
licensing costs.
Cautions
By itself, Dojo doesn't provide support for native or hybrid applications, application
management, legacy system integration, disconnected mode and other features that contribute
to application sophistication.
Use of Dojo aligns best with sophisticated Web developers who are comfortable with self-
support.
DSI
While not as well-known as other MADP vendors, DSI has built a solid MADP business over the
past 10 years by focusing on the needs of manufacturing and supply chain companies. DSI
provides a platform that supports the rapid development of custom transactional applications that
can be deployed across a wide range of smartphones, tablets, PCs and ruggedized devices without
recoding or recompilation. Native clients are provided for Windows Phone/Windows CE/Windows 8,
iOS, Android and BlackBerry, as well as a mobile Web option. The design tool offers solid support
for multichannel development, with an advanced approach to managing design layouts for multiple
device form factors. DSI also offers a set of prebuilt business process flows for common
applications, such as mobile inventory, field service, field sales, procurement and delivery. DSI's
ERP integration focuses on Oracle products (Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, Oracle E-Business
Suite [EBS], Oracle PeopleSoft and Oracle JD Edwards World) with additional support for SAP,
Microsoft, Infor and others. Many DSI deployments also feature machine-to-machine (M2M)
integration, incorporating industrial equipment such as automated scales and conveyor belts.

Appropriate Use: DSI is well-suited for building and operating custom mobile applications for B2E
scenarios — particularly those in manufacturing and supply chains — including those with
significant M2M requirements.
Strengths
DSI has extensive experience building mobile applications for manufacturing and supply chain
scenarios, as well as prebuilt templates and built-in platform features that accelerate their
development.
DSI has more than 1,000 customers in more than 50 countries, and direct operations and
partners around the world.
Reference customers liked that DSI delivered projects on time and within budget, and felt that
the platform was solid in production.
Cautions
DSI's enterprise-focused platform is not as appropriate for building business-to-consumer
(B2C) applications.
While the DSI platform has the potential for use in other verticals, the company's domain
expertise is focused on manufacturing and supply chain solutions.
The bulk of DSI's implementations is based on Oracle ERP systems. Enterprises with other ERP
systems should validate whether DSI can meet their integration requirements.
Google
Google Android's success as an alternative to Apple iOS for smartphone devices has led to the
creation of more than 750,000 Android applications, many built using Google's MADP. The Google
MADP consists of SDKs for each version of Android; tools for developing Android applications in
Java; and an Eclipse wrapper to simplify application coding, compilation and testing. The Android
SDK, toolset and Eclipse wrapper are available free of charge.
Appropriate Use: The Android development platform is an appropriate choice for enterprises that
have standardized on Android devices for their employees or whose app strategy includes building
Android-only apps, in addition to apps for other platforms.
Strengths
The Google Android MADP provides a robust development environment for Java developers.
It provides full access to all Android on-device capabilities.
It provides immediate access to new Android features, enabling developers to quickly take
advantage of the considerable hardware and ecosystem innovation fueled by Android's global
market share for smartphones.

Cautions
The Google MADP is not multiplatform; it is only suitable for Android application development.
There are multiple versions of the Android SDK, and applications developed with one version
have limited portability to newer versions of the Android OS, and no portability to older ones.
However, there are ways to develop apps that dynamically assess the availability of APIs and
adjust the features to the available APIs. Because some APIs perform differently from one
version to the next, multiple versions of an app may be required to support the multiple versions
of Android popular in today's market.
The Android Eclipse plug-in is oriented to individual developers. Teams doing Android
development often use other tools in conjunction with Google's MADP to manage collaboration,
source control and build management, for example.
IBM
IBM's mobile platform product, Worklight, underwent a significant overhaul last year. IBM acquired
Worklight in February 2012, and integrated the product into IBM products to produce a life cycle
management solution. The new portfolio is branded MobileFirst. These products include Rational for
testing, Cast Iron for integration, Tealeaf for analytics and Endpoint Manager for device
management. Worklight provides an Eclipse-based, stand-alone IDE, platform-specific APIs, and
runtime components to help developers build, deploy and manage multichannel Web, hybrid and
native mobile applications. The Worklight Server is a mobile middleware system providing
integration, authentication, security and management capabilities. Worklight provides an API for
developers who want to use other IDEs and frameworks to build apps leveraging the Worklight
server and life cycle capabilities. Worklight native, hybrid and Web applications are optimized for
the particular device to which they are automatically deployed. The product utilizes Apache
Cordova for native packaging and access to device resources. The Worklight IDE download and
use are free of charge. As apps are deployed into production, charges apply. Developer resources
include free online training and a developer community.
Appropriate Use: Worklight is best-suited for development organizations focused on multiple-
device platforms, and employing or utilizing a company's skill base in open technologies, such as
Eclipse, HTML5 and JavaScript.
Strengths
The Worklight platform was designed to enable organizations to use Web skills with automation
of many mobile requirements.
Worklight is complemented by IBM's overall portfolio of Web, cloud and connectivity
capabilities.
IBM has contributed substantially to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards work
(including co-chairing the HTML5 Working Group), PhoneGap and Dojo, all frameworks that are
accommodated by Worklight. IBM is one of the largest system integrators for enterprise

mobility, with service revenue that, by Gartner's estimate, exceeds $1 billion; however, little of
that is related to Worklight today. Gartner expects that Worklight will play a central role going
forward.
Cautions
While extensive work has been done to integrate Worklight into other IBM products, there are
still some gaps for full integration.
Significant effort is going into IBM's partner ecosystem, but there are limited numbers of
experienced developers on Worklight for the time being.
While Worklight is flexible, using its support for third-party mobile frameworks for Web, hybrid
and native applications creates a more difficult set of assets to maintain than when utilizing the
frameworks built into the Worklight IDE.
jQuery Mobile
jQuery Mobile's popularity continued to grow among enterprise developers this past year. The
jQuery JavaScript framework library has mainstream desktop Web roots, and jQuery Mobile has
leveraged JQuery's large ecosystem to become a common shortlist choice. This occurred despite
some problems with performance and fidelity in the first version (some of which still linger) and the
fact that a UI-focused library, like jQuery, is only one part of a complete mobile development
platform. jQuery's success is largely because it is lightweight and narrow in scope. As a result it is
unlikely to conflict with an enterprise's other development tools. A popular combination is jQuery
with PhoneGap/Apache Cordova — two narrow-scope offerings that combined can meet a wide
range of low-to-midrange application requirements. There is no single vendor behind jQuery, but
this works to its advantage. jQuery is supported to varying degrees by many other vendors,
including IBM, Microsoft, Adobe, Google and Oracle.
Appropriate Use: jQuery is appropriate for cross-platform projects that are Web-centric and
content-centric, rather than those that require high performance or complex user interactions.
Strengths
jQuery's market presence in the Web sector is pervasive. It is used in roughly 80% of the top
1,000 websites, and can be used with some other JavaScript libraries and frameworks.
Among JavaScript libraries and frameworks, jQuery has the largest ecosystem in terms of
developer knowledge, add-ons, plug-ins, training, books and support from system integrators.
In many of these areas, jQuery enjoys a 10-to-1 or more advantage in share and visibility over
competing alternatives.
The mobile version of jQuery has a good complement of touch-centric widgets and controls.

Cautions
jQuery Mobile is less suitable for application-centric projects that require high performance,
smooth interactivity, or a native look and feel. For higher-end projects, JavaScript developers
often choose Appcelerator or Sencha Touch.
Although jQuery is relatively lightweight for desktop Web development, jQuery Mobile is less so
for mobile, leading some to choose even lighter-weight alternatives, such as Zepto (a jQuery-
compatible microframework).
jQuery doesn't support the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. Leading-edge
developers often select a JavaScript framework that supports client-side MVC, such as
Backbone, Ember, Angular, Meteor, Derby or Polymer.
Kony
Kony made some significant product changes in the past year, releasing an updated KonyOne
platform and adding several capabilities. The company traditionally focused on consumer
applications, but released key enhancements to create a platform that can deliver complex
enterprise apps, as well as consumer apps. The development environment is focused on building
multichannel, multiplatform applications using JavaScript. Kony continues to build out its integration
capabilities. Kony's recent acquisition of Sky Technologies provides tighter integration within SAP
implementations, and Kony has added other new adapters. The addition of life cycle capabilities,
including mobile application management, an enterprise app store and analytics, support the
deployment and security capabilities needed for enterprise applications. Within the IDE, a developer
may use external code through the foreign function interface to implement requirements such as
integration for external devices. With support for older HTML4 devices and messaging, along with
the most up-to-date devices with HTML5 and native apps, Kony has one of the most diverse
platforms for device support.
Appropriate Use: Kony is well-suited for projects in which large, diverse device populations must
be supported, and development needs to be outsourced. It has a strong integration method for SAP
back ends. Other integrations include Oracle back ends, such as JD Edwards, Siebel and
PeopleSoft.
Strengths
Kony has been growing rapidly and invests a great deal in product development.
With a focus on full enterprise life cycle and multichannel enablement, Kony continues to
mature as a strong enterprise player.
Kony is committed to keeping up with the high rate of evolution in the mobile space, and
provides SLAs guaranteeing support for new device and mobile OS releases within a specified
period.

Cautions
While Kony has invested greatly in building out an enterprise capability, the majority of its
business has been consumer-focused to this point.
As Kony grows rapidly, Gartner has noted that some of the vendor's original customers have
moved off its platform.
Kony is beginning to enable enterprise developers to use the platform to build applications; but,
to date, few clients build apps on their own. Building a partner and developer ecosystem is
important to outpace competitors. Kony is working to build the ecosystem and has trained
approximately 2,000 developer partners, a relatively small number compared with many of the
MADP leaders.
Microsoft
Having fallen behind in the mobile phone and tablet markets, Microsoft has made significant
investments in an attempt to return to a leadership position. Windows 8 is at the center of
Microsoft's strategy, with a unique touch-optimized UI across desktops, notebooks and tablets.
(While Microsoft's smartphone offerings are similar, they don't share the same OS and APIs today.)
Despite the commonality in the UI, however, Microsoft's platform strategy is complex, resulting in
adoption challenges in enterprise and consumer scenarios. Most enterprise development
organizations are carefully considering when and how to support Windows 8 in their B2E and B2C
mobile AD efforts. As a result, interest in Microsoft's mobile AD platform remains tepid. In 2012,
Microsoft launched Windows Azure Mobile Services: cloud mobile back-end services that support
iOS, Android and cross-platform mobile HTML/JavaScript hybrid app development, and Windows 8
and Windows Store apps, as well as provides secure communication to on-premises enterprise
systems. This is significant, as Microsoft is the first device OS platform vendor to provide a cross-
platform cloud back-end service offering. On the tool front, Microsoft released Visual Studio 2012,
which supports Windows 8 and Azure cloud development, as well as the use of JavaScript and
HTML5 in Windows 8 applications.
Appropriate Use: Microsoft is a solid choice for enterprises with a wide number of legacy desktop
applications on Windows-based devices, and for those that have a significant investment in the
Microsoft ecosystem, where they can benefit in markets where Microsoft is able to gain traction for
Windows 8.
Strengths
Microsoft has long-standing relationships with enterprise IT departments, and a huge base of
desktops and notebooks. Many IT departments want to support Microsoft.
Microsoft has begun to place additional emphasis on openness in mobile AD by supporting iOS
and Android applications in Windows Azure Mobile Services, as well as supporting JavaScript/
HTML5 in Windows 8 applications.

Cautions
Microsoft's strategies for smartphone, tablet/desktop and cloud platforms remain fragmented,
leading to complexity, confusion and slow adoption. This makes selection of a Microsoft-
focused development approach less attractive than cross-platform alternatives.
Windows 8's unique approach to UI and application design introduces new challenges to a
write-once, run-anywhere strategy that spans Windows and non-Windows devices.
MicroStrategy
Widely known as a business intelligence vendor, MicroStrategy offers a comprehensive MADP
supporting the creation, deployment and measurement of transactional, as well as information-
centric, applications. Cross-platform development is performed using a visual tool to compose and
configure UI and functional elements, and to tune the layout for the necessary screen sizes and
form factors. Client-side functionality is delivered through a MicroStrategy-developed container,
leveraging native widgets on each of the supported platforms. The result is a cross-platform
application that has a native user experience. In addition to MicroStrategy's analytics server, a
mobility server is provided to support user management, security, data storage, back-end
integration and dynamic provisioning of applications to the client devices. Somewhat unusual for a
vendor at the enterprise end of the MADP landscape, MicroStrategy offers a hands-on approach to
platform evaluation through a downloadable free trial, as well as a free perpetual license for up to 10
users. It also offers a paid two-week QuickStrike program that includes strategic guidance,
professional graphics design, development support and user testing.
Appropriate Use: MicroStrategy is a good choice for mobile scenarios that span the life cycle of
data creation, capture and analysis, or where the desire for reduced time to benefit or to support
rapidly evolving business requirements outweighs the need for standards-based development.
Strengths
MicroStrategy's platform and customer engagement model emphasizes the creation of polished
UIs, resulting in business applications that have visual appeal in customer-facing business
scenarios, such as side-by-side selling.
The platform's tooling and metadata-driven architecture lend themselves to RAD and iteration,
while supporting enterprise requirements for security and reliability.
MicroStrategy's advanced data analytics and mobile dashboard capabilities can be used to
monitor and measure application usage patterns, and to mine and analyze business data.
As with other platforms based on a managed-client/server architecture, data synchronization is
provided to support offline functionality.

Cautions
While MicroStrategy's mobility platform is suitable for transactional applications, the inclusion of
MicroStrategy's analytics server makes the platform primarily desirable for scenarios that also
require data analytics.
The toolset's visual approach to AD is not, as of yet, suited to scenarios that require significant
customization.
Motorola Solutions
Motorola Solutions' product portfolio consists of mobile computing devices and software, bar code
scanners, network infrastructure and services. Their MADP is from RhoMobile, a software vendor
acquired in July 2011. The centerpiece of the RhoMobile Suite is RhoElements, an HTML5
framework and container for native and hybrid mobile apps. RhoElements supports the MVC
architectural design pattern, and an object/relational mapper for persisting objects to storage. It
offers broad OS support, and is the only HTML-based framework to support Windows Mobile and
Windows CE. RhoMobile Suite also includes RhoConnect, an integration server for mobile
applications that connects front-end systems to back-end enterprise business applications, and
provides data synchronization for offline data usage. Developers can use RhoConnect with apps
written in Objective-C, Java, Ruby or other languages. RhoConnect includes adapters for enterprise
applications such as those from salesforce.com, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and SugarCRM. Also
included is a push notification service that fills the gap for OSs that do not offer push messaging.
RhoHub enables developers to build and deploy in the cloud, in partnership with salesforce.com
(Heroku). It provides mobile app management with RhoGallery Mobile App Management services.
RhoStudio is an Eclipse-based plug-in that enables developers to write, test and debug cross-
platform applications for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry from a single computer. The
RhoMobile Suite also includes Rhodes — a free open-source subset of RhoElements that provides
necessary components for consumer apps.
Appropriate Use: Motorola Solutions' RhoMobile Suite is suited for organizations that need strong
data handling, back-end connectivity and support for the MVC architectural pattern.
Strengths
RhoMobile Suite's strength is in data management and data integration for more informational
apps.
It offers a strong back-end integration capability.
It supports a diverse set of mobile platforms, not just iOS and Android.
Motorola Solutions has strong enterprise presence, especially in retail and ruggedized sectors.

Cautions
Motorola Solutions' history, name and brand are confusing to those who have not followed the
acquisition history, which has led to reduced visibility.
The Rhodes brand is strongly associated with Ruby, which is a strength among the Ruby
community, but can be perceived as an obstacle among non-Ruby developers.
Netbiscuits
Founded in 2000, Netbiscuits continues to extend its development platform and cloud service for
B2C mobile websites and apps. In 2012, the company embraced HTML5 with its Tactile multitouch
framework for smartphones and tablets. It added new testing options, stronger integration with
content delivery networks, and a device context service that enables developers to tailor apps to a
user's device. Long a favorite for presmartphone B2C mobile websites, Netbiscuits has not set the
pace in smartphone and tablet app development. The company raised $27 million in October 2012
to invest in sales, marketing and development.
Appropriate Use: Netbiscuits is a good fit for mobile media, commerce, advertising and marketing
applications, ranging from fully interactive and transactional mobile Web presence to one-off
campaigns targeting a wide range of platforms. It is well-suited for projects that target feature
phones, smartphones and tablets.
Strengths
Netbiscuits' strong suit is B2C. Its platform provides multidevice, mobile Web AD and
operation, device management, rich content applications and rich media ads.
Netbiscuits integrates with a range of popular IDEs, including NetBeans, Eclipse and Microsoft
Visual Studio.
Overall customer satisfaction remains strong.
Cautions
Because Netbiscuits' focus is on customer-facing mobile websites and Web applications,
consider other MADPs for B2E and native AD.
Although the company is over 12 years old, Netbiscuits' HTML5 framework Tactile is relatively
new, and clients have reported some quality issues. BiscuitML, Netbiscuits' extension to HTML,
is still part of the new HTML5 framework.
salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is primarily known for its cloud/SaaS applications and capabilities, but also
supports mobile AD through its platform and tools. Developers can use the company's Force.com
application platform as a service (aPaaS) and Force.com APIs. During the past year, salesforce.com

significantly expanded its mobile capabilities, and formalized its mobile offerings under the name
Salesforce Touch. These include Salesforce Touch apps and the Salesforce Touch Platform, which
is part of Force.com. Customers can extend these apps and create Web, native and hybrid
applications for smartphones and tablets using the Salesforce Touch Platform, which includes
Apache Cordova and its capabilities. Customers can also use Force.com APIs in applications built
with other MADPs. For example, salesforce.com offers native mobile clients for its sales, service
and social networking SaaS applications. With the latest release, the company added Salesforce
Platform Mobile Services — a cloud mobile back-end as a service with services for data, code and
identity. Server-side code execution can run on Force.com or Heroku, using Ruby, Node.js, Java,
Python, Clojure or Scala. The Salesforce Touch Platform and Mobile Services can be used to build
any type of mobile application, not only for extending salesforce.com applications.
Appropriate Use: This vendor is suited for customers looking to extend their salesforce.com or
Force.com applications to mobile users.
Strengths
Touch-enabled mobile applications and the Force.com aPaaS and APIs are no-cost options for
salesforce.com SaaS customers.
Force.com provides a high-productivity development/deployment environment with visual
design tools, built-in integration with salesforce.com applications and a solid aPaaS.
Customers can use jQuery, Sencha and Apache Cordova as complementary tools to integrate
with the salesforce.com platform.
Cautions
Many of salesforce.com's mobile offerings are new, having been built on the Salesforce Touch
Platform. Some maturation is to be expected.
While salesforce.com continues to make progress in the mobile area, its mobile application
suite and AD platform are not quite as functional as its desktop Web offerings.
SAP
In 2012, SAP continued to expand its portfolio of mobile software products and services. SAP
acquired Syclo, an MADP competitor, for an undisclosed amount in June 2012. Syclo provides SAP
with successful mobile applications for enterprise asset, field service and inventory management,
and another MADP, Syclo Agentry. SAP has continued to build out its SAP Mobile Banking Platform
to support additional vertical industries, such as consumer packaged goods, retail, telco and
utilities. SAP delivered SAPUI5, a new HTML5/JavaScript UI framework for desktop and mobile
applications, and continued enhancements to the mobile capabilities of Business Objects. Early in
2013, SAP announced it was consolidating some MADP assets, merging the Syclo Agentry, Sybase
Mobiliser and Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) into a single platform, branding it as SAP Mobile
Platform, and offering it in enterprise and consumer editions. SAP's mobile business unit reported
€222 million in net new software license revenue for 2012. While this number includes non-MADP

revenue, we believe SAP grew its MADP license revenue dramatically over its strong sales
performance in 2011, making it the largest MADP provider in terms of license revenue.
Appropriate Use: Regardless of whether your enterprise is an SAP ERP customer, consider the
SAP Mobile Platform if your enterprise is looking for a single vendor that offers a broad portfolio of
mobile technology alternatives.
Strengths
SAP's early bet on mobility and substantial continued investment in mobile computing has
enabled the company to build out a broad portfolio of solutions and the beginnings of a strong
partner ecosystem.
SAP's broad customer base means its products have been tested in a broad range of mobile
applications across a diverse set of industries.
Customers report high levels of satisfaction with SAP mobile solutions, and that SAP's MADP
offerings are stable and secure. SAP's banking and messaging solutions have demonstrated
the ability to scale to support demanding consumer scenarios, and SAP offers some of the
broadest device support among all the multichannel vendors.
Cautions
SAP's product portfolio is complex. Enterprises looking for a lightweight infrastructure to
support quick-win mobile initiatives often find the SAP product set daunting.
Because many of SAP's mobile offerings are evolving rapidly, enterprises should examine each
offering's heritage and ask for integration road maps and guarantees of support.
Compared with some alternatives, SAP's mobile software pricing can be high, so be prepared
to negotiate.
Sencha
Sencha is a leading example of a vendor with a Web-centric approach to mobile AD. Sencha is a
champion of HTML5, evidenced by its aggressive defense of HTML5 as an appropriate
development environment for Facebook-style applications. In contrast with native code cross-
compilers, such as Kony and Appcelerator, Sencha's offering is a mix of commercial and open-
source tooling for HTML5 development. The offering consists of Sencha Architect, a commercially
licensed tool, which enables developers to design, develop and deploy mobile and desktop
applications. Sencha Touch, a mobile Web app framework available under open source or
commercial license, provides access to native device features exposed by HTML5, and is separate
from Sencha Ext JS, a cross-browser framework for desktop Web AD. Sencha Charts allows for
touch-driven accelerated graphics and charting. Sencha Mobile Packager facilitates native
wrapping of applications, as well as bridging to native APIs. Sencha.io, a cloud-hosted back-end as
a service is in beta. The company also offers an Eclipse plug-in.

Appropriate Use: Sencha will be attractive to IT organizations and ISVs that have Web application
and JavaScript development expertise. Its programming model should be familiar to developers
with backgrounds in Adobe Flex, Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Java Swing or
other object-oriented, component-based development platforms.
Strengths
Sencha fits best with developers whose predominant mobile application needs are for mobile
Web and hybrid architectures, as opposed to native apps or applications that need more
complex integration with the OS or system libraries.
Application deployments leveraging Sencha have grown significantly over the last year.
Sencha is one of the few HTML5 development frameworks that provides support in contrast to
the open-source alternatives.
Cautions
Sencha's fortunes are tied tightly to the adoption and maturation of HTML5. If an enterprise
needs native AD, then it will need to look to other tools and frameworks for support.
Sencha does not provide for ancillary life cycle services, such as code repositories, bug
tracking, support desk, usage analytics, performance analytics or version management, but
may be integrated with third-party providers in these areas.
Like other HTML5 solutions, Sencha apps can suffer from long initial load times on slow
network connections, because they have to load JavaScript code to the device. However,
Sencha provides delta-caching for low-latency repeat visits.
Usablenet
Founded in 2000, Usablenet's focus is to allow organizations to utilize existing content and website
assets in new mobile Web experiences. Usablenet's APIs are available for integration with third-
party native clients, or with native clients developed by Usablenet's professional services
organization using native toolkits. Usablenet's platform is cloud-based and supports several content
inputs, including HTML4, HTML5, JavaScript, Ajax and Dojo websites; Web services (SOAP, REST
and JavaScript Object Notation [JSON]); APIs; and XML. Output from the Usablenet cloud
development platform includes mobile websites and mobile Web applications. The company
provides Web application frameworks for Facebook, kiosks, tablets and smartphones.
Appropriate Use: Usablenet is strongest for predominantly mobile Web B2C applications, and for
organizations that prefer outsourcing to a cloud-based platform.
Strengths
Usablenet has a strong professional services organization. Usablenet customers can do their
own development on the Usablenet Development Cloud; have Usablenet develop applications
for them via its professional services; and/or do both.

The company has a strong client base in the retail and travel industries, and strong revenue
growth.
Usablenet has partner arrangements with companies such as PayPal and Google.
Cautions
The company focuses primarily on mobile Web applications. Its platform does not generate
native mobile applications automatically.
Usablenet caters more to situations where developers are attempting to leverage existing Web
content, Web services, APIs and XML feeds, rather than building new mobile business logic.
Usablenet's business model is based on pages served, even for native mobile application
support, and will require an ongoing operating budget.
Verivo Software
Verivo Software provides a comprehensive MADP for the enterprise market. Historically, Verivo's
platform employed a proprietary visual drag-and-drop development approach. This has changed
with its recently released Akula platform. This new platform was designed to embrace third-party
tools and frameworks, while continuing to allow enterprises to develop, deploy and manage cross-
platform applications. Supported architectures include Web, native and hybrid applications. Verivo
offers security and integration capabilities, including connectors to frequently deployed enterprise
solutions via its new Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (JEE)-based Akula Server middleware.
Appropriate Use: Verivo's Akula platform will be attractive to development organizations with
cross-platform projects that need to connect to enterprise systems.
Strengths
Developers will find that Verivo's new platform, Akula, is flexible, allowing for incorporation of
third-party tools and frameworks.
Verivo's Akula platform provides enterprise security and enables users to leverage a suite of
back-end connectors to support mobile enterprise application scenarios.
Verivo's new Try Before You Buy program allows developers to assess the platform capabilities
for 30 days without purchasing a license.
Cautions
The recent shift from the company's closed platform to the Akula platform will ultimately require
customers to migrate their applications to the new platform at their expense.
As with all new platforms, Akula may experience some early issues that will need to be
addressed.

Xamarin
Xamarin provides tools and platforms that allow C# developers to build cross-platform applications
that run on iOS and Android, as well as Windows and Mac OS X. Xamarin's unique offering has led
to rapid growth due to pent-up demand from .NET and C# developers for mobile tools. Founded in
May 2011, Xamarin has a history that dates back more than a decade. The principals had key roles
on the Mono project, a free-of-charge and open-source initiative launched in 2001 that
implemented the C# language, .NET framework and runtime environment on multiple platforms.
In February 2013, Xamarin introduced Xamarin 2.0, which includes Visual Studio integration for
developing Android and iOS applications, plus a cross-platform IDE called Xamarin Studio, the
Xamarin Component Store (a catalog of third-party and Xamarin-built components) and visual
design tools. In addition, Xamarin offers Test Cloud, a service for mobile apps that enables
developers to test across hundreds of mobile devices, including any mobile application, not just
Xamarin-compiled code. Xamarin's architectural approach provides completely native UIs with
better performance than other cross-platform techniques, as well as access to the native
capabilities of each device. The approach also allows Xamarin to support updates to native APIs on
the same day they are released, as it did with iOS 6. The trade-off is that developers must code the
UI to each target platform — while sharing common back-end code across them — and they
typically must understand platform-specific programming concepts.
Appropriate Use: Xamarin is appropriate for developers that want to leverage C# and .NET skills to
develop native apps that target some combination of iOS, Android and Windows platforms.
Strengths
Xamarin addresses an untapped market need (C# developers wanting to leverage their skills on
mobile).
Xamarin offers compatibility with a broad swath of Microsoft .NET tools and technologies.
Apps built with Xamarin have fully native UIs and performance.
Xamarin uses multifaceted technology built by a cohesive team with solid long-term track
record.
Cautions
The system is cross-platform within a limited scope, because developers code in a cross-
platform language and toolset, but craft the UI using APIs native to each platform.
The company is small with limited resources, competing against well-established mobile
vendors with large ecosystems, as well as other innovative small companies.
Vendors Added and Dropped
We review and adjust our inclusion criteria for Magic Quadrants and MarketScopes as markets
change. As a result of these adjustments, the mix of vendors in any Magic Quadrant or
MarketScope may change over time. A vendor appearing in a Magic Quadrant or MarketScope one

year and not the next does not necessarily indicate that we have changed our opinion of that
vendor. This may be a reflection of a change in the market and, therefore, changed evaluation
criteria, or a change of focus by a vendor.
Added
We added four vendors:
ClickSoftware
MicroStrategy
Motorola Solutions
Xamarin
Dropped
Four vendors that appeared in our 2012 Magic Quadrant were not included this year:
Andanza Technologies did not meet our criteria for market impact.
FileMaker still offers an MADP, but it is no longer targeted at enterprise IT developers.
Spring Wireless changed focus during 2012.
Syclo was acquired by SAP during 2012.
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Vendors in this year's Magic Quadrant met the following criteria:
Significant market impact. This is demonstrated either by:
MADP software revenue in 2012 of more than $15 million.
Over 1,000 new enterprise implementations in 2012.
A high volume of inquiry from Gartner end-user clients.
A global presence. Vendors must have had at least 10 new enterprise implementations in each
of at least two of the following geographic regions: North America, Latin America, EMEA or
Asia/Pacific.
Intellectual property. Firms must own the intellectual property rights to their MADPs.
Enterprise use. Only MADPs used by enterprise IT customers for custom development are
included. Platforms used solely by consulting or packaged application vendor employees are
excluded.

General-purpose MADP. The platform supports a wide range of application types, not just the
extension of a packaged application, mobile business intelligence, content management or
streaming application.
We updated our evaluation metrics to reflect the growth, convergence and consolidation of the
market. New criteria include:
Openness. Many enterprises use different tools depending on the business requirements of the
application, often from a mix of vendors. We surveyed more than 100 enterprises for this Magic
Quadrant, and found they used tools from an average of 2.5 MADP vendors. As a result, this
year, we began evaluating vendors on how well their products supported standards and
integrated with other MADP vendors' products.
Web technologies. Enterprises increasingly are looking for solutions based on Web
technologies, such as HTML5 and JavaScript, to increase application reach, reduce vendor
lock-in, extend application life and leverage skills and technology investments. We updated our
evaluation criteria to reflect the growing importance of Web technologies in enterprise mobile
strategies. We were not alone in recognizing this trend: Today, most vendors embrace Web
technologies at least to some degree.
Evaluation Criteria
Ability to Execute
Product/Service: How well does the vendor's platform meet the buying requirements of
enterprises? Does it support the full software development life cycle? How well does the vendor
support consumer-oriented and enterprise-oriented mobile applications? Can the platform be used
to build native, hybrid and Web applications? Is the platform open? Does it integrate well with other
vendors' platforms? Does it require only standard IT skills and tools? How labor-efficient is the
offering? Does the vendor supply application templates or frameworks to accelerate development?
Does the vendor have a strong partner ecosystem that extends the value of its products/services?
Overall Viability: For commercial vendors, we looked for continued commitment from upper
management and overall company financial well-being. For open-source projects, we considered
the strength of the community responsible for developing and supporting the project, the project
sponsor relationships, and the number of enterprises and developers using the software.
Sales Execution/Pricing: Is the company growing at, or faster than, the market rate? Does the
vendor have the scope and sales model to participate in all enterprise evaluations, or is it
constrained? Does the pricing model create a sales barrier?
Market Responsiveness and Track Record: How rapidly has the company responded to changes
in the market?
Marketing Execution: What is the level of market awareness of the company's mobile enterprise
offering? How does the company work with its partners to create a healthy ecosystem?

Customer Experience: Along with the product offering and sales execution criteria, this criterion
carries the highest weight and is based on customer and partner references, as well as Gartner
client inquiries.
Operations: How well does the vendor support customers? Does it provide cost-effective and
competent consulting services? Can it provide a cloud-based deployment model or hosting
services? (See Table 1.)
Table 1. Ability to Execute Evaluation Criteria
Criteria Weight
Product or Service High
Overall Viability Medium
Sales Execution/Pricing High
Market Responsiveness/Record Medium
Marketing Execution Low
Customer Experience High
Operations Low
Completeness of Vision
Market Understanding: Does the vendor understand the needs of marketing, IT, product
engineering and system integrator users? How does it stay on top of those needs and translate
them into useful products? To what degree has the market validated the vendor's vision?
Marketing Strategy: Does the vendor have a reasonable strategy to create broad awareness and
differentiation for its offerings?
Sales Strategy: Will the strategy enable the vendor to compete in the majority of enterprise
selections, or will it constrain the vendor's success? For open-source projects, we consider whether
the project ecosystem will position it for success in the majority of enterprise selections.
Offering (Product) Strategy: Does the road map for the product reflect the market's direction and
the likely requirements of buyers within 18 to 24 months? Has the company built or acquired the
pieces necessary to maintain product relevance and leadership?

Business Model: Does the vendor's business model yield the kind of profitable growth that will
allow the company to lead the market? For open-source projects, is the project's ecosystem likely
to drive it to market leadership?
Vertical/Industry Strategy: Does the vendor offer packaged mobile applications or templates for
specific vertical industries? Is the vendor able to articulate a strategy for vertical differentiation, and
can it maintain that position?
Innovation: Does the vendor lead the market with innovative technology, sales models or business
models?
Geographic Strategy: Does the company have a strong plan for supporting customers and
growing business worldwide? For open-source projects, we evaluate the international distribution of
project users (see Table 2).
Table 2. Completeness of Vision Evaluation Criteria
Evaluation Criteria Weighting
Market Understanding High
Marketing Strategy Low
Sales Strategy Medium
Offering (Product) Strategy High
Business Model Medium
Vertical/Industry Strategy Low
Innovation High
Geographic Strategy Low
Quadrant Descriptions
Leaders
As this market reaches early mainstream status, Gartner expects Leaders to be profitable, and to
present lower risk and consistently high project results as the market begins to consolidate and
competition grows. Leaders must not only be good at cross-platform development and deployment,
but also have a good vision of the multichannel enterprise, support for standards, a solid
understanding of IT requirements, and scalable channels and partnerships to market. Leaders must
provide platforms that are easy to purchase, program, deploy and upgrade. Leaders can focus

primarily on either B2C or B2E, but vision and execution scores are higher for vendors that can
cover both use cases today.
Challengers
Challengers in this market must have high numbers of enterprise clients; a large, growing base of
seats in deployment; and the ability to meet the needs of all departments in global rollouts.
Challengers offer a complete software suite that has all the required functionality and is scalable for
large numbers of users. They are vendors with a history of execution in the market. Challengers may
lack marketing skills, or a strong technical or business vision — especially in the areas of diversity,
future convergence with Web technologies and multichannel support — or may have lingering gaps
or confusing overlaps in products or channels to market.
Visionaries
Visionaries in this market have a compelling vision of their products' and the market's future, as well
as the technical direction to take them there. However, they have not backed up that vision in one
or more of the following areas: history of execution, revenue, size of client base or strong financial
results.
Niche Players
Niche Players in this market are not as strong in one or more of the following criteria: product
breadth/completeness or focus, geography, or number of customers. Although they may be a good
choice for a particular project, they are not well-suited as a broad platform for all types of projects.
Gartner suggests pairing some Niche Players (such as single-platform-focused vendors) with hybrid
or Web-oriented approaches to assemble a more complete solution. Enterprises need to ask Niche
Players in this market to show them how they will remedy their shortcomings through partnering or
integration.
Context
The market for MADPs is complex. A team of six analysts conducted this year's evaluation.
Beginning with a pool of more than 120 vendors, we found 22 that met the Magic Quadrant
inclusion criteria. We opted to include vendors supporting different mobile AD approaches, because
Gartner client inquiries show that enterprise buyers consider them as alternatives.
Given the wide range of vendor technologies, business models and histories, it is not surprising that
vendors have widely differing strengths, cautions and visions for this market. Our evaluation was
based on the converging enterprise requirements for a single platform capable of supporting B2C,
B2B and B2E scenarios.
When using this research, there are a number of important points to keep in mind:

As with all Magic Quadrants, vendors in the Leaders quadrant are not necessarily the best for all
projects or enterprises. Depending on your needs, a vendor in any quadrant could be the best
for your enterprise. For example, if you only need to build applications for the Apple iPad, a
Niche Player, such as Apple, may be your best choice. Our evaluations are based upon a
specific set of criteria, and may not match those of your organization. For a view into how well
some of the leading MADPs support either a B2C or B2E scenario, see "Critical Capabilities for
Mobile Application Development Platforms."
There are many vendors that have mobile AD offerings but did not meet our inclusion
requirements. This does not mean they shouldn't be selected. Other vendors that you might
consider include 3CInteractive, AppPoint, Catavolt, Convertigo, Embarcadero, FeedHenry,
Formotus, Globo, HP, Intel, Magic Software Enterprises, Mendix, Modo Labs, moTwin,
Moovweb, Openstream, PocketMobile Communications, Prolifiq Software, Retriever
Communications, Runtime Revolution, Service2Media, Sita, Synactive and Telerik. For more on
selecting vendors, see "Selecting a Mobile App Development Vendor."
Some platforms may be a better fit with your organization's skill sets. Consider the match
between the skills you have and those required by each MADP you evaluate. Enterprise
customers typically have the following skills in good supply:
Traditional developers familiar with Java or .NET programming languages
Technical business analysts who prefer high-level fourth-generation languages (4GLs) and
form builders
Web developers and designers who are proficient with JavaScript, HTML and CSS
Despite market consolidation, the MADP market continues to evolve rapidly. In addition, the
developing nature of mobile applications and infrastructure makes it difficult for an enterprise to
select a single, strategic MADP vendor. Concentrate on finding a small set of platforms that will
satisfy your short-term to midterm needs, and be prepared to re-examine your choices every
few years.
Many enterprises need more than one MADP to meet all their requirements, so look for
platforms that work together. For more on lowering IT cost and complexity, see "Minimizing the
Number of Supported Mobile Application Architectures."
Market Overview
Selecting MADPs has become an urgent issue for many CIOs. Less than seven years after the
introduction of Apple's iPhone, the worldwide installed base of smartphones and tablets will
surpass that of PCs in 2013.
1
As a result, mobile technologies ranked as a top technology priority in
Gartner's last three annual CIO surveys. Building mobile applications is an important component of
an enterprise's mobile strategy, because applications provide much of the potential business ROI in
the mobile infrastructure. Enterprises build mobile websites and apps to engage customers
wherever they are. Similarly, they build mobile applications to improve employee efficiency and
effectiveness. However, selecting an MADP is not easy:

The debate over Web, native and hybrid approaches continues. While HTML5 promises to
satisfy typical enterprise needs, most enterprises find it is only a partial solution today.
While many IT organizations would like to standardize on a single MADP, no single vendor can
provide a cost-effective solution for the wide variety of mobile applications a typical enterprise
needs to build.
The vendor landscape continues to rapidly grow and evolve, with new vendors and new
products entering the market every month.
The market continues to converge around common enterprise requirements, making it more
difficult to differentiate between the products offered by different vendors and increasing the
number of vendors.
Recommended Reading
Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription.
"Magic Quadrants and MarketScopes: How Gartner Evaluates Vendors Within a Market"
"Selecting a Mobile App Development Vendor"
"Minimizing the Number of Supported Mobile Application Architectures"
"Decision Point for Selecting Mobile Application Development Frameworks"
"HTML5 and Web Technologies Are Becoming Major Forces in Mobile Application Development"
"HTML5 to Take on New Role in Mobile App Development"
Evidence
1 "Forecast: Devices by Operating System and User Type, Worldwide, 2010-2016, 4Q12 Update"
Evaluation Criteria Definitions
Ability to Execute
Product/Service: Core goods and services offered by the vendor for the defined
market. This includes current product/service capabilities, quality, feature sets, skills
and so on, whether offered natively or through OEM agreements/partnerships as
defined in the market definition and detailed in the subcriteria.
Overall Viability: Viability includes an assessment of the overall organization's financial
health, the financial and practical success of the business unit, and the likelihood that
the individual business unit will continue investing in the product, will continue offering

the product and will advance the state of the art within the organization's portfolio of
products.
Sales Execution/Pricing: The vendor's capabilities in all presales activities and the
structure that supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and negotiation,
presales support, and the overall effectiveness of the sales channel.
Market Responsiveness/Record: Ability to respond, change direction, be flexible and
achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act, customer
needs evolve and market dynamics change. This criterion also considers the vendor's
history of responsiveness.
Marketing Execution: The clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs designed
to deliver the organization's message to influence the market, promote the brand and
business, increase awareness of the products, and establish a positive identification
with the product/brand and organization in the minds of buyers. This "mind share" can
be driven by a combination of publicity, promotional initiatives, thought leadership,
word of mouth and sales activities.
Customer Experience: Relationships, products and services/programs that enable
clients to be successful with the products evaluated. Specifically, this includes the ways
customers receive technical support or account support. This can also include ancillary
tools, customer support programs (and the quality thereof), availability of user groups,
service-level agreements and so on.
Operations: The ability of the organization to meet its goals and commitments. Factors
include the quality of the organizational structure, including skills, experiences,
programs, systems and other vehicles that enable the organization to operate
effectively and efficiently on an ongoing basis.
Completeness of Vision
Market Understanding: Ability of the vendor to understand buyers' wants and needs
and to translate those into products and services. Vendors that show the highest
degree of vision listen to and understand buyers' wants and needs, and can shape or
enhance those with their added vision.
Marketing Strategy: A clear, differentiated set of messages consistently
communicated throughout the organization and externalized through the website,
advertising, customer programs and positioning statements.
Sales Strategy: The strategy for selling products that uses the appropriate network of
direct and indirect sales, marketing, service, and communication affiliates that extend
the scope and depth of market reach, skills, expertise, technologies, services and the
customer base.

Offering (Product) Strategy: The vendor's approach to product development and
delivery that emphasizes differentiation, functionality, methodology and feature sets as
they map to current and future requirements.
Business Model: The soundness and logic of the vendor's underlying business
proposition.
Vertical/Industry Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills and
offerings to meet the specific needs of individual market segments, including vertical
markets.
Innovation: Direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources,
expertise or capital for investment, consolidation, defensive or pre-emptive purposes.
Geographic Strategy: The vendor's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to
meet the specific needs of geographies outside the "home" or native geography, either
directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries as appropriate for that
geography and market.

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