Tech Trends 2016
- 1. 4 Tech Trends That Will Shape IT App Dev
- 2. 2 / Table of Contents 03 04 05 06 07 Trend #1: Massive Demand for Mobile Apps Trend #2: Constant App Iteration Trend #3: Democratization of App Development Trend #4: Explosion of Actionable Data Conclusion 2 / Introduction A Technology Revolution We are in the midst of a technology revolution. Everything from how the enterprise runs its front-office customer interactions, to its back-office operations, and even how it works with partners, is rapidly being reinvented. Applications are driving much of this change. According to comScore, mobile app usage in the U.S. alone increased by more than 52 percent from June 2013 to June 2014. IT departments are being challenged to keep up by building and releasing apps that make the grade for customers, employees, and partners. Even point-and-click developers have a tremendous opportunity to make an impact with apps. On the coming pages, we will examine four of the biggest trends IT leaders need to pay attention to when it comes to app development, both now and going forward. They are: • The demand for mobile apps • The best apps are never “done” • Democratized app building • More usable data than ever before More importantly, we will answer the really big question: What is the secret to truly innovating in the enterprise?
- 3. The smartphone has changed not only how we do things, but where we can do things. At the most basic level, this new mobility has created a world where consumers expect to do business with companies — and employees expect to do more work — all from the palm of their hand. This shift has created an unprecedented demand for apps, and, as a result, disruption and opportunity are everywhere. For IT, apps can be used to create synergy between its department and the business. Why is this? Because apps that harness everything you do in one place, including customer data, can truly reinvent your company. By building the innovative apps a business and consumers want, IT can create a new, more expanded role for itself. All apps are not created equal. There are two different kinds of apps that need to be made: employee and customer. Each has a distinct set of requirements and take different tools to build. Employee Apps Employees need apps that help them do more, faster, by automating business processes. Apps should be specific to each role and department, including HR, IT, Ops, Marketing, and Sales. Customer Apps These apps can be used to transform your company’s relationship with customers. They should drive engagement with a beautiful and engaging user interface and connectt o your employee apps. Trend #1 MASSIVE DEMAND FOR MOBILE APPS 3 / According to the Accenture Mobility Insights Report 2014, 77%of participants say mobile is a top five strategy for them in the coming year. In addition, the two most named objectives in the study are improving existing mobile apps and growing mobile presence. Mobile as a priority just makes sense. Disruption of every industry, company, product, and service is just a mobile app away. Think of the companies you interact with now via a mobile app, such as Airbnb, Hotel Tonight, Spotify, Trunk Club, and Uber. This group is likely very different from those who had your business just two years ago. See 80+ examples of mobile apps in action: Download the Mobile app guide and gallery DOWNLOAD NOW
- 4. If you’re going to continue to help your company grow, you need to be agile. Force.com allows us to quickly build something and get it in front of somebody, and then iterate on it in a very rapid way. Toby Lester VP of Technology Architecture, Brown-Forman “ ” Building and releasing a one-and-done mobile app is not enough. Look around. The most successful companies are updating their apps daily and weekly, not every year. Among them are innovative apps you likely use on a regular basis, including eBay, Facebook, Pandora, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube, and even Candy Crush. This trend is about more than just building a great app once. Can you sit down and take feedback from users, including employees and customers, and make the app better and better? Frequent updates mean increased app iterations and decreased cycle times. The new app currency comes down to how fast you can make your apps better. What is the secret to being the most innovative in the enterprise? The answer is speed. Fast development is what unlocks creativity for IT, so they can build better solutions for the business and earn a seat at the table. This agility is the most important part of delivering customer and employee apps. Trend #2 CONSTANT APP ITERATION 4 / See how customers are building apps 70% faster: Download the IDC White Paper DOWNLOAD NOW Upgrades are a good thing. The word upgrade has a positive connotation almost everywhere, except for enterprise software. Salesforce’s enterprise-ready, multi tenant cloud platform changes that by managing and providing not only automatic upgrades, but also servers and databases. This means IT’s focus can be almost entirely on building and improving apps.
- 5. Trend #3 DEMOCRATIZATION OF APP DEVELOPMENT 5 / The next generation of Platform as a Service (PaaS) gives developers and business users alike everything needed to not only build apps, but do so fast, plus immediately make them mobile and social. Developers are free to code in any language for any device. Business users without an in-depth coding background are empowered with quick- start tools that make creating apps almost as easy as putting together a spreadsheet. Component Frameworks Building and iterating on apps fast comes down to using the right tools. Component frameworks are the future of app development. This sustainable and efficient method is being used across the industry, with Salesforce the only company offering it for the enterprise. Here’s one example — When you look at a webpage, such as salesforce.com, you tend to think of it as a single entity. In fact, it’s actually a set of components fitted together in the background and presented as a complete experience. Another example — Think of an app like a car. Automotive manufacturers take parts and put them together to build a vehicle. Many of those parts can also be used to build an entirely different model of car. Similarly, developers can use component frameworks to build one app and then repurpose them to build an entirely different app, while IT can empower business users with drag-and-drop pre-made app components. This format allows for innovation in ways not imagined initially. Custom component frameworks can be built once and released often for frequent iterations. Developers have the flexibility to only code what they want to code and use pre-built services for everything else. Learn more about building apps at lightning speed: WATCH DEMO We’re doing things 4-8x FASTER and seeing a 90% COST SAVINGS over traditional development in places. Pradip Sitaram SVP and CIO of Enterprise, Enterprise Community Partners “ ”
- 6. Trend #4 EXPLOSION OF ACTIONABLE DATA 6 / IT departments are managing huge amounts of data being generated by everything from applications, to connected devices, to various systems. It’s this data, whether about customers, products, or processes, that is the core asset of every company. It’s vital to make this data available. In a perfect world, IT can easily and affordably call up the pieces of data the business needs, when they need it. The problem is that most of the data in any one IT ecosystem doesn’t talk to other sets of data. When IT tries to leverage an integration tool to access and connect various data sets, the project is typically too expensive and takes too much time to have any value to the business. It makes total sense then that recent research by Confirmit showed that 48% of IT leaders surveyed said integration was the #1 pain point in their department. Another common practice involves generating many copies of the same data, typically for use in different applications. This creates inconsistencies in what users see in those apps. Breaks in business processes often happen simply due to the discrepancies that can arise when two steps are working off different data copies. This data needs to be connected, not copied. Salesforce is working to break down the walls of information architecture by driving connectivity. This means making it easy to logically relate data within the IT environment by reference and in real time. The faster IT can build mobile apps, the more data they are going to want to put into them so it’s available to the end user. And no matter how many apps they build, each one needs to be able to leverage the same version of the data in real time. 40% of CIOs say data integration is a priority. Lightning Connect can help. WATCH DEMO We’ve been able to move from a legacy and siloed environment of different applications that didn’t talk to each other, to something that’s unified and helps us see our customers in the same way they see us. Ken Grady CIO, New England Biolabs (Formerly) “ ”
- 7. 7 /7 / Apps are driving a massive technology revolution across the enterprise, from sales to service to marketing. Throughout this e-book, we’ve examined four trends that are shaping, and will continue to shape, app development in the coming year. Employees and customers want more apps. They want them to be mobile. They want them to be updated regularly. Innovation is about harnessing all of these requirements, plus your company’s significant data, in one place. Speed is the key to successfully innovating with apps in the enterprise. In order to compete and keep up with changing demands, IT must develop apps and improve upon them, fast. The next generation of Platform as a Service (PaaS) frees up IT by managing things like upgrades, servers, and databases. These cloud platforms also give developers and business users what they need to build mobile and social apps, such as the ability to code in any language and quick-start tools for those who lack a traditional coding background. In addition, modern PaaS offers IT the ability to connect the data the business needs for these apps, in real time. The faster this data is made available to the end user, the quicker they can make better decisions around it. It’s this freedom and agility that unlocks the creativity needed to reinvent your company with apps. Conclusion Innovation = Speed
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