Transform your workplace with a mobile-first approach

Imagine if you could do more on your smartphone in the workplace - aside from checking your email, managing your calendar or searching for a term on the Internet. At home, people use their mobile devices for just about everything. In terms of other enterprise applications, however, there has been little headway in making mobile devices the go-to for employees.

With the right tools at your fingertips, you can change that.

New opportunities for mobility

Referring to insights from Aaref Hilaly, partner at Sequoia Capital, TechTarget explained that the greater availability and accessibility of corporate information promised by cloud platforms opens new doors for mobile workflows. Previous IT infrastructures made mobile enterprise apps far less feasible because it was difficult to create products that tapped into the company's databases.

This consideration is especially pertinent for employees who want to use mobile devices to work remotely or on the go. Mobile apps that lack connectivity can't take the place of robust computer programs.

However, with more companies moving their resources to the cloud, app developers can tap into the data and computing power they need to give employees powerful mobile options. Data connectivity services, such as Progress® DataDirect Cloud™, make this process even faster: They enable developers to select databases with the click of a button rather than having to build APIs just to connect.

Rapid app development and mobile-first approaches

In light of this opportunity, analysts anticipate that mobile trends will continue to expand in the workplace. Therefore, Hilaly recommended taking a mobile-first approach to app development, rather than designing programs for the PC and then making them available on mobile devices.

Hilaly also noted that cloud application management is a valuable tool for exploring the effectiveness of apps and making them more readily available to end-users. A cloud-based approach can be more cost-effective and make it easier to retrieve analytical information about app usage and performance.

To create apps that are optimized for mobile devices, organizations need rapid app development solutions. These services empower people with limited time and knowledge of coding to create applications that suit their business requirements and tap into their data resources. With mobile tools for developing applications, app creators gain both the flexibility to work from anywhere and the firsthand insight into how their programs appear and function on smartphones or other devices. That way, they can pursue a mobile-first approach with greater speed and accuracy.