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Check out http://bit.ly/heWU1R on Mobile Masters for what the world of new successful and strategic enterprise apps will look like (it ain’t gonna be mobilizing CRM!). You are right that there will be no one enterprise ‘killer app’ in the sense of stand alone apps (Angry Birds, however, is a killer app I gotta say – but is it an enterprise app? Hmm…)- Mobility itself and the mobile cloud are the killer apps…
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Tony,
Somehow I had the feeling you would chime in on this discussion
How do you see the Cloud being a killer app? Is it not rather the killer distribution vehicle for the date needed for these killer tasks?
Philippe
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One of those days…Either way it’s ‘killer’ is the point!
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Philippe, I agree with the core idea of thinking business process mobility not just mobile apps/devices. I strongly believe on the Enterprise Mobile killer app(s). Just wait for the roll out of 4G and coverage everywhere. Verizon Wireless has planted its flag today, game is ON.
Combining “super” speed network with cloud platform is, as Tony mentioned also, is and will continue shaping the architecture of the enterprise “killer app”. This app will be most probably not on our devices anymore. May be in the cloud or even deeper in the space! Who cares where is it? We care what it can offer us where and when we want it. 2 0 -
I agree with the basic premise, but will split a few hairs. The next killer app beyond email/PIM has already arrived and it is the Browser. Beyond email and the browser things will fracture, but there are killer apps by industry segment. We are seeing mobile Point of Sale being very hot in retail and patient information and diagnostics being very hot in health care.
This trend is very good for the mobile user, but will continue to place more and more pressure on the enterprise to both secure the information and delivery a high quality mobile user experience.
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The browser is not a killer app! In the not so far off future we won’t even see a browser – rather we’ll see our own self-defined avatars (or agents) that become our unique interfaces into the mobile cloud and apps. There will also very likely be unique enterprise avatars that employees will use that separate enterprise (corporate liable) business from personal (user liable) business. (A browser will be lurking behind that avatar but no one will think ‘browser’ but rather will focus directly on the apps through the eyes of the avatar. Tablets will drive this. Mobile apps platforms coupled with HTML5 will deliver hybrid apps that can tap into unique device functionality (HTML5 can’t do that on its own). These hybrid apps and true native apps will dominate mobility – most of it in the mobile cloud!
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I agree with Alan, The App is the browser, and the killer is extending my work required connectivity to where ever I am. Bandwidth helps yes but the web brings connectivity to people and systems. Extending functions and feaures of the work envorment will come through the browser as it does today with many SOA and SOAP enterprise enviorments. 5o9inc middleware allows IT to extend what they do in the enterprise or web services using the same internal skills, policies, security. The best experience for a user and thier device is a style sheet away!
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So in the vein of splitting hairs, I will have to slightly disagree. The browser may very well be the conduit for a large portion of mobile tasks, but that does not mean we won’t see an equal number of “native” apps that will continue leveraging the core capabilities of each platform.
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I agree. Though the killer apps would vary as per industry segment core requirements, There is a lot of pressure on all types of enterprise segments, carriers and in fact all players in the entire enterprise mobility infrastructure. There is a bleeding need to support and maintain high level of user experience, along with superior support for various existing and upcoming mobile platforms.
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Philippe, I agree that the future for enterprise mobile ‘app’ is really in bite-sized solutions or task-oriented and adapted to the mobile environment, where short interactions with multiple tasks are the norm.
This demand for get-in-quick, do something, get makes browser based solutions less attractive, as due to security and the lack of context memory, users need to log-in, then navigate to target page before they can even access or interact with the task they are after.
Native mobile solutions enable the expected behavior of remembering where I was last at, support caching of credentials and allow me to accomplish my goal in minimum steps with maximum UI/device fidelity.
The key is to find solutions that enable the creation of these focused solutions that also support security and ease of deployment.
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I generally agree that there might not be a true “killer app” for enterprise mobility in the way many of those think about it. It reminds me of the internet heyday when all were wondering what the “killer app” would be. But, as I read your piece, I wonder aloud if the “killer app” may just be “mobile employee productivity” which leverages the mini-apps focused on small segments of the larger business processes. Thoughts?
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There may not be a single “killer app”, but rather a collection of apps that users find of value in aggregate. We see enterprises building multiple point solution in-house apps on iPhone, iPad and Android that do one task really well.
Generally useful (aka “horizontal”) mobile apps include corporate directory, HR, training, and business process. Build a great UI, make it easy for employees to use, and you get significant ROI.
Add to that great “vertical apps”. A few examples include:
– monitor a particular manufacturing process of high value and interest to a team
– provide marketing info on a specific product or channel
– “just in time” information to pharma repsWeave truly empowering apps into the daily life of an employee, and make them more productive, you can get the “killer app”.
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I think that’s the key point Cimarron – the workforce of tomorrow will use a collection of applications that do one task, as you say: really well.
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I am hoping UC will have great potential. Take the FFAs, SFAs , as of now , the presence & collaboration aspects are user initiated or a backend scheduling triggerd (To an extent SCMs are getting GIS integrated). I am hoping Service Experiences get redefined where we are going to have face to face dealings at every hop of enterprise workflow. An Enterprise Mobility post “pad&tab” era will be definitely different and probably UCs get popular via them…
But then this pseudo Killer App will fade away as the killers get written over them..
How about Enterprise Social Networking Mashed with UCs… and a better Salesforce.com emerging as the Enterprise Facebook
Good to see thoughts in these directions…
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Well, hopefully Kumar, we’re one step closer to your vision of enterprise social networking withe the Enterprise Mobility Forum
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Yeah , let us get emf on mobile , we can get a MIDP app
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We’re working on a new mobile interface
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Anything that connects the individual to their corporate data… anything that takes a complex process at company headquarters and streamlines them for mobile use… and an app that acts as a timer for meetings and conference calls but that runs 30% faster than a regular clock – that way meetings will be 30% faster.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philippe Winthrop, toweetoo and marti konstant, The EMF.org. The EMF.org said: Philippe Winthrop wrote a new blog post: The Next "Killer App" for Enterprise… http://goo.gl/fb/ltwDU #TheEMF [...]
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[...] The Next “Killer App” for Enterprise Mobility Will Be… | The … [...]
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[...] The Next “Killer App” for Enterprise Mobility Will Be… | The … [...]
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The Next “Killer App” for Enterprise Mobility Will Be…
Part of that evolution is because of applications. It’s not just about the 300,000+ applications you can find on Apple’s App Store, but about the kinds of applications that companies can develop either by leveraging mobile enterprise application platforms (MEAPs) as well as any old custom built application they may want to use. I’m not here to debate the merits of one method of developing “internal” apps vs. another because each has its own pro’s and con’s.
The one thing I do want to touch upon today however is the discussion around the next “killer app” for the ever increasingly mobile workplace. What’s a killer app? An application that can be used by almost anyone in your workplace….it’s something that is basically ubiquitous in the desktop environment. Sure, most organizations have deployed mobile email solutions, and that is still gaining traction within the workplace (in terms of penetration) but we at the bleeding edge of enterprise mobility are always thinking about what’s next.
Some people have talked about mobile CRM or SFA or even mobile unified communications as the next killer app. Heck, I was a proponent of that last one for quite some time as the heir apparent to that moniker. Well, I have been spending some more time thinking about this question. While I am still a big fan of mobile UC, I no longer believe it will be THE next killer enterprise mobility app. I want to suggest instead that there will be no future killer application for the mobile enterprise.
Yes folks, there will be no killer apps for the mobile enterprise – at least I don’t think there will be. Hunh??? So why are we investing so much time, energy, thought and MONEY on this “stuff?”
Well, there obviously IS value in creating software for mobile devices….but are these really applications per se? When I think of an application, I think of things like email, ERP, desktop productivity, etc. I think however that the greatest benefits that will come from mobile software is when we think about our internal business processes and how these tasks can me accretive to the organization when mobilized. And there’s the key. Mobile tasks.
The sales guy won’t just want to see CRM information, but s/he may also want to see the status of an order….or see what is available in inventory. Another person may want to see when their expense report will be approved. These are singularly focused tasks – mini apps if you will, that will allow you to quickly get the information you need on one specific issue/topic/request.
Remember a few years ago when we started talking about making sure we didn’t throw the proverbial kitchen sink into mobile applications? This is the epitome of that mindset. Get in….get out….and you’re done. You got the information you need and yuo can go on with your life…
So what do you think? Am I on to something here? Should we stop thinking about mobile apps and instead about how we can mobilize tasks?