Modern business requirements

As mobile devices have become ubiquitous, digital has become the cornerstone of staff and customer communication - to support this, organisations are driving the evolution of apps, looking for agility, simplicity and cost reduction.

Organisations can no longer afford to take the one-by-one approach to platforms, as consumers now expect seamless, high-quality digital experiences on whatever device they happen to be using.

Modern businesses require apps that are able to adapt to changing requirements, scale to meet customer (or staff) needs, and that can support multiple platforms without the need for constant input from specialist developers or IT departments.

To meet these challenges, a new paradigm is taking shape.

A new approach

Modern apps are being created using a new methodology - Next Gen Application Development & Maintenance (ADM). Next gen ADM is a concept, which aligns the process of creating and running apps with wider business objectives, and seeks to prolong the life of apps - perhaps indefinitely.

Using the Next Gen proposition, organisations can;

• Reduce time-to-market when reacting to changes in staff or customer needs, the wider marketplace or when creating content and functionality in day-to-day operations.
• Reduce complexity by developing a scalable, cross-platform app ecosystem, which is fully integrated with their own systems and supports business processes.
• Reduce costs by moving away from project-based, cyclical, app refreshes - reducing their dependence on specialist app developers and on their IT department.

But possibly the key benefit of Next Gen apps, is their capacity to enable non-technical staff, such as marketers, to manage day-to-day updates, add content, and adjust app configuration. The combination of these factors allow companies using them, to create superior digital experiences for their customers and staff.

However, retooling in this way can itself be a lengthy and expensive process. In order to realise many of the benefits of Next Gen ADM, business leaders need to be prepared to invest, or identify partners who can offer app infrastructure as a service.