What are the Critical Capabilities of a Mobile Application Development Platform?

[Former Member]

There are many types of technologies that fall into the 'mobile application development platform' category. Each toolset, integrated development environment and framework offer different services and capabilities. There are many bells and whistles across theses solutions. Many customers and partners have selected mobile application development platforms (MADP) as a solution to streamline mobile app projects. They have selected MADP solutions because they provide an always on experience to the end user, lower the total cost of ownership for the IT manager and speed up and enhance the developer experience. If the answer to mobile app projects is indeed MADP technology, then what are the critical capabilities needed for developing a mobile application?

At SAP SAPPHIRENOW in May 2013 there was a main theatre session held on the mobile campus titled "Explore the Critical Functionalities of a Mobile App Development Platform". robyn.chan, Senior Vice President, Engineering for SAP Mobile Platform and Chris LeBeau, GM, Infrastructure & Service Strategy at ATS explained how there are many ways to develop mobile apps for employees and consumers. Robyn walked through many critical functionalities that the SAP Mobile Platform offers and Chris spoke about his experience using our mobile application development platform and how specific features have made real business impact in his organization and ecosystem. Together, they outlined why it is important to select a solution that provides a secure, flexible, scalable architecture to support your specific use cases and user needs.

You can view the PowerPoint slides that Robyn and Chris presented here and watch the replay by clicking on the video below.

If you are interested in learning more about how ATS is using SAP Mobile Solutions to run better, read skliquid's blog ATS and SAP Help Chocolate Factory Run Better with Mobile Technology or watch the video below.

SAP and its customers and partners are continuing to answer the question what are the critical capabilities of a MADP on a daily basis. We realize that we are not the only evaluators in the market and this is why I would like to draw your attention to a recently published analyst report that addresses this query. The 2013 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Mobile Application Development Platforms / G00250347 report is now available. I consider this report to be a companion piece to the Gartner Mobile Application Development Platform Magic Quadrant report. In the 2013 Gartner MADP MQ, SAP is positioned as a leader. If you have not read this report, you can learn more about it and download a copy. Just check out my blog SAP Positioned in Leaders Quadrant for Gartner Mobile App Development Platform MQ.

Back to the 2013 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Mobile Application Development Platforms report. Gartner outlines major use cases, details functional areas and rates each vendor's ability to support typical use scenarios. Furthermore, Gartner recommends readers to:

• Consider broader aspects of each MADP's capabilities, including their features and functions
• Consider the broader ecosystem and fit with your environment
• Look beyond immediate needs and developing a first-cut mobile strategy so that midterm needs can be considered
• Implement a mobility center of excellence to align enterprise wide mobile application development activities with your MADP investment

One highlight in the report is that SAP has achieved an “excellent” score for product viability. The report outlines the SAP Mobile Platform as an integrated platform that enables developers to extend enterprise applications to mobile workers in the field and to support consumer-facing mobile applications by providing a hub that connects enterprise information systems and data sources to mobile devices. Other specifics our SAP's MADP technology include:

• SAP Mobile Platform can be licensed for Enterprise Edition and/or Consumer Edition, and is available on-premises and in the cloud. The system includes an SDK, libraries and frameworks, and a runtime transaction server
• The runtime system provides server-side runtime services, such as security, caching and synchronization, integration with enterprise applications, and platform management and control, which includes mobile device and mobile application monitoring and management.
• The platform enables users to integrate mobile apps with business objects, SAP precision marketing, Visual Enterprise, and third-party social, geospatial and context-aware capabilities

You can download the report and read through Gartner's assessment of MADP features and functions. Click here for your free copy of the report.

Learn more about SAP Mobile Platform, industry leading mobile application development platform and get started using the product today. Get a free, 30 day full development account for the SAP Mobile Platform – so you can start creating innovative apps right away. Download our software development  kit (SDK), submit the form for your license, and kick-start your test drive today. Get started now!