The demand for corporate mobile apps will outstrip businesses’ capacity to deliver them by five to one within two years, a Gartner report has warned.
Gartner claimed the need for businesses to quickly develop various apps for employees’ numerous mobile devices was made even more problematic by the “exceedingly difficult and costly” process of hiring skilled developers.
The problem will only get worse as employees go from using an average of three devices to “five or six” as IoT becomes mainstream, the research firm claimed.
Adrian Leow, Principle Research Analyst at Gartner, said: ”Organisations increasingly find it difficult to be proactive against competitive pressures, which is resulting in their mobile apps becoming tactical, rather than strategic.
”We’re seeing demand for mobile apps outstrip available development capacity, making quick creation of apps even more challenging. Mobile strategists must use tools and techniques that match the increase in mobile app needs within their organisations.”
Gartner also cited a study from 2014 that revealed that most companies had developed fewer than 10 apps, with a “significant number” having developed none whatsoever.
Leow said the findings were an indication of the “nascent state of mobility” in most organisations.
Gartner suggested organisations should prioritise app development as part of their business processes and use a mixture of both in-house and outsourced developers, who may be more experienced in mobile app creation.
Rapid mobile app development or “RMAD” tools, which include drag-and-drop capabilities, code generation and other construction tools can also speed up app creation, Gartner claimed.
Finally, the research firm suggested a “bimodal IT approach” that separates API creation and back-end processes from front-end app feature development could also help organisations integrate apps more quickly.