The 5 Myths
of Enterprise Mobile Apps

Where are the Enterprise
Mobile Apps?
Each year the world becomes more mobile. According to the UN’s Interna-
tional Telecommunications Union (ITU), there are more active mobile
phone subscriptions than people on the planet. People are using multiple
devices at home and at work, including smart phones, tablets, wearables,
laptops and desktop systems. In the consumer world, the mobile customer
is the new norm, but the picture is notably different in the enterprise.
The typical large business runs thousands of applications, including com-
plex legacy systems that handle core business processes. With estimates
measured in years to mobilize each application, it’s no surprise that the
standard enterprise is still desktop-centric. That’s why the truly “mobile
enterprise” is still more vision than reality. Despite the desktop-centric
nature of their application infrastructures, most enterprises urgently
recognize the need to migrate core apps to the mobile platforms popular
with the workforce. According to the 2017 Gartner CIO Agenda Report,
spending on mobility and mobile applications is among the top five priori-
ties for most CIOs. However, these CIO’s are encountering a combination of
myths and limitations that hinder the move to enterprise mobility.
Let’s examine these common myths.
1© 2017 PowWow Mobile, Inc. All rights reserved.

Some companies believe that “going mobile” is as simple as
replacing their current desktop screens with a smaller device
screen. Companies that follow this approach tend to use
simple solutions like rendering desktop web apps in the
mobile browser or using desktop virtualization to push these
apps to mobile devices.
Many organizations that have tried either or both approaches
have found that their users spend more time “pinching and
zooming” to choose the right menu or button, or simply scroll
2
Myth #1
We can simply push existing
desktop applications
to mobile devices
around the application. Mobile users expect an intuitive user
experience that leverages the capabilities and functionality
of the native device. Force fitting a customized business
application with upwards of 50+ tabs and fields onto a
smaller device will not aid in productivity. Ultimately, users
want to quickly complete workflows and tasks through apps
that drive productivity, not hinder it.

Users want to quickly
complete workflows and tasks
through apps that drive
productivity, not hinder it.

According to a recent Gartner report, 70 percent of software
interaction in enterprises will occur on mobile devices by
2020. By 2021, 50 percent of apps will trigger events for
users, making them more efficient. While most businesses
do have a few pockets of mobile solutions, partial mobility
has drawbacks, starting with the high probability of needing
to carry more than one device.
Many organizations are choosing to only mobilize simple
workflows such as expense reports, approval processes and
timesheets. While these one-to-two function applications
are critical to the business’ success and a great place to start
4
Myth #2
We can get by with mobilizing
just a few simple processes
on your organization’s mobile journey, there are several
other processes that your users need mobilized to improve
overall efficiency.
Consider your sales representative who is constantly
meeting with prospects and clients away from the office.
They can update their calendar and contact information
from their smartphone or tablet, but then have to close
deals, craft proposals, and send invoices back at the office on
their Windows application at a desktop. When users are held
back by limited technology, efficiency decreases, important
information is forgotten and productivity fails.

Some enterprises believe that the software vendors will
offer packaged mobile apps to support their existing
applications. This belief raises more questions than answers,
in particularly, whether or not the vendor can support
customized applications without the need for costly
upgrades or re-platforming. Not to mention, can they
support various mobile form factors and operating systems?
What many enterprises don’t know is that their software
vendors struggle with the same problems they do: which
devices to support and how much original coding to do.
Utilizing mobile solutions from software providers are not
only expensive but, are often unable to meet the businesses
needs due to the complex customizations of their applications.
5
Myth #3
Software vendors will provide
mobilized versions of our apps

“70 percent of software
interaction in enterprises
will occur on mobile devices
by 2020.”
Gartner

Currently, enterprise IT departments build anywhere from
2-3 apps per year on average, while there are potentially
hundreds more in the queue awaiting mobilization. On a
percentage basis, mobile apps are the most time consuming,
complex and expensive to create, maintain and support in all
of IT. Compared to other technologies in which ongoing
support and maintenance equates to roughly 20 percent
annually of the original invested amount, mobile apps
7
require more than 50 percent, largely due to the accelerated
technology churn and diversity of mobile device platforms.
Build solutions like Mobile Application Development
Platforms (MADPs), Mobile Backend-as-a-Service (MBaaS) or
building native have their benefits, but each have inherent
complexities and exotic requirements, the need for exotic
and highly specialized resources that only complicate and
elongate development.
Myth #4
We can build our own
mobile apps internally

Nearly every business can present reasons as to why going
mobile simply isn’t practical or important for its success.
What these enterprises fail to remember is that the mobile
revolution is not going away. The BYOD, CORP and now, the
BYOW (Bring Your Own Wearable) movement is growing
each day, and enterprises realize that this is not a matter of
user preference, but of bottom-line productivity. New
business processes rely on mobile devices that are portable,
allowing users to engage with their customers away from the
office. The lack of a mobile option puts the legacy investment
in peril but, also limits competitive advantage and employee
growth and retention.
8
Myth #5
Mobility isn’t really critical
to our business

This is not a matter
of user preference,
but of bottom-line
productivity.

Why is it so difficult for so many organizations to tackle
common enterprise mobility problems? Many factors
contribute to this challenge:
So many apps, so much complexity
An enterprise is rarely a simple technology environment.
Groups and departments use different applications, which
are often highly complex and customized for their specific
needs. In addition, essential processes rely on in-house Win-
dows and web applications that were built well before the
mobile era.
So many devices and people
In the world of smartphones and tablets, change is rapid.
Today it’s iOS, Android and Windows– tomorrow, who knows?
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Debunking the Myths
The Reality of Enterprise
Mobile Apps
While the IT department may support one platform, most
enterprises contain a wide range of people in different roles,
each with varying preferences and needs for devices and
applications that may change again tomorrow.
So few resources, so many projects
Custom coding is expensive and time consuming, and busi-
nesses that decide to write their own mobile apps must dedi-
cate a significant portion of their technology budgets to the
effort. Even then, their dedicated efforts may take months—
even years—and cost millions to deploy only one complex
application. IT departments are often already limited by a
backlog of other projects that take precedence over mobile
development, and lack enough in-house development skills
to quickly deploy new applications.

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The Requirements
of Modern Enterprise
Mobile Apps
Enterprise IT organizations need better options for supporting
the mobile enterprise. The most basic enterprise mobility
requirements include:
· World-class user experience that eliminates cumber-
some processes including awkward controls and
poor interface.
· Seamless integration with existing data, logic and
applications without requiring rework or outside con-
sultant to re-write logic.
· Support for all common mobile devices including
iOS, Android and Windows and take advantage of their
rich mobile capabilities.
· Rapid deployment of new mobile apps in days or
weeks instead of months or years, without breaking IT
budget or diverting resources.
· Meets all identity, authentication and security
controls over data location and access.

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A New Approach
The SmartUX Platform from
PowWow Mobile
Those enterprises that have ‘mobile’ as a strategic initiative
want to avoid piecemeal approaches. In addition, they need
to find mobilization solutions that can address all of their
mobile needs – even complex Windows and web applica-
tions that seem impossible to mobilize. As a business
focused on this problem, PowWow Mobile offers a rapid
mobile app development (RMAD) solution that doesn’t
require lengthy development cycles, custom coding, expen-
sive resources or months or years to complete. With Pow-
Wow’s SmartUX, rapidly transform any Windows, Web or Java
application, workflow or data source into a native mobile app
in days or weeks, not months or years and with no disruption
to your business.

Businesses need a solution
that doesn’t require
lengthy development cycles,
custom coding, expensive
resources or months or years
to complete.

Until now, enterprises that wanted mobile versions of their applications
had only a few, less-than-ideal options that were high on promise and low
on delivery. They could wait for vendors to provide applications, push desk-
top versions of applications to mobile browsers, use VDI, or spend huge
amounts of time and money writing their own apps. Each of these
approaches have their own limitations and trade-offs.
Achieving enterprise mobility efficiently requires a different approach.
Rapid mobile app development gives technical and non-technical teams in
your organization the ability to deploy native app experiences that inte-
grate with all of your existing systems and data, with little to no coding
required. Transforming your existing applications and workflows in a
matter of days or weeks is realistic with PowWow Mobile, and the need for
extensive coding and data integration capabilities is not required.
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Summary

© 2017 PowWow Mobile, Inc. All rights reserved.
About
PowWow Mobile
PowWow Mobile allows enterprises to transform business applications into
modern, mobile app experiences. PowWow Mobile eliminates business-IT
friction as enterprises seek competitive advantage and increased produc-
tivity through mobile for today’s digital workplace. Our SmartUX Platform
accelerates enterprise application transformation by creating new, native
mobile apps from any web or Windows app quickly, without sacrificing
quality, and at a lower cost than custom solutions or other tools. PowWow
Mobile works with customers across industries, including financial services,
healthcare, manufacturing, software, consulting and public sector.
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