What’s your mobile strategy?
Is your organization starting to think about a mobile project? You have a lot of company as smartphone sales are expected to exceed PC sales by 2011; and mobile web usage will surpass desktop or "tethered" usage" by 2013. Comscore reported in April, 2010 that 72 million mobile users accessed a website compared to 69 million users who used an application. Both are showing more than 25% year-to-year growth.
The following 3 questions will help you start to formulate your organization's mobile strategy:
Does your organization need a mobile presence?
Eventually, the answer will most likely be ‘yes’. As the market projections indicate, mobile users will continue to increase and will soon become the norm. However, what to provide via a mobile device will be different from organization to organization. Each organization needs to first understand how their existing web presence is used by their constituents. What makes their web site a valuable resource? What sections of the site are most visited? These trends will provide valid data that will help you determine whether your entire site should be mobilized, or whether mobilized applications will better serve your constituents.
What is a ‘native’ application versus a mobilized application?
A native application is one that is developed for a specific platform, such as the iPhone, Android, etc. A mobilized web application is not device-specific. It is a browser-based application that will perform effectively across platforms.
Which is best for our organization – a native app or a mobilized app?
The primary benefit of the mobile web is that applications can be developed once and used everywhere. We can reach more devices with a single development effort. Since mobile app platforms are fragmented, meaning you have to build specific apps for iPhone, Android, Palm Pre, etc., their native applications require independent development efforts. A mobile website is built to standards that work on all these devices.
Another benefit of mobilized applications is the freedom to rapidly innovate and refine without approval or requiring the user to update and download. Conversely, Apple has a fairly stringent process for applying for application approval, both during initial development, as well as future enhancements to the application.
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