Enterprise application development is propelling business to
greater heights. While the strategic imperative to shed the luggage of
historically inefficient manual work has been going on since ages, a
water shed development has been the extensive usage of big data, data
analytics and finally enterprise application development across the
value chain. From sales process automation and customer relationship
management to mainstream operations, the digitization of the value chain
is setting a new track for agenda of CEOs of blue chips and small
businesses. In Europe it is called "Industry 4.0". Companies in the
United States of America have borrowed a leaf out of the book of General
Electric to coin the term "industrial internet." Enterprise application
development consists of a wide range of activities across the value
chain and includes 3D printing, smart finished products, robotics,
adaptive CNC, internet of things and dynamic man and machine
communication systems. Business application development in combination
with big data and data analytics by connecting men and machines in a new
digital thread can enable generation, secure organization and
interpretation of insights from vast oceans of data. When 50 billion
smart machines deployed across factory floors, through supply chains,
and in consumers' hands can connect with each other it can open up new
frontiers.
Concerns of Business Leaders about Value Chain Digitization
In the USA last year 200 organizations from industry, government, and academia joined in supporting the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute to advance digital integration in the manufacturing economy, reports the McKinsey Quarterly. All these companies have pledged $200 million in support of the program in addition to the grant of $70 million by the Federal government. While initiatives like these are gaining momentum in the USA, back in India the new NDA regime has initiated the Digital India campaign. Although corporate leaders have expressed support to such initiatives, some concerns remain. When executives of companies participating in the institute were interviewed they expresses the following major concerns.
In fact a growing concern among them was that the existing basket of technologies were too hard to learn and entailed high training costs, were slow to evolve and adapt and at times to expensive for micro small and medium enterprises. Some systems are also slow and do not facilitate the communication between machines. Thus the broad agenda from business application development is premises on three factors:
How is Business Application Development Different from the Traditional Basket?
While there are exciting prototypes of app development, the one that promise to be most cost efficient, open, interoperable and user-friendly is mobile app. Mobile application development has caught the fancy of developers, corporations and customers not without any reason. Smart phone is the most basic device that is available to the individual. The smart phone has pushed the frontiers of communication beyond basic verbal stuff. From entertainment, fun, travel, social media, lifestyles and game application development, the smart phone can be used by businesses to create a touch point system that connects the customer to the business across all communication channels and binds the two in a compact information system. At the heart of the capability of the smart phone is the fact that from work to personal life, the smart phone has never been so personalized before. In situations where the brick and mortar model of business drives a wedge between the customer and business, mobile apps bring the two face to face. Using mobile application development it is possible to penetrate the market better and increase reach, frequency and conversion of leads to sales. Not only do mobile applications enable communication, the data generated by them makes for a shift from opinion based decision-making to data based decision-making.
Challenges and Customer Centric Innovation to Offer Solutions
It is true that mobile application development services are not agnostic of platform. Developers need to appreciate that there is no single size that can fit everybody. Application development services offered by companies need to track the target audience, the cost of development, the budgeted time before the app is launched. This is where it is not only financially prudent but also strategically wise to lean on the technical expertise and business insights of an offshore development services provider. Customer centric innovation holds the key and mere technical sophistication will not do.
The understanding of the local business reality is critical to the success of a mobile application technology. From communicating to the worker in the factory sitting at home, or checking for the operational status of a washing machine once clothes have been washed, to virtualization of computing devices, an app installed on a hand-held device can empower the individual customer/ worker/ investor or just anybody.
Concerns of Business Leaders about Value Chain Digitization
In the USA last year 200 organizations from industry, government, and academia joined in supporting the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute to advance digital integration in the manufacturing economy, reports the McKinsey Quarterly. All these companies have pledged $200 million in support of the program in addition to the grant of $70 million by the Federal government. While initiatives like these are gaining momentum in the USA, back in India the new NDA regime has initiated the Digital India campaign. Although corporate leaders have expressed support to such initiatives, some concerns remain. When executives of companies participating in the institute were interviewed they expresses the following major concerns.
- 80% CEOs rate digitization initiatives to be a critical driver of competitiveness
- 13% CEOs rate their digital capabilities as high
- 13% CEOs feel a serious shortage of capabilities in computer aided design (CAD), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution systems (MES)
In fact a growing concern among them was that the existing basket of technologies were too hard to learn and entailed high training costs, were slow to evolve and adapt and at times to expensive for micro small and medium enterprises. Some systems are also slow and do not facilitate the communication between machines. Thus the broad agenda from business application development is premises on three factors:
- Openness
- Interoperability
- User-friendliness
How is Business Application Development Different from the Traditional Basket?
While there are exciting prototypes of app development, the one that promise to be most cost efficient, open, interoperable and user-friendly is mobile app. Mobile application development has caught the fancy of developers, corporations and customers not without any reason. Smart phone is the most basic device that is available to the individual. The smart phone has pushed the frontiers of communication beyond basic verbal stuff. From entertainment, fun, travel, social media, lifestyles and game application development, the smart phone can be used by businesses to create a touch point system that connects the customer to the business across all communication channels and binds the two in a compact information system. At the heart of the capability of the smart phone is the fact that from work to personal life, the smart phone has never been so personalized before. In situations where the brick and mortar model of business drives a wedge between the customer and business, mobile apps bring the two face to face. Using mobile application development it is possible to penetrate the market better and increase reach, frequency and conversion of leads to sales. Not only do mobile applications enable communication, the data generated by them makes for a shift from opinion based decision-making to data based decision-making.
Challenges and Customer Centric Innovation to Offer Solutions
It is true that mobile application development services are not agnostic of platform. Developers need to appreciate that there is no single size that can fit everybody. Application development services offered by companies need to track the target audience, the cost of development, the budgeted time before the app is launched. This is where it is not only financially prudent but also strategically wise to lean on the technical expertise and business insights of an offshore development services provider. Customer centric innovation holds the key and mere technical sophistication will not do.
The understanding of the local business reality is critical to the success of a mobile application technology. From communicating to the worker in the factory sitting at home, or checking for the operational status of a washing machine once clothes have been washed, to virtualization of computing devices, an app installed on a hand-held device can empower the individual customer/ worker/ investor or just anybody.
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