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Wow! After a huge gap of being able to add something for the ideakosh, I decided I would resume my tech and Biz blogging with a series of posts on Mobile development and particularly iPhone development. Enterprise software are now going mobile and everyone wants to do their work on-the-go. I don’t know what they will do sitting in office then. Jokes apart, it is a huge facility to be able to gather information in real time and particularly in most usable formats. A user using Google Maps on iPhone to take driving directions to reach the most happening place in his neighborhood is unaware of the hundreds of satellites running around over his head, and the thousand-splendid-not-sun engineers that created the hardware and softwares for iPhone. But he is still empowered to use that intuitive interface to check availability and buy tickets for that event on the go. If he is not sure about conveyance, he might as well search for nearest mass transit stations, or even car pooler’s pick-up point. Then on his way back he may upload the pictures and videos he took during the event and share them with his online community- or the world. Behind that empowered user, are the empowered developers like me who are now able to create that state of the art applications. What you can think, you can create. Almost. So as every software development requires, mobile applications also require an organized development process.

Should I go mobile or should I not?

Mobile development is not a cheap exercise. If not planned properly it can be a really costly affair. A typical iPhone application using server components for data storage and processing can cost you around USD 20000. Though it can be as low as 2000 USDs and as high as 100000 USDs or more depending on your need and budget. Before you can think about bringing your enterprise software to mobile, you should be asking yourself a few very important questions about the business need, added value and ROI. If you are convinced to go mobile you should analyze your clientele to decide what mobile devices and technologies serve your interests most effectively. Then you can decide if the mobile application needs to be web based or native. And so on and so forth until you get into the intricacies of application. Because of limited processing and storage ability of Mobile devices, Mobile application generally requires a server side component to be prepared so that the data storage and processing can be done on huge and fast servers. This is an added but compulsory cost and is often ignored while planning for mobile applications.

To conclude the introduction, I would like to aver that taking your enterprise software to mobile can work wonders if planned effectively, making informed decisions at every step. You can leave your concerns and queries as comments, I’d get to them within a day.