7T’s kind of hard to believe, but as of 2023, the mobile app development industry was not even 20 years old yet! The first Apple iPhone was unveiled in January 2007, and it took a couple years for iPhone and other mobile devices to get established to a degree where the mobile app development industry had officially entered the mainstream.
Remarkably, this is still a rapidly growing techno sphere niche. As of 2022, there were nearly 9 million mobile apps available worldwide, with the App Store housing over 1.6 million apps. An increasing number of business leaders are now realizing the value of developing mobile applications for business.
Enterprise mobile app development has seen a sharp rise over the past decade as more and more companies leverage this technology to their advantage. But finding the right enterprise mobile application is difficult. Most find it virtually impossible to find an off-the-shelf off
ering that suits their businesses unique needs. While there is no shortage of options in the world of mobile apps, finding a pre-existing platform with the right combination of user-friendly features, tools and functionalities can be challenging. The solution: develop a custom mobile application for your business and its unique needs; one that has all of the tools, dashboards and capabilities that your company needs to succeed.
The right enterprise digital transformation project can bring tremendous benefits to an organization but make no mistake; you could encounter some very real challenges when
developing a mobile app for business usage. By understanding those potential roadblocks can position an organization — and its mobile development team — your company can avoid pitfalls, so the project remains on-track from start to finish.
Let’s look at four of the most common challenges of building a business mobile application and how to avoid pitfalls and challenges during the development process.
The Four Main Challenges of Building and Maintaining a Mobile Application for Business
If we look at the challenges of building mobile apps for business usage, there are four common challenges that tend to arise. You may be surprised to learn that these challenges strike later in the app’s life cycle, long after the mobile application is coded, installed and running. Four of the most common business mobile app challenges are as follows.
1. Development resources are hard to find.
2. App maintenance and support is difficult.
3. App testing is challenging and expensive.
4. Mobile app stores have lots of restrictions that impede effective distribution and management.
When you have a full understanding of these issues, you’ll be better positioned to take on these and other mobile application development challenges.
Business Mobile App Challenge #1: Development Resources Are Hard to Find and Keep
Finding solid software development resources is challenging. But finding and recruiting mobile developers who can work in iOS and Android and understand backend API connections is even more so.
And once you do onboard these resources do you have enough of a consistent need to keep full-time mobile development and QA team busy? If not, this of course leads to cost burden on the business and the potential for employee turnover as quality developers who are not utilized will look for other more challenging and rewarding positions.
Although the initial quote to build your mobile application platform from an experienced company who specializes in enterprise mobile app development can at first seem expensive, a “build vs buy” investment analysis can quickly make their estimate look very appealing!
The relationship is more of a partnership versus a traditional company-vendor dynamic. The developers use a collaborative mobile app development strategy.
The development company uses a problem-solution approach to digital transformation by creating software and mobile apps with features that address specific pain points and challenges.
The best app development companies know how to retain talent for the long term.
These are a few key traits of the best mobile app development companies. At 7T, we take great pride in our approach to digital transformation development. We are proud that our staff stay on-board for much longer than the industry average, translating into big benefits to our clients. There’s little turnover which makes for more stable and productive development teams. This characteristic has made 7T a top Dallas mobile app development company.
Enterprise Mobile App Challenge #2: App Updates and Maintenance Seem Never Ending
Business leaders are often dismayed to learn that mobile apps require lots of routine maintenance and updates. In fairness, the best mobile technology is always evolving, whether that tech was developed in-house or purchased off the shelf. Subsequently, you must regularly update your company’s mobile app to keep pace with the advances in hardware, operating systems and other technology. This is the industry standard — one that may not be apparent until you move away from consumer-grade apps where this all happens behind the scenes.
If you’re working with a good mobile development company, the app update and maintenance process should be rather painless and straightforward. The best developers will prepare you for what to expect by way of app updates and maintenance before a single line of code is ever written.
Business Mobile App Challenge #3: App Testing is Expensive and Complex
The complexity and cost of mobile app testing — effective mobile app testing, that is — leaves many surprised and dismayed. Testing is essential if you’re going to have a fully-functional enterprise mobile application; one that delivers maximum ROI with peak performance at all times and on all devices.
QA testing and other mobile app testing services are pricey because you need to test a wide variety of different devices with multiple operating systems and phone versions in place. Keeping track of these variables is a challenge and it’s a task that’s best performed by a professional development company — not in-house.
Mobile App Challenge #4: Mobile App Stores Have Lots of Restrictions
Restrictions abound in the app stores, whether you’re in The App Store looking for an Apple iOS mobile application or you’re seeking to install Android mobile apps.
App store restrictions take many forms and they can preclude a company from effectively distributing a mobile app to the public, existing customers/clients or even just your company’s staff. This is problematic whether you are dealing with an enterprise mobile app.
that is used in-house or an app platform that is used by customers, clients, vendors and others who exist outside of your business.
There are some workarounds that allow a company to distribute an iOS mobile app to a select group of users. But this takes a lot of extra effort and are at best inconsistent in terms of deployments. Fortunately, as an experienced Dallas mobile app development company, 7T has lots of experience with App Store requirements and restrictions. We make it far easier for organizations that need help creating an app that’ll be accepted into the app stores with minimal hassle and few challenges.
Finding the Best Dallas Development Company for Your Company’s Mobile Application
Finding a good mobile app development company is challenging. But to be fair, this is true of the business world in general — great resources are hard to find, and it takes patience as you work to connect with the right development partner. So what makes a good mobile developer?
The relationship is more of a partnership versus a traditional company-vendor dynamic. The developers use a collaborative mobile app development strategy.
The development company uses a problem-solution approach to digital transformation by creating software and mobile apps with features that address specific pain points and challenges.
The best app development companies know how to retain talent for the long term.
These are a few key traits of the best mobile app development companies. At 7T, we take great pride in our approach to digital transformation development. We are proud that our staff stay on-board for much longer than the industry average, translating into big benefits to our clients. There’s little turnover which makes for more stable and productive development teams. This characteristic has made 7T a top Dallas mobile app development company.
7T is regarded as one of the top Dallas mobile app development companies thanks to our commitment to innovation. We deliver innovative digital transformation driven by collaborative, strategic partnerships with our clients. The result? You can design, plan and develop a mobile app for less than what it would cost you to produce a comparable application using in-house resources.
The 7T mobile development team has over 100 apps under our belt, translating into valuable expertise in many different industries. We will make sure your app is a success, serving as a valuable business tool that drives your business toward unparalleled success. Contact us today to discuss your company’s mobile app development needs.
