Enterprises Need to Improve Mobile App Management

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Enterprises are neck-deep in mobile apps, but many aren’t taking the necessary steps to ensure their apps are up to the task.

According to Accenture’s latest report, Growing the Digital Business: Spotlight on Mobile Apps, 52 percent of organizations subject their mobile apps to a testing program with user feedback. In terms of live, “production-ready” apps, only 48 percent of the 1,925 digital strategy decision makers surveyed for the study said they incorporate usage reporting or analytics to spot potential shortcomings in their apps.

Enterprise mobile strategies are plagued by risky blind spots, suggested Abhijit Kabra, mobile applications practice lead at Accenture Digital.

“Businesses are not keeping a close eye on their apps,” he said in a statement. Nine out of ten respondents told us that they see high customer demand for effective mobile apps, but despite that half of respondents felt that mobile apps cannot be appropriately secured for business purposes, and only 45 percent of them have crash reporting in place.”

Nearly half of those polled (49 percent) identified security as the biggest challenge in developing and managing mobile apps. Bugs, crashes and other indicators of sub-par app performance took second place. Only 55 percent of respondents use bug tracking and remediation tools to combat this, the study found.

“To get the best results from apps, businesses must do rigorous testing before launch and robust app management once deployed,” advised Kabra. “Not only does this help to provide the best possible user experience, but it will also help make sure that security challenges are addressed as an ongoing priority.”

Accenture’s research also revealed that while enterprises are overwhelmingly bullish on mobile apps, not all are capitalizing on their business-boosting capabilities.

Eighty-two percent of respondents viewed mobile apps as integral to their organizations, while another 85 percent consider apps the user interface of the future. Reality paints a different picture.

The study found that only 46 percent are using productivity apps to improve business efficiency. Forty-four percent said they use apps as a channel to drive sales, provide customer service or access company information. Just over a third of businesses (35 percent) use mobile learning and collaboration apps.

“Apps are becoming critical to access business data for real-time decision making, whether it’s to manage industrial processes, employee collaboration, training programs or the customer experience,” Kabra observed. “So, user experience and app performance are more important than ever. Our research shows that business leaders clearly need to raise their game in app management to make sure they make the most of their investment.”

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.