Mobile enterprise application platform explained

A mobile enterprise application platform (MEAP) is a suite of products and services that enable the development of mobile applications. The term was coined in a Gartner Magic Quadrant report in 2008 when they renamed their "multichannel access gateway market".[1]

Purpose

MEAPs address the difficulties of developing mobile software by managing the diversity of devices, networks, and user groups at the time of deployment and throughout the mobile computing technology life-cycle. Unlike standalone apps, a MEAP provides a comprehensive, long-term approach to deploying mobility. Cross-platform considerations are one big driver behind using MEAPs. For example, a company can use a MEAP to develop the mobile application once and deploy it to a variety of mobile devices with different operating systems (including smartphones, tablets, notebooks, and ruggedized handhelds) with no changes to the underlying business logic.[2]

Platform applications are best for companies that wish to deploy multiple applications on a single infrastructure, scaled to the size of their current mobile field force and available in online and offline modes.[3] Mobile platforms provide higher-level languages and easy development templates to simplify and speed the mobile application development timeframe, requiring less programming knowledge for mobile application development.[4]

Rule of three

Gartner observed companies consider the MEAP approach when they need to:

  1. Support three or more mobile applications
  2. Support three or more mobile operating systems (OS)
  3. Integrate with at least three back-end data sources

Gartner promoted using a common mobility platform in this situation.[5]

Components and features

Structure

A MEAP is generally composed of two parts: a mobile middleware server and a mobile client application.A middleware server handles all system integration, security, communications, scalability, cross-platform support, etc. No data is stored in the middleware server—it just manages data from the back-end system to the mobile device and back.

Mobile applications are software that connects to the middleware server and drives both the user interface and the business logic on the device. These applications are often able to transfer seamlessly across the Mobile operating system, as a platform to launch applications upon. Mobile apps can be deployed as ”thick" applications—or native apps that are installed on the device—or rendered in the device's browser using technologies such as HTML5 (something that's typically called the "thin" approach). Whether a "thick" or ”thin" application is deployed depends on application complexity, device support, requirements for user experience, and the need for app availability in the absence of network coverage.

Features and capabilities

Some tools have a hybrid mode, which uses JavaScript-based UI design SDK, such as Dojo Toolkit, YUI Library, jQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch. And a new JavaScript-based Device featured APIs encapsulation (GeoLoc, Connective, AccMeter, Camera, G sensor, Events, File system, etc.) is plugged into IDE as well, such as PhoneGap (Apache Cordova), Appcelerator. That means a custom APP can use most of the mobile device features without any 4GL coding or native coding, and make it once developed, and deployed anywhere.

The cost of developing a mobile application can vary significantly depending on the complexity, features, and platforms involved. For a detailed analysis of the costs involved in developing an app in 2024, see GooApps' comprehensive breakdown.[8]

A 2016 marketing report predicted a $189 billion market by 2020.[9] [10]

See also

Notes and References

  1. "We've renamed the multichannel access gateway market to the mobile enterprise application platform market, reflecting its maturation, Apple's entry, and the move of mobile tools and platforms to the application development mainstream." Michael J. King, William Clark, "Magic Quadrant for Mobile Enterprise Application", Gartner Note G00162969, 18 December 2008. The following year Gartner added the "mobile consumer application platform" category in another magic quadrant report .
  2. Web site: Brandenburg . Michael . Mobile enterprise application platforms: A primer . 2013-05-08 . Searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com.
  3. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-08-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120330123247/http://storage.slalom.com/assets/documents/wp-meap-pov.pdf . 30 March 2012 .
  4. Web site: Mobile & Web Development Company - Surf . December 2023.
  5. Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00211688, Michael J. King, William Clark, 20 April 2011
  6. Web site: MSP, Mobile Service Platform . i-Rose, Ltd . 26 December 2013 .
  7. Web site: Many-device-to-many-platform Mobile App Integration is No Longer a Challenge . Configure.IT . 17 November 2014. 2014-11-20.
  8. Web site: How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App in 2024?. 2024-06-12.
  9. Web site: Mobile app market to grow 270% to $189 billion by 2020 . 2 November 2016 .
  10. Web site: Mobile Apps: Redefining the Hospitality Industry. 2020-07-18. Android and iPhone apps in Minutes. en-us.