Mobile Development Tools and Solutions †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Mobile Development Tools and Solutions. Answer: Introduction In an effort to successfully deploy mobile solutions, businesses face a hard time. Mobility presents an extremely multiplex hitch, which requires experience, focus, and competency that most companies, regardless of the outsourcing provider or bench strength, just lack. Further, the adoption of the mobile solutions is a complicated process which affects all the departments of the business. A few months before the deployment of mobile solutions, the organization needs to notify the HR, finance, logistics, sales, and any other key stakeholders about the incoming changes, what applications will or will not be used, candidates for mobilization, and how the onboarding process of the employees will take place (Heitktter, Hanschke, and Majchrzak, 2012, pp. 120). Indeed, smartphones have unlimited capabilities, and consumers tend to spend more time with phones on their hand rather than the pocket. Additionally, the increase in the number and quality of mobile business applications has increas ed the dynamic nature of the smartphones. Having noted this, therefore, it is an oddity that only half of the medium-sized and small businesses have truly and fully begun to deploy the intelligent mobile solutions into their model. Nonetheless, the recent past has seen an upward trend in the number of organizations that are willing to take this crucial step. In the modern world, anyone can pop into meetings through Skype, dial at the comfort of their homes and email important documents such as reports to the desired recipients. Mobile technology is viewed as the game changer. Businesses are striving to ensure that employees complete the allocated tasks effectively and at the given time, using the mobile solutions that fit them. And, there are some technologies that have made this possible. First, mobile solutions have narrowed the gap between the businesses and the customers in a way that was considered impossible just a decade ago. Through direct messaging, tap and pay technologies and so on, companies have been brought closer to their customers. The marketing world, in particular, has been shaken by the new technologies. The Samsungs Gear 360 camera is one of the unique gadgets that enable the businesses to create a memorable and eye-catching 360-degree video for marketing purposes (Osseiran, Braun, Hidekazu, Marsch, Schotten, Tullberg , Uusitalo, and Schellman, 2013, pp. 5). Another special device is the Gear VR virtual reality headset that allows the clients to teleport to other destinations swiftly, just by using a smartphone. A host of metrics has shown that organizations using mobile solutions such as mobile payments and cloud collaboration have hit export and growth milestones faster. The mobile-first solutions and the cloud-based tools have created a cheaper and easier way to start and scale a venture. According to a report by CB Insights, the cost of starting a small business in 2000 was 3.3 million, and by 2011 the figure had reduced to 3200. Other tools such as Google Drive, PayPal, and Slack have cut in half the time taken for businesses to venture into the international market. For businesses founded in 2003-2008, it took 41 months to go global, whereas it took only 22 months for businesses started in 2009 and onwards. Slack is a messaging service that helps to keep the employees in touch with each other. The messaging service connects the workers who are mobile and also offers a valuable method to keep connected with customers and ensure the different segments of the business are linked. The Slack messaging service works across a variety of platforms including desktops, tablets, and so on. The messaging service also offers a single channel where the customers can ask questions regarding various products and services. The onset of mobile technology has revolutionized the way businesses carry out their activities with the customers, employees, business partners. For a business to remain competitive and continuously innovate in the current mobile society, a mobile app development platform is essential. One of the major decision that managers have to make is choosing the best mobile platform that will ensure the implementation process is successful. There are two options to choose from which include a mobile application and a mobile site (Ruffini, Wosinska, Achouche, Chen, Doran, Farjady, Montalvo, Ossieur, O'Sullivan, Parsons, and Pfeiffer, 2014, pp. 32). Mobile sites are found inside the browser of devices that are connected using the internet. The iPhone, for instance, makes use of the Safari browser. One of the benefits of the mobile websites is that almost all of the internet-enabled devices have access to them. Users do not have to download anything, and if a proper setting up is done, the cont ent and format of the platform can be viewed clearly. The adoption and advent of HTML 5 has made mobile Web sites appear more like apps and possess the same capabilities (Xanthopoulos and Xinogalos, 2013, pp. 214). On the other hand, the mobile applications are device-specific and must be downloaded from an identified marketplace, which includes the Android Market or the Apple App Store. Applications have native capabilities which provide improved capabilities such as scanning, offline usage, and GPS-enabled location services. Organizations, therefore, need to choose the best platform that will ensure the smooth implementation of the mobile solution. The modern business world requires the employees to work anywhere, anytime and conveniently. According to HPE Aruba, a wireless firm, 39 percent of employees have identified mobile solutions as the prime reason why they are satisfied with their jobs (Hailu and Rahman, 2012, pp. 88). This section, will, therefore, look at the success factors of mobile solutions in organizations. Open communication with the staff members is the primary success factor for deployment of mobile solutions. The adoption of mobile technologies should flow downhill. The top executives should roll out their devices first and communicate the privacy features and the capabilities before deploying throughout the business (Cuadrado and Dueas, 2012, pp. 162). In this way, the employees will be convinced that the management is committed and willing to implement the mobile solutions and are enlightened about the different functions of the technology before they use it themselves. Before the deployment of mobile technology, due diligence needs to be done. It has been noted that some organizations do not have a tangible reason why they need the technology before the implementation process. Moreover, they fail to consider the implications of a management solution for the business (Verkooij and Spruit, 2013, pp. 33). Therefore, it is important for administrators to do their due diligence before the deployment of these solutions to avoid missteps along the way. They should first confirm that mobile solutions are meeting the needs and not hindering them, and identifying and evaluating the needs of the employees before taking the crucial step. Third, codes and passwords should be enforced on the mobile devices. In the modern business world, organizations use mobile data to house their valued and sensitive corporate data. E-mails, documents and more may be susceptible to being stolen or lost if the key step of enforcing passwords is ignored. Although this looks obvious, many organizations around the world overlook this process which is purposed to ensure that the mobile implementation process is successful (Costa-Prez, Swetina, Guo, Mahindra, and Rangarajan, 2013, pp. 31). Upon enrollment of the devices, therefore, it is important to ensure that the codes and password are enforced with a high complexity level to keep the organizations data away from mischievous eyes. Training and education are also important before the deployment of the mobile solutions. Training and education should come along with communication to ensure that the process of enrolling the technology is successful. The restrictions and capabilities of the mobile devices need to be understood by all the employees (Wang, Murmuria, and Stavrou, 2012, pp. 52). Training will go a long way towards ensuring that the employees get the best out of their devices. Also, the training will enable the administrators to ensure that there are no surprises for IT or employees before making use of the solutions. Management of e-mail profiles is also important an important success factor. There is a possibility that sensitive information or data may be left exposed after an employee leaves the company. Notably, the e-mail profiles are active until the last day of an employee in the work place and this could be disastrous if the necessary actions are not taken. The EMM solution helps the administrators manage and configure profiles (Kumar, Liu, Lu, and Bhargava, 2013, pp. 121). In other words, they can selectively keep information and data on the mobile device and remove the profile from the device. On a side note, administrators should ensure that they provide the employees with easy access to corporate information and apps. By doing so, they will ensure a successful mobile deployment process. Due diligence should not be ignored as it helps to test the functionality of the devices. Enablers for a successful implementation Combined consultation and research from over 20 big multinationals have shown that new mobile solutions, regardless of their origin, convey a distinctive set of challenges to managers. The managers, therefore, need to identify the different enablers that will aid in the successful implementation of the mobile solutions (Huang, Wang, and Niyato, 2012, pp. 1991). Managers who can properly define a need will be in a better position to experience a successful implementation process. At the same time, a closer definition of the needs or problems will ensure the success of an implementation (Smutn, 2012, pp. 653). The managers must identify the people they are going to approach, with which arguments, and when. The top management and the users of the technology have to buy the technology if a successful implementation is to be achieved. However, marketing the ideas to the various groups requires a different set of approaches altogether. One approach that the executive should adopt is to vie w the innovation from each groups perspective and determine the approach to be used for each group. A smooth path of implementation is created by involving the services of a sponsor, a champion, a project manager, and an integrator. A sponsor, usually a high-ranking person helps the technology implementation receive manpower and financial resources and also possesses the necessary wisdom regarding the politics of the business. He/ she ensures that the mobile technology is implemented in the organization at the shortest time possible (Aijaz, Aghvami, and Amani, 2013, pp. 111). A champion possesses the combined skills of a diplomat, a salesperson, and a problem solver. The champion makes sure that all the problems that may arise in the process of implementation are solved. The project managers prime role is to oversee all the details regarding the organization. An integrator uses communication skills to mold the group and manage conflicting priorities. Overlooked issues and mistakes are the main hindrances of the implementation plan. Tacit resistance from the employees grow into sabotage, and the worst mistake a manager can do is to ignore such resistance. In other words, the managers should act as the advocates of change and depict a clear view of the benefits realized by adopting mobile solutions. Therefore, managers should be wise enough to anticipate the opposition. A new mobile technology requires a champion to protect and nurture it, and always act as a strong advocate who will provoke opposition (Osseiran, Boccardi, Braun, Kusume, Marsch, Maternia, Queseth, Schellmann, Schotten, Taoka and Tullberg, 2014, pp. 40). Where there are champions of new technologies, innovation assassins are also present. Moreover, the assassins can bring a mobile technology to its knees just by using a single and well-aimed bullet, but in the face of such resistance, champions need to nurture and marshal forces that are purposed to support the impl ementation of the mobile solutions. Cost factors and key components When conducting a mobile solution, there are various key cost drivers. The major cost drivers include complexity, platforms and devices, design, and testing (Bell and Solutions, 1991, pp. 54). The functionality and key features needed is the key driver to cost. First, there is need to understand the business flow, the importance of the application and how it makes the business prosper. The number of platforms and the devices that you need to develop the software will largely influence the cost incurred. When developing wireframes of each phone may it be smartphones or tablets, a consideration of the complexity of the screens has to be made. Complex screens would take the designer many days to work on a single one. It involves investigating whether the application works as intended (Chen, Matinmikko, Chen, Zhou, and Ahokangas, 2015, pp. 130). The Quality Assurance Specialists and Testers are paid to ensure the smooth running. The key components in mobile solution include wireless data networks, wireless data modems, mobile computers, wireless middleware and wireless-enabled application. Conclusion Mobile solutions have reshaped the way of doing business as evidenced in this report. The business strategies, the employee to employee interactions and relationships between the organization and the customers, have been dramatically influenced by the mobile solutions. Having noted the numerous benefits of the technology, therefore, administrators need to be aware of the technology assassins within the organization. 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