A Complete Guide to Mobile Enterprise Application Development

If you are wondering

• How to increase business efficiency and employees productivity?
• How to save time and effort while meeting deadlines and maintaining quality?
• How to bring automation from repetitive work?
• How to store a massive amount of data?

If you are an entrepreneur and have a large-scale business, or want to develop a product globally the above questions surely loom in your mind.

We have an answer for you – enterprise mobile application development.

Enterprise mobile apps not only simplify the business process but also enables sharing of information from a single location.

In fact, you might be surprised to know that the market revenue of enterprise application software is going to reach the size of 334 US billion dollars by 2025. This data shows the importance of enterprise applications and how enterprises are shifting towards enterprise mobile apps and web-based enterprise solutions.

So in case you are planning to develop an enterprise mobile app and looking for an understanding of enterprise mobile app development, we have shared a complete guide.

Let’s start from the basics and understand them in-depth:

What is an Enterprise Application?

Enterprise application is a solution that supports business processes, information flows, reporting, and data analytics in large-scale organizations. This type of app has a large amount of data that is stored, processed, and managed through enterprise app solutions.

The main goal of enterprise mobile application development is to create easy-to-use and scalable apps so that enterprises have better communication and engagement with their employees and customers.

Let’s understand with a scenario.

• Assume your organization is looking for a solution for your warehouse office. Reason: They are rarely at the desk, and their job demands them to be on the move.
• An enterprise mobile app helps you here and makes it easy to check the stock levels, counts, make adjustments, and include features like barcode scanning and ERP integration.
• This will not only take off the load from the warehouse staff but also make inventory lifecycle management much easier. This increases the organization’s efficiency.
• In this way, the enterprise app mobile helps streamline the application development process.

So, now you have an idea about enterprise apps.

Let’s check some of the top enterprise apps. We have created a table of top enterprise applications that are used by millions of users. We have compared mobile enterprise application platforms based on the top features, revenues, and ratings.

Top Enterprise Mobile Application Examples

Logo	Application	Revenue	Ratings (Capterra)
	Salesforce	21.25 Billion USD (2021)	4.4 16811 reviews
	Jira	21 Billion USD (2021)	4.4 11654 reviews
	Zendesk	13.4 Billion USD (2021)	4.4 2769 reviews
	Google Analytics	76 Billion USD (2021)	4.7 6714 reviews
	Stripe	7.4 Billion USD (2020)	4.7 2381 reviews

From the above table, you have an idea of different enterprise apps and how much revenue these enterprises make. So, if you also want to earn billions, you need first to understand what type of application your business requires.

Three Types of Enterprise Mobile Applications

In this section, we have briefed about 3 different types of enterprise mobile apps along with examples. Let’s check one by one.

1. 1. Employee Level App

This is the most basic application used by internal employees for managing internal communications and workflow. This type of application is developed with minimum features and enables the project managers to track the status of the project. Such type of enterprise mobile development ensures smoother workflow and provides real-time performance updates.

For instance: Slack takes workplace messaging to a whole new level. It has 12+ million daily active users. Being quicker than email, it offers integrations than any other messaging platform. Share files, tag collaborators, create checklists, and more, all from a specific channel. It is truly a tool that allows you to maximize productivity.

1. 1. Department Level App

This type of enterprise mobile app is designed to optimize the internal workflows of specific departments. It is used by the employees who perform the tasks of a particular department like marketing, sales, and finance. It enables executives to monitor employee productivity and manage departments as company units.

For instance: HubSpot is one of the best CRM solutions for sales management in small teams. HubSpot automatically logs the sales activities (including emails, calls, and meetings) and provides a complete overview of the sales department.

1. 1. Enterprise Level App

The third type of enterprise mobile app is to connect all the departments of an enterprise and brings the entire organization under a single network. An enterprise-level mobile app connects the employees to the management and executives. This makes it easy to distribute and automate the work by providing employees with all the important documents.

For instance: An inventory management app like Sortly enables you to track the items across multiple locations. It monitors incoming and outgoing products enabling businesses to keep healthy stock levels. Apart from this, it even provides alerts when demand rises and the stock level is low, helping you manage to avoid the stockouts.

Want to Develop an Enterprise App as Per Your Business Type?

We have experienced app consultants who guide you in selecting the right type of enterprise mobile app for your project.

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Now you have an idea of what kind of enterprise mobile app you want to develop. So let’s understand the complete process of developing an enterprise mobile app.

How to Create an Enterprise Mobile Application in 8 Steps

Wondering how to develop enterprise application from scratch even without having technical knowledge?

You just need to understand the flow of enterprise mobile app development. The overall process of app management helps you to gain insight into each step.

Well, here’re the most simple process for enterprise mobile application development –

1. 1. Write Down the Ideas

This is one of the most important steps for not just enterprise software (enterprise mobile app development) but any mobile app development process in general.

For developing any enterprise apps, first, you need to make a list of your idea by asking the following questions:

1. 1. • What features do employees need the most? Then analyze your requirements.
      • What would you want from the app?
      • How will the features help you in growing your business?
      • What are the goals and business objectives?
      • How will the app help achieve the objectives?
      • What will be your enterprise mobile application strategy?

Answering these questions helps to understand your project requirements, cost-estimation and shapes your enterprise app idea.

The more you go in-depth about the understanding of enterprise mobile apps, the better output you will be able to deliver. Therefore, it is recommended to do a detailed analysis and basic groundwork of the above questions before moving to the next phase.

Try to understand it from the target audience’s point of view too. Because if your application doesn’t offer any value to your target audience, then it is not recommended to invest time and money. Therefore, your primary goal should be to find an idea that is scalable and beneficial to the users.

1. 1. Perform Market Research and Identify Competitors

When you have jotted down your ideas, check for similar enterprise apps in the market. Identify the strength and weaknesses of your competitors. Research about the services your competitors are offering and what features you can integrate to make your app stand out.

Answer the following questions at this stage to get deep insights into your competitors.

1. 1. • What are the features of your competitor’s enterprise app?
      • What is their USP?
      • What products and services your competitor’s app is offering?
      • How does your competitor’s application work?
      • How will the app streamline the business process?

Once you have identified the answers to the above questions, make a list of the core features you need in your application. Know what is MVP and what features you can integrate with the MVP.

1. 1. Finalize the Core Features

Features of your enterprise mobile app should be decided as per your target audience. Rather than using unwanted features, only implement the features which provide value to your target audience.

So here are the features that you might want to include when building an enterprise app.

Once you have listed down the features, what can be your next step?

1. 1. Hire a Leading Enterprise Mobile App Development Company or a Dedicated Team

Get in touch with a leading enterprise mobile app development company that has experience in developing a custom app from scratch. Even ensure that the company you are hiring has a portfolio of enterprise apps and has positive reviews on listing websites like Clutch and Upwork.

At this stage, you may think, how to find the best enterprise applications development company?

To find the best enterprise app development agency, you need to gather data from listing websites, connect with them, and make them understand your project requirements. Then decide how to go further with the enterprise app development process.

Which Factors Do You Need to Consider Before Hiring an Enterprise App Development Company?

1. 1. • Check the portfolio and testimonials
      • Check the prior experience in delivering custom enterprise solutions
      • Determine the ability to create applications across different platforms
      • The reputation for delivering custom mobile apps
      • An in-house development team that can help you throughout the project

Once you have finalized the enterprise app development company, start with the wireframing, design, and development.

In case you want to build your own development team, hire dedicated app developers or the team as your project demands. Check the company’s hiring model, take the interview of the development team, and shortlist the right candidate for your project.

You can even hire our senior enterprise mobile app developers who have experience in developing enterprise solutions. Some of our developed enterprise software are aviation maintenance solutions and meat processing software; here are the details of them.

Custom Software Solution for Meat Processing Industry	Aviation Maintenance Software Solution
Custom meat processing software that helps to automate the entire operation from receiving to tracking orders through a single platform. By implementing this software organization’s productivity surged by 60% and saved 70% time on generating reports.	It’s a cloud-based inspection software for FBO (Fixed-based Operations) service providers. This software helps automate the process of FBO, fuel tracking, and inspections. Thus, there is no manual mismanagement and no chances of human errors.

1. 1. Wireframing and Design of App

The next step is to develop a wireframe for your enterprise app. The business analyst team designs the wireframe to know how the app navigates and to understand the look and feel of your enterprise app. Basically, a wireframe helps to visualize the app concept.

Mostly BA team uses Sketch, InVision, and Studio to design tools to wireframe the app. Once the wireframe is completed, the UI/UX team designs the app with the perfect visuals, color schemes, and iconography.

You can even hire our UI/UX designer team, as we have experience designing UI across different industry verticals like entertainment, sports, healthcare, fitness, and education.

1. 1. App Development

The mobile app developers now create an app on the Android and iOS platforms using tech-stack like Swift, Java, Flutter, and React Native. In addition, the company takes care of the entire app development process so that you can focus on the core business operations.

Your app goes through multiple changes during the entire code development process until the expected output is not delivered. A project manager assigned to you defines the milestones to deliver the enterprise app. Moreover, when you get your app developed by the app development company, you are the owner of your source code.

1. 1. Testing

After the app development, it is QA’s responsibility to make sure that your app is tested in-depth for any bugs or errors. Even a small bug can cause a big loss to organizations. Just get your application tested in and out using ways like

1. 1. • Testing apps across smartphones or various mobile devices
      • Testing apps across various networks
      • Testing app solutions for multi-users at the same time
      • Testing the app across various screens, dimensions, and specifications

Which Testing Tools are Preferred for Mobile App Testing?

Here are the five best mobile app testing tools.

1. 1. • Selenium
      • Appium
      • Apache Jmeter
      • Load Runner
      • Soap UI

   2. Launch Your App

This is the last phase in the entire app development process. The app is now deployed on the App Store or Play Store, making it available for the end-users.

What are Tips to Avoid Getting Rejections on App Store and Play Store?

1. • Read the guidelines of the store and get a clear idea of what to avoid and what not to.
   • Ensure that the app is bug-free and thoroughly tested across mobile devices.
   • Simplify the user interface, optimize the code and make it easier to run faster.

You have successfully created a mobile app. Now what?

Market Your Mobile App

Disclaimer: This is for the entrepreneurs who want to develop a product globally and wants to make money out of it.

When you create a mobile app, it just doesn’t mean, you need to market it, gather user feedback, and maintain it to scale the app when the users grow.

Let’s quickly go through the post-launch steps:

• Launch your app on Android Play Store or App Store
• Create an attractive landing page
• Promote on social media
• Create a content marketing strategy

So, now you know the entire process of creating an enterprise application even without technical knowledge.

But, there are problems that arise when you think of developing enterprise applications. Let’s have a look at the challenges of enterprise mobile app development.

What are the Challenges of Enterprise Application Development?

Here are the challenges that most organizations generally face during app development.

1. 1. Scalability Issues in Existing Applications

The problems that arise while scaling the business applications are integrating new technologies with existing ones and database integration. Because it directly affects the functionalities of the application and interactions between the components.

So, when you outsource your enterprise application solution, you must make sure that your tech team is following these eight points properly.

Ensure the following points in the software development process:

1. 1. • Use of MVC UTF standardized database
      • Code reusability
      • Follow proper architecture
      • Code loosely coupled
      • Use of new and scalable technology
      • Server configuration
      • Database indexing
      • Code optimization

   2. Lack of Centralized Software Solution

Most of the business owners like you may face these challenges if they don’t have a centralized software solution:

1. 1. • The problem of scattered data and difficulty to manage it
      • Tracking problems in the process of project management
      • Poor quality of data because of duplicate versions of information
      • Difficult to track the work status of each department

It becomes difficult for a business owner to make strategic decisions and to improve the overall business productivity. So, developing centralized software solutions eliminate the chances of mismanagement by improving productivity, meeting industry regulations, and improving the flow of work structure.

Now, let’s see an example of how a centralized solution helps Amazon.

1. 1. Managing Variety of Data in Excel Sheets

Using traditional methods includes maintaining large excel sheets. This makes the whole business process challenging for business owners. You might need to scan through all the excel sheets in order to find a simple result. However, this is not only time-consuming but also leads to mismanagement.

In case you are still managing large data sets in excel sheets, then you might face the below challenges:

1. 1. • You don’t have error control
      • Lack data reusability
      • Scalability is difficult
      • Limitation of formulas
      • No automation for data
      • Lacking of collaboration tools

It becomes difficult for you to perform the data collection and consumes valuable time in making the strategic decision for business progress.

Adopting custom software development can bring fruitful results like collaboration with different tools, proper documentation structure, and better security checks. Want to know more about custom software development? Check our guide on what is custom software development?

Also, enterprise mobile app development allows you to have full control of your data and eliminates the process of manual management.

Let’s take the example of the Baylis & Harding company, which had their custom system, and how it helped them make better decisions.

1. 1. Difficulty in Conducting Data Analysis

As the company grows, the data of the company also increases at a rapid pace. Therefore, the chances are that the amount of data production increases too. When a large amount of data is accumulated, data processing becomes difficult, and a slight mistake can lead to multiple errors, resulting in the loss of the company.

In addition to that, if employees are manually taking insight and performing analysis, then it becomes time-consuming. Also, it results in delays in arranging marketing campaigns. So, what to do in such a case?

1. 1. Migration of Data

When you use ready-made software to manage your data of the application, then you might have faced the challenge of customization. For this, you need to opt for custom software that makes the whole migration process easy and helps to take care of your data into the new software.

But is it as simple as it sounds?

No. The migration of data is a critical process and has standards that need to be followed. At the same time, data migration is required to ensure the following points.

1. 1. • Make sure no loss of data
      • Security of your data

Data plays a crucial role and helps to make strategic decisions for any business.

The challenges that companies face while migrating the data are:

1. 1. • What if the data is lost accidentally and unable to retrieve it again?
      • What if the migration process fails in mid?
      • What if there is a knowledge gap in the migration project?

With the challenges there come the advantages as well. Let’s understand.

Benefits of Enterprise Mobile Application Development

Let’s discuss some of the benefits you get while developing enterprise apps. They are as follows:

1. 1. 1. Easy Access to Data

What if you have a meeting with your client and you suddenly realize that you forgot your important files and documents? What would you show your client?

Here enterprise mobile app helps.

Enterprise mobile apps help to access any kind of data from the mobile app. So in such a scenario, if you forget an important document, you can access it via a mobile app.

1. 1. 1. Improves Your Security

You might know how much risk is involved in having weak or non-existent security in place. Hackers could easily inject your system, enabling your employee data to be exposed. Developing an enterprise application adds a layer of security to your operations.

For instance, you can add measures like password protection and a two-way authentication system. You can even provide permission access to the employee who needs to access the sensitive data. Depending on the status, department title, change the permission, enabling view the information your employees need.

1. 1. 1. Better Employee Collaboration

If you want to know – what is the most important benefit of an enterprise application, it is the collaboration of your all employees. An enterprise application helps to bring all your employees on the same platform. Whether it is collaborating with a division in another country or a field worker in the organization. It provides an opportunity to freely give feedback, and share relevant information, effortlessly. This process of collaborating in real-time builds relationships, effective work culture, and productivity.

1. 1. 1. Brings Automation

Repetitive and mundane tasks decrease the efficiency of the employees. As a result, there is a risk of missing deadlines, and of course, the quality gets compromised. By developing an enterprise mobile app, you can bring automation to day-to-day tasks enabling them to focus on core and productive tasks resulting in enhanced enterprise mobility solutions.

1. 1. 1. Enhance Customer Experience

When you solve the growing problems of your business, your business is automatically rewarded with a good customer experience. The enterprise mobile apps take up all the business concerns and provide one platform to resolve different doubts.

With the centralized system, employees can respond to customer queries with faster response times. The availability of the customer data will enhance on-time delivery and provide business efficiency.

How Much Does It Cost to Build an Enterprise Mobile Application from Scratch?

However, the above cost is tentative, and the exact cost is determined based on the functionalities, project requirements, budget, and the type of app you want to develop.

But you can still calculate enterprise app development costs by using a simple formula (refer it as an app cost calculator), which is as follows:

Total Enterprise Mobile App Development Cost = Development Time x Cost Per Hour

Also, check this graph that tells how much developers charge from the different regions of the world.

Want to know more about mobile enterprise app development? Check out the frequently asked questions.

Want a Custom Enterprise Application Solution for Your Business?

Enterprise app development can help your organizations to connect better and improve business operations. On top of that, it helps you to have control of your enterprise data. As you read the blog, you have learned about steps, challenges, solutions, benefits, and costs for business application development.

When you are looking for an enterprise app solution that can help you structure your business operations as per your business needs, contact us. We will help you in custom enterprise application development.

Being an enterprise application development services company in Toronto, we have experience developing several types of applications of different categories. Want to discuss your business requirements for enterprise software development? Let’s connect and talk.