Mobile Applications: Build Vs. Buy

Perhaps the most fundamental decision to make in planning any mobile deployment is whether to build or buy the mobile applications that your workforce will be using in the field.

The perceived benefit of building your own application is that it will have all the features needed for your business and you will not be paying another provider for the use of their professional staff and putting a profit into another company. On the other hand, keep in mind that companies with extensive experience in mobile app development can foresee pitfalls and offer complete solutions in a way that no in-house deployment ever could — simply because the experienced provider has seen numerous companies, experienced issues you probably have not even considered and has staff whose only responsibility is developing mobility software.

Any company that’s been developing software solutions for the service lifecycle market for decades is in a much better position to assist with a deployment than a service provider because they do not have the depth and breadth of experience backing them up. The service provider cannot possibly understand all of the intricacies and complexities of a mobile deployment compared to a company who focuses on that for their business.

And that’s particularly true if the service provider is you.

The Challenges of Mobile Applicat ion Development

If you think that building your own internally developed mobile application is the route your company should take, you need to consider that you will be forced to go through an entire software development process, probably for the first time and likely without the benefit of prior experience. You will have to assess all of your business requirements, perform all of the coding and testing, and determine how to automate paper processes