Mobile and Cloud go together like a horse and carriage. They are both high impact technologies that open up new opportunities for companies to connect with their employees, partners and customers. As more organizations adopt these technologies they expect solutions to integrate with one another and even be streamlined.
Here are 7 questions for you to consider when debating over a cloud-based versus on-premise mobile development platform:
1. How quickly do you want to get started?
A cloud-based mobile app development platform allows you to get your mobile apps developed and deployed quickly. You can begin developing your apps in days rather than months.
2. What features do I want to include in the mobile apps?
The cloud-based mobile app development platform has a subset of features of the on-premise platform. Consider the types of apps you are developing and the features you want. Some app features will require the on-premise platform.
3. Do you want to invest in mobile app development or infrastructure to accelerate your enterprise mobility initiatives?
Production and testing environments demand capital expenditures and operation expenditures. Hiring mobile app developers takes funds too. A cloud-based platform lets you delay an investment in hardware and software until you have a clear enterprise mobility strategy, or you have more insight into the adoption rate of your mobile apps. You can put your resources into hiring the best developers and, at the same time, ensure that they have a proven, reliable evelopment platform that allows them to write and test their code efficiently.
4. How many mobile apps do you plan to launch during the next 12 to 18 months?
If you plan on launching three to five mobile apps in the next 18 months, a cloud-based mobile app development platform will deliver a higher ROI than investing in an on-premise platform. The good news is that if your mobile app program expands to include a half dozen or more apps, you can easily transition to an on-premise platform. Your developers will already be familiar with the platform, and they will continue to build and deploy innovative business and customer apps. The on-premise platform includes a broad list of robust features to support your enterprise mobility initiatives, and more important, the apps will run on the on-premise system without modifications.
5. Do you want to limit your infrastructure footprint?
Every data center has some element of sprawl and hardware that is not being optimized and adds to the overall management costs for power, cooling, connectivity, and general maintenance. Having a cloud-based mobile development platform keeps your footprint from expanding and prevents investing in underutilized platforms. Cloud-based platforms scale as your business grows, your mobile app population expands, and the user base increases. You do not need to forecast future growth; the additional processing power and bandwidth are ready and available as you need them.
6. Are you paying consultants to find errors with your app?
Engaging consultants is expensive. Your developers and mobile team need troubleshooting tools to simulate, optimize, debug, and find errors. When they have the resources to build the patch or fix the bug, you can significantly reduce those high-priced consulting fees.
7. What are your short-term and long-term mobile app plans?
Organizations that expect to support six or more mobile apps within the year, or intend to build mobile apps going forward, may be better served to invest in an on-premise platform. A cloud-based option will continue to eliminate operating expenses, but you will want to take advantage of the platform’s full feature set if enterprise mobility is a major element of your long-term strategy.
