Native Apps – Tell Me About The Hidden Costs
There has been a lot written about the benefits of native vs. web (HTML) applications for the mobile enterprise. This article is not aimed at pushing the pros or cons of each model, but rather exploring what may be the hidden costs of developing mobile applications natively.
The first is the baseline cost of acquiring skills to even start developing native applications. Particularly if one assumes that the application you are building will need to run across a minimum of two platforms, for example iOS and Android, the skills required will often call for more than one type of resource, which in turn translates into acquisition cost or training cost. Enterprise applications will also require backend integration, yet another skill set that will be required to give you the end-to-end solution.
The next hidden cost to consider is the time to develop. Native applications are regularly built from the ground up, and as such it takes a significant amount of time to get to the end point. Since your mobile enterprise application involves the use of enterprise data, you will need to consider things such as security, encryption, and database synchronization...not to mention interface management to your backend ERP/CRM system. This is why many companies are using a MEAP platform rather than developing a native app from the ground up.
The final hidden cost to consider is the ongoing maintenance. The application cannot be static; it will require changes, fixes, and improvements to keep it relevant. When you consider this, what skills/people will you need to retain in order to maintain the application? And when the application has changed, how will you deploy it? The use of device app stores is one way, but that means your app is in the public domain. Mobile Device Management (MDM) is probably the preferred route, but it too comes with a cost.
All of these points should be considered when formulating your mobile strategy and considering native vs. web and whether or not to use an application platform to facilitate the development of your mobile solution.
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