Building and Deploying Enterprise Mobile Apps – Overcoming the challenges

When developing B2E and B2B mobile applications, enterprise IT encounters many challenges -- and many emerging tools to help overcome them.  Among the most popular are HTML5-based frameworks, such as jQuery Mobile and Sencha Touch, which help developers create mobile-optimized applications that work on multiple device platforms.  To overcome browser limitations, developers turn to tools like PhoneGap which “wrap” Web technology applications in native code. The resulting apps can be installed and distributed through app stores, and have access to the device’s camera, accelerometer, local storage, and other features.

Although the ability to create an installable app is a great benefit for B2C solutions, it’s often less attractive for internal enterprise projects. The old problems of software distribution return with a vengeance, aggravated by the fact that mobile apps are typically distributed through 3^rd-party, vendor-operated app stores which are open to the public. Most IT shops hate to give up one of the main advantages of Web-based applications: the ability to update centrally-managed code, rather than building and distributing software.

When moving to mobile, the enterprise also has to deal with data security, both over the air and on the device.  And getting secure connectivity to behind-the-firewall resources can be difficult for both users and administrators.  The advent of the “bring your own device” (BYOD) model can make these problems even more daunting.

Rover Apps has delivered a comprehensive platform that addresses hard connectivity and security problems while embracing the fast-paced world of rich mobile development frameworks.  With Rover technology,  you get the benefits of server-hosted applications  without the limitations and vulnerabilities of generic consumer mobile browsers.

With Rover, companies can:

• Select from many powerful frameworks such as Sencha Touch and  JQuery Mobile
• Deploy solutions to the Rover Gateway and have secured access in minutes
• Use native device features, such as camera, GPS and local storage via PhoneGap APIs
  • Without needing to build apps for each platform
  • Deploy in minutes to gateway, all users get latest version as soon as deployed
• Deploy onto user-owned devices with confidence that apps and data are secured
• Combine the power of rich client-side logic with server-side logic as well using Rover’s app server features and powerful connector architecture
• Integrate mobile apps with existing authentication and security systems with no extra work
  • Use ActiveDirectory (or other SSO) credentials to authenticate mobile users 
  • Propagate mobile HTTP requests to existing internal interfaces with NTLM security
• Manage which users and devices can access your systems
  • Device access control enables approving and blocking at a device level per user
  • Menu and app permissions control who sees what
• Run your own enterprise app store internally by publishing framework-based apps to the gateway
  • No need for public app stores or “push updates”
  • Keep your applications private
  • Central control over deployment with instant updates

With Rover Apps, companies can get started quickly and securely and grow over time with all the flexibility and power this comprehensive platform provides for enterprise mobile solutions.