The explosion in smartphone usage, pioneered by the Apple iPhone, has spurred an equally explosive mobile applications sector. As the number of smartphone users increases, so do the number of applications, as ease of application distribution means that new developers enter the market daily. Since the introduction of the App Store, many developers have focused on creating native apps to be sold through Apple, eventually porting those apps to be compatible with the Android OS and other device platforms. But developers are now discovering that mobile web applications — rather than native apps — offer lower production costs, have faster time-to-market and are device agnostic. This ‘lower barriers to entry’ model is evidenced by the fact that the mobile web sector outweighs the number of native apps, with mobile touch websites totaling over 326,000 globally. With all of these new mobile web sites appearing, the challenge for developers is to create something high quality, which stands out through superior user experience. The key to creating that excellent user experience is to follow a growing set of mobile web standards. These mobile web standards are being developed in order to improve interoperability, usability and device independence — and reflect a history of successful standards on the PC web.
Why Standards are critical for the Mobile Web
Why User Experience (UX) is the single most important factor in software development
A strong internet presence has been a key feature of corporate marketing strategies for over a decade, but as the Internet matures, and new technology brings new layers of complexity to the online experience, companies must focus on the importance of user experience, rather than technical features alone.
Websites that are difficult to use, unintuitive, perform poorly or are simply not customer-focused will not only affect perceived credibility of a company, but also significantly detract from profitability.
On the other hand, well-executed user experience transforms functional software into a compelling and enjoyable experience for your customers.
Social eCommerce as an emerging trend
Sites like eBay and Amazon used to be the best way for small businesses and individuals to sell in an online marketplace, as overheads for technology and marketing were too high to justify an individual online store. This situation is rapidly changing, and although the big online stores may have dominated the web for the past ten years, a combination of advances in technology and the rise of social media is making niche ecommerce a reality. Social shopping, a combination of social media and ecommerce, is allowing the online retail experience to become even more personalised, through the use of customers as brand advocates to their friends. The integration of social media and online stores is creating a world where businesses interact with their customers — where friends, voting, discussions and groups are seamlessly integrated into the shopping experience.
Build vs Buy vs Cloud
IT departments are expected to provide the business with ever-increasing compute power on reduced budgets, meaning CIOs must reduce capital expenditure and increase operational efficiency while keeping infrastructures stable and secure. The flexibility, scalability and financial advantages of a utility computing service make it an attractive option, and the benefits of cloud computing increasingly outweigh the arguments against it. Although questions are often raised with regards to integration, configurability and security, a few different models of cloud computing have been devised to mitigate these risks. As cloud technology and operating models mature, the question goes from whether an organisation should adopt the cloud to how the organisation should implement it. The decision that CIOs face is whether to build cloud infrastructure internally or outsource to an external provider. The answer depends on a number of factors, especially the amount of available capital for infrastructure investment and the compliance obligations of the firm.
The Emergence of Mobile Commerce
Mobile commerce is emerging as a major growth sector, with global revenues expected to hit $119 billion by 2015. For the past ten years, eCommerce has been the dominant channel for consumers to research products, compare prices and conveniently place orders. However, retailers are starting to use both mobile sites and apps to complement eCommerce channels, as mobile commerce offers businesses the opportunity to reach customers when they are not in front of a computer. The practice is starting to pay off, as new technologies facilitate better user experience, fuelling further adoption of mobile media. Sales opportunities for businesses continue to grow, and recent statistics show expansion in mobile commerce that is similar to what was seen with eCommerce a decade ago.
Customer expectations and Self Service
Self-service portals are now a familiar concept to customers, with the success of online banking and shopping on sites like Amazon. From insurance to holiday booking, customers have come to expect the convenience of 24×7 service availability, and it’s a trend that cannot be ignored. Businesses are learning that a well-structured implementation of a self-service portal, often backed by a thoughtfully integrated SOA-based core system, has benefits for both the customer and the business. Self-service portals offer increased productivity through more efficient customer support, thus bringing improved customer satisfaction at a lower cost.
Mobile Web vs Native Mobile Applications
Businesses seeking to take advantage of the rapidly growing mobile commerce market should carefully examine their requirements when deciding what type of mobile presence to develop. The two main types are applications that have been developed specifically for use on a particular device (native apps) and websites that have been developed to support the touch screen and other features of the mobile web browser (mobile web app). Hybrids also exist, where an installed app takes the user to a mobile web site. The decision between a mobile web- and native app is a crucial step in determining project budgets, resources and future support requirements. The business should decide on format at the outset, after taking into account the requirements of its mobile ecommerce project.
How do you spell SEO?
Businesses looking to grow their customer base and increase sales often turn to an SEO expert to raise their online profile, but can find it difficult to evaluate potential providers in terms of expertise, results and business ethics. When choosing a provider, it is helpful to learn about the services that SEO specialists can offer and how to work with an expert in order to create an optimisation strategy that drives the right kind of traffic to the site — leading to actual conversions. While it’s important to know what makes good SEO, it’s equally important to be aware of some of the misleading tactics used by certain less credible providers, in order to avoid wasting time and money. Knowledge of basic SEO techniques and common misconceptions can help a business ask the right questions of a potential provider, easing the selection process and increasing the chances of a satisfactory optimisation project.
History Repeats, Web vs Mobile Web trends
In late 1991, there was a group of academics at Cambridge University who were based in different levels of a building, but shared a single coffee pot on the ground floor. That coffee pot only served a limited number of cups, and those on the upper floors were at a disadvantage because they couldn’t see or smell the contents of the pot. So, these enterprising researchers scavenged a camera and developed a special X-Windows application to display a picture of the coffee pot to anyone on their shared computer network — breaking down the barriers of distance, and alerting the people upstairs to a freshly brewed pot. When, in 1993, the Mosaic browser introduced the ability to display static images on the web, the researchers made the natural progression of moving the coffee camera from a locally run application on a private network to a web page that was accessible anywhere — launching the first ever web cam. Building on the idea of displaying static images on the web, technology eventually progressed so that by 1998, live online streaming video had become a reality.
Cloud Services and the Long Tail of Small Business
The emergence of cloud computing is changing the way that small companies are able to do business. In the past, economies of scale meant that software and service providers generally sold one-size-fits-all products that catered to large enterprise, generally at a high cost for licencing. Because of the prohibitive cost of such software, many small businesses saw themselves as excluded from the ability to harness all of the powerful features available in enterprise software, forced to make due with small business or home office versions of well-known software packages. Not only did small businesses have to make due with cut-down versions of software, but they also had to work with whatever features they were given. The labour involved in creating customised software solutions was far beyond the reach of most small companies, reserved for those who could afford either in-house developers or had enough pull with the software manufacturer to request additional features. Cloud computing, in its many forms, has started to change this business model, and small businesses are beginning to discover that they now have access to technology previously reserved for large enterprises, often customised to their needs. Because these solutions are available at a fraction of the cost, the cloud is opening up new business opportunities and giving SMEs access to global markets.