Sept/Oct 2005

Software developers who are considering rolling out mobile applications are not being held back by cultural inhibitions, despite past fears in the market. If anything, they are more wary about technical problems they might find in the course of the roll-out.

This, anyway, the key finding from a survey of 100 such developers by iAnywhere, the mobile solutions specialist. It was conducted by the company's AvantGo mobile Internet service.

The survey asked over 100 UK developers what they felt were their biggest challenges in terms of the creation of mobile applications. More than 82 per cent cited a lack of device and network portability, power restrictions and poor usability as key stumbling blocks.

Almost two thirds of those surveyed considered problems inherent in mobile devices themselves (including available form factors and portability) to represent a 'top three' challenge. 'Ease of use' (or lack of it) was also cited as a major issue, this time by 33 per cent of respondents.

 

However, only 15 per cent of developers reported an inability to prove an return on investment as causing them a problem, and fewer than 6 per cent noted a lack of end-user buy-in as a significant hurdle.

Alison Henderson, director of UK operations at iAnywhere, admits that suppliers need 'to help break down those barriers to physical development,' but points out that issues such as short battery life, for instance, can be quickly circumvented with device management solutions.

She adds: 'Providing solutions which provide truly seamless access to multiple applications from a single device will significantly increase the value of the device to the user.'