Author posts Alex Bakman

How Business People can Create Mobile Apps without Programmers

Today over 90% of Americans own a Smartphone, and close to half own a Tablet. These mobile devices have become the de facto standard devices used in virtually all aspects of our lives today displacing our dependence on Laptop and Desktop Computers. There is, however, a major dilemma taking place in this transition which we have witnessed before. When the IBM PC came out in 1981 there was very little software available for it. This stimulated tremendous innovation in the software industry particularly as it relates to applications. Without the creation of business oriented software applications, the IBM PC was basically a useless box of metal.

That same phenomenon is happening today with the continued proliferation of Tablets and Smartphones in companies of all sizes. Just about everyone has a Smartphone, but Tablets are becoming the device of choice as workers are increasingly going mobile while conducting their business. The challenge once again is that the device’s usefulness is limited by the lack of business productivity Apps. A quick review of both Google’s and Apple’s app stores will prove this point. While there are lots of games, the number of business Apps is lacking in both variety and functionality.

So what’s a business person to do? They know going mobile present’s significant opportunity to streamline business processes generating real savings. They also know it presents a real opportunity to further engage with their customers and in doing so drive the top line. But IT departments have been slow to react either by choice or lack of relevant resources. There are simply not enough mobile app developers to go around. This generates a backlog of App requests and unless you do something the bottleneck will not go away any time soon. Furthermore, if you are a small business without an IT department your only hope is to look for a generic App in an App Store which you may or may not find.

Alternatively, you can try the route of custom App development. Unfortunately, finding and hiring mobile developers to build your business App is both timeconsuming and expensive. The best mobile App developers are in high demand and working for hot companies like Google, Apple, or Facebook. If you find one, don’t be surprised to find a price tag of at least $10,000 for US-based developers, and that’s just for the initial creation and deployment of the App. Outsourcing offshore is another alternative but that is fraught with risk, difficult to manage, and results in loss of control at a minimum.

Non-programmers can Create Apps too

So now what? Well, as they say in the industry, “there’s an App for that” or rather a solution that can enable business people to design, create and deploy powerful business Apps without writing any code.

Over the last several years a number of cloud-based visual Mobile App Platforms have emerged with the promise of enabling non-programmers to visually create mobile Apps. We have reviewed over 20 such platforms. The good news is since there are so many of these companies, there are a number of alternatives you can pursue if you are a non-programmer, to create simple Apps such as marketing brochures. Many such visual App building platforms offer many templates where you can just choose one, fill in your data and a mobile App is generated. Of course this approach is very limiting since all Apps essentially look alike and more importantly lack the flexibility and functionality you need. It is a one size fits all simple approach which only works for simple Apps.

The problem is companies are demanding sophisticated mobile Apps that automate or mobilize existing business processes. That means any Platform you evaluate must meet a very high standard and be offered at a reasonable cost in order to justify a purchase.

The not so good news is that there are very few visual app development platforms available today that have all the necessary features required to build truly robust business-grade mobile Apps. I am talking about the kinds of Apps that, until now, could only be built by mobile developers.

Now imagine being able to build any type of App yourself visually without writing a single line of code and still meet the high standards you have set for features, functionality, and ease of use you require.

There are only a few visual development platforms that offer the powerful feature set required along with the simplicity of implementation you need to be successful.

10 Must-Have Visual App Development Platform Features

Here is a list of 10 must-have features to consider when choosing a visual App development Platform for your business App.

• 1. The Platform must give you total control over the user interface (UI) to create any desired user experience. Like an artist you should be able to select a canvas of any size and “paint your masterpiece” on it. You must be able to layout screen elements in the way it makes sense to you and your users.
• 2. The Platform must support equally well both Tablets and Smartphones. Simply scaling a Smartphone display to a Tablet-size screen is not enough. The Platform should enable users to take advantage of the entire screen of a Tablet.
• 3. The Platform must enable the creation of Apps that can effectively collect data, store it in a database, and/or send it anywhere in any format. E.g. PDF and Excel
  files saved on the device to a local database, saved on a network drive, emailed to anyone, or uploaded to corporate systems using web services. Take photos in the field and make annotations as desired to capture all necessary information.
• 4. The Platform must support any and all calculations to be performed on the data. Apps that automate any business process will require calculations.
• 5. Apps must be able to connect to and work with data anywhere, any time. With the database on a user’s device, a cloud database, corporate backend systems and databases or cloud-based web services. Apps without access to data are useless.
• 6. Apps must be able to share the data universally and share data among other mobile Apps. Print forms, email forms, save-to-network drives or share it on social channels. Information must flow in any direction that users require.
• 7. The Platform must enable creation of native Apps for Android and iOS devices. Native Apps offer better performance, are more robust, look native to devices being used and for the most part are far more secure than webbased HTML5 Apps.
• 8. The Platform must support push notifications. Push notifications are used on mobile devices to communicate important information to a particular user or a group of users and bring users to a specific place in an App.
• 9. The Platform must offer users a rich set of built-in functionality to avoid the need for coding. Some examples of features should include: gallery, maps, integration with social networks, list management, ready to use web services, ODBC connectors, on-device and cloudbased database services, and mCommerce just to name a few.
• 10.The Platform must enable apps to take advantage of all the sensors available in mobile devices and must facilitate rich data collection. Specifically, use of the camera to capture photos, scan bar codes and QR codes, scan pages of text, capture and play back video and audio, capture current locations and offer directions.

Business people can, in fact, build many powerful businesses Apps without writing any code. There is no need to wait for IT or to outsource App development offshore. The Snappii visual development platform has been built over the last 3 years and offers many features listed in this white paper. Thousands of robust business-grade Apps have been built on the Snappii Mobility Platform by business people like you.

Try it yourself…

We invite you to try the Snappii Platform yourself. Simply visit us at www.snappii.com , click the login button in the upper right hand corner and create your own account. You will have access to the platform for 45 days to see for yourself.

Logistics companies were among the first to adopt mobile devices and use them to manage and monitor their processes. Every logistics process needs constant development and improvement. Mobile technology has the power to take an important part in it.

Automation of existing paper-based processes

One of the main benefits which mobile technology introduces to the transport and logistics industry is the automation of existing paperbased processes. Nowadays you can eliminate paper forms usage replacing them with instant mobile reports. This will save you time and you will be sure that your data is safe and sound and collected in one place.

Dynamically track vehicles and the cargo

The current generation of mobile technology allows logistics companies dynamically track vehicles and the cargo. This is another useful and important benefit.

Real-time insight enables customer service improvement. Previously logistics companies were able to track deliveries each time they arrived at a key destination in their journey (depot, port, or at the customer’s location). The current generation makes it possible to track an individual parcel on a meter-by-meter, second-by-second basis. This is a great opportunity for customers especially for business companies. It also makes it possible to monitor the transport processes and to not only identify issues when they arise, but also to predict problems before they appear.

Flexible delivery process

The ability to change delivery schedules and routes while in-flight is another great benefit. It offers consumers and business customers a level of flexibility in control process. For businesses in addition to increasing control of their supply chains it creates opportunities for new levels of partnership between logistics provider and customer, and hence increases customer retention. Different while-in-flight-processes make it possible to offer customers greater flexibility in scheduling services, as well as enabling the creation of new, more customized services for customers. Real time information updates and recommendations based on this factor also help in business.

All benefits in transport and logistics industry which the modern mobile technology gives us can be assembled in one application. Mobile applications are becoming an integral part of the workflow in this area. Snappii, Ultra-fast Codeless Mobile App Development Platform, offers many mobile apps for the Transportation and Logistics as a convenient and easyto-use mobile solution that will optimize dispatch operation, inventory management, record keeping, tracking goods, performing inspections and more. Snappii will help you to unleash the full potential of modern mobile technologies in Transport and Logistics industry.

Snappii offers many mobile apps for the Transportation and Logistics as a convenient and easy-to-use mobile solution that will optimize dispatch operation, inventory management, record keeping, tracking goods, performing inspections and more.

Native iOS and Android apps for Transportation and Logistics industry allow to:

• Improve customer services by managing orders, tracking shipment status, etc.
• Ensure availability of goods
• Improve data accuracy by tracking real-time automated vehicle location changes
• Go green and eliminate paper forms usage replacing them with instant mobile reports
• Stay connected with your customers by providing them with one of the fastest and most efficient ways to get information about your services
• Increase utilization of existing equipment and better manage drivers’ time
• Have total control over the production flow
• Increase productivity and efficiency
• Improve data accuracy
• Save time and reduce costs

According to San Francisco-based research firm Flurry Analytics the use of mobile apps grew by 115 percent last year. Many companies continue to realize a positive impact of mobile applications for businesses. In addition to helping customers, mobile apps facilitate and make the work of the employees more comfortable. Here are the main benefits of Mobile HR applications.

Facilitating to employees’ communication

Many workers in such industries as construction, manufacturing, transportation and utilities don’t have regular access to a PC during the workday. Among businesses surveyed by Automatic Data Processing’s ADP Research Institute, over 70% of midsized organizations and 90% of large firms have either deployed smartphones, are supporting employee-owned smartphones, or plan to either deploy or evaluate future deployment of these devices. “In terms of functionality, mobile will become the main channel for workforce management and engagement,” says Roberto Masiero, vice president and head of ADP’s Innovation Lab. Mobile business app is the perfect way for a company to communicate with employees, and for employees to collaborate among themselves. So, workers are no longer tied to a specific workplace and they become more mobile. Due to the increased mobility of workers their operability is also increased.

Increased awareness 

HR applications allow employees to be aware of the latest events. Frequently, it’s difficult to use email on your mobile devices. A lot of unnecessary information and spam complicate the work. “People get inundated with emails – it’s a chore to get through them,” says Jeff Corbin, CEO of New York-based theCOMMSapp. The HR mobile app can offer the push-notification. So, you will not miss anything important. And also different informative alerts accelerate the workflows.

Benefits in recruiting process

Recruiting is still considered the important area for now. Recruiting features in the HR mobile business app allows to inform candidates of upcoming interview schedules, to provide background on the organization and the data of people they are interviewing, to provide the updateable list of vacancies. Thanks to location services on smartphones they can do things like display job listings in a user’s immediate geographic location. New Yorkbased Take the Interview released an app which lets companies conduct video interviews via mobile devices.

Accessible payment information

A recent survey from Automatic Data Processing’s ADP Research Institute finds that 37 percent of registered mobile users are using mobile HR applications to access their pay information. HR mobile app can help quickly count weekly/monthly and annual pays and figure out the true cost of hiring a person accordingly. For example Snappii Ultra-fast Codeless Mobile App Development Platform offers a lot of HR features for your app, and calculation of salary and turnover rates is one of them. Employees are always aware of remuneration of their labor.

The facts speak for themselves – HR mobile applications in workers’ everyday lives are a great opportunity to improve engagement and productivity of all employees. The staff will have the useful tools which were previously described. One more of the compelling reasons for HR apps is that they don’t necessarily have to rely on IT departments or expensive outside vendors to build them. Snappii, the creator of a Cloud-based development platform, offers mobile apps that offer HR professionals and employees to do HR tasks more professionally, quickly and easily. Create the HR mobile business app with Snappii and take full advantage of the application.