Regev Yativ, Magic Software Enterprises USA CEO, on how mobility is hotting up, the three big reasons companies aren’t mobilising, and Magic’s new game-changing solution
To say enterprise software design, development and rollout is reaching a critical point would be missing the point.
It’s been at a tipping point for so long that the speedometer is constantly on the verge of breaking, such are companies’ needs to mobilise and get ahead of the game.
Mobility is a tsunami for business, as Antenna CTO Jim Somers described it. Yet for Regev Yativ, CEO of Magic Software’s USA enterprises division, organisations are over-thinking the possibilities.
“I think that many companies are taking the overly complicated approach to mobility,” Yativ explains to Enterprise AppsTech in an early morning call. “They dwell on big decisions. Do I go native, do I develop for HTML5? Do I develop first for iOS and second for Android, or do I do it differently?
“Companies are really thinking about it too much, instead of making the first selections and developing the first app,” he adds.
Enterprises are increasingly becoming more comfortable with apps in their ecosystem – the Antenna report mentioned how, in more and more cases, organisations didn’t see app development as ‘one and done’.
Yativ agrees, comparing an enterprise mobile app to a tattoo – “you can’t have only one”. In addition, Yativ outlines the three key obstacles for companies rolling out enterprise mobility.
First, the psychological barrier. “[Companies] think that mobility and mobile development is very complex, when infact it’s not,” he explains. Second, making sure you’ve got the right tools. “The main point is you have to choose a tool that gives you as many possibilities as possible,” Yativ notes.
He adds: “You need to have a multi-platform environment that gives you the solutions for all development environments. You can’t be locked into HTML5, for example.
“Don’t trade off. Many companies are hesitating and that’s what’s keeping them from moving faster.”
Finally, the age-old problem of integration. “If you don’t have a way to bring a system of record onto a mobile device, you have a problem,” Yativ explains. “It’s going to be empty, because all your content is on Salesforce, on JD Edwards, on SAP.”
Speaking of those vendors, there’s another big trend you can’t get away from right now: the consumerisation of IT.
Back in April, Infor CEO Charles Phillips used his company’s Inforum event keynote to take pot shots at competitors’ aesthetics. SAP’s software “looks like it was designed in the 80s”, whilst JD Edwards “looks like DOS”, according to the former Marine Corp captain.
“I remember that keynote, and I remember he was doing his best to be provocative,” Yativ notes. “I wouldn’t claim to say that SAP’s interface is beautiful, probably also not JD Edwards, but these are core systems, these are systems of records. People run gigantic businesses in these systems.”
Everyone in the enterprise, from the ground troop employees to the CEOs, expect their company software to be consumer-centric.
“Mobile apps, if they’re not sexy, they’re not going to be used,” Yativ insists. “The expectation today for developers is that mobile apps will be very fun to use, very sexy looking, very smooth in terms of functionality, very swift in reaction time – so all these consumer habits that people developed over time will be automatically attributed to the enterprise market.”
In a BYOD world, with more and more field workers requiring always-on connectivity in one form or another, an adequate MDM or MAM system is essential.
Yet Magic is moving one step ahead with offline capability, predicted to arrive during Q413.
“That’s a game changer,” Yativ explains. “Once you go into a military zone of a hospital, for example, you don’t have wireless. If you’re a service agent for medical vendor products, and you come into the hospital, you just filled up an order, and then your Wi-Fi and wireless is gone, there’s nothing more annoying.
“But with offline capability, everything is cached on the device. Next time you have wireless, everything will be replicated and that’s it.”
All these pervasive trends and more mean that enterprise mobility is a pretty exciting space right now; indeed, why else would you be reading this? Yativ, however, believes mobile is even beating cloud for hype and buzz.
“I think it’s ahead of cloud, and you know why?” Yativ asks. “Because it’s easier to implement if you know what you’re doing, and it doesn’t require a complete reorganisation of business models.
“Vendors are going to have to get used to the fact that the market is going to be fast, vibrant, and that’s where Magic is preparing itself.
“Practically, in a year from now, we see ourselves as a very prominent player in that environment.”
What do you make of offline capability in an enterprise mobile solution? Is it truly a game changer?
By James Bourne, Enterprise Apps Tech
