Mobile applications can be categorized into 2 groups – consumer apps and enterprise apps. As the names suggest, the consumer apps are made for the general populace, and are available for download through commercial public stores.
Mobile applications can be categorized into 2 groups – consumer apps and enterprise apps. As the names suggest,
the consumer apps are made for the general populace, and are available for download through commercial public stores. The enterprise apps on the other hand, are created specifically for business functions. These are generally not available for the public, but available through private enterprise stores. As per Gartner, by 2017, 25 percent of employers will have an enterprise app store for stocking and maintaining corporate approved apps on their PCs and mobile devices.
EAS offers many benefits over the public variety. Some of them are listed below.
1. Confidentiality - Since public stores are open to anyone and everyone- even to the competition, it does not offer any privacy. However, there may be situations where apps hold some confidential information and does not want to disseminate. In this case, it is easy to keep the information inside and available to only those who need to get an access to it
2. Security - With an enterprise app store, IT can always put a control or prohibit the use of certain apps that can spread malware or the virus. On the other hand, there are numerous apps in apple and Google which makes it difficult to ensure security and relevant download making it more susceptible for viruses, so it is recommended to use an internal app store which has restricted access and free from all harmful programs.
3. Role based access (RBAC) - The enterprise app store enables role-based access to apps, which means many apps that need to be limited to only sales staff will only be downloadable by them. Similarly, an app that is built for only senior management should have a tight control and shouldn’t be accessible by anyone and everyone. This reduces the risk of leaking confidential information to the competition.
4. Break for IT staff - Enterprise app stores also facilitate self-service model where employees download application by themselves. This gives the tech staff a break and makes them available for other tasks, thereby increasing their productivity.
5. Custom development without restrictions - Commercially marketed and downloaded products need to comply with the policies and standards of the host organization like Google or Apple. This limits the creativity and functionality that the developers can demonstrate. Since they are private and internally managed, the EAS’s provide for custom development that is required for fulfilling the organizational demands.
6. License Management - If an application requires license purchase, instead of individual employees paying for it and expensing it, the enterprise can sign an agreement with the vendor, and allow the employees to download it from the EAS. The enterprise procurement team handles the license metering and billing, saving management effort. Also, the enterprise - negotiated licenses are generally cheaper than the individual user licenses.
7. Enables BYOD - Instead of subscribing to the commercial markets corresponding to their device type, the employees having access to the EAS can have access to all the relevant business software for their smart device irrespective of the make and model. This allows freedom and enablement for BYOD.
8. Operational simplicity - The management of application push, updates, and management becomes much simpler using the central EAS console, both for the developers and the users. The users no longer need to log on to the public store to check for and download updates. It is done proactively by the IT teams.
