ArcTouch Certified for IBM MobileFirst Platform

by: | Sep 3, 2015

I’m happy to share the news today that ArcTouch is now a certified developer for the IBM MobileFirst Platform.

The MobileFirst Platform provides the essential building blocks that any enterprise-grade mobile app needs — a cloud-based database, connectivity modules to enterprise databases, analytics, security, and more. By leveraging the MobileFirst Platform, ArcTouch can spend more time on creating a great user experience with the apps we develop — and less time on complex integrations. For our clients, this means they can save money and time on costly back-end development and instead give the user experience the focus it deserves.

“With ArcTouch’s history of developing great custom apps for consumers and the enterprise, they’re a perfect candidate to build and design mobile apps that leverage the MobileFirst Platform. The platform can help provide all the functionality an enterprise app needs and ArcTouch can do what they do best — which is to design and build great mobile experiences,” said Gavin Bourne, IBM Channel Partner Manager for Mobile. “We’re thrilled to have ArcTouch on board as a mobile partner.”

When Using IBM MobileFirst Makes Sense

At ArcTouch, we’ve developed apps for a variety of enterprise clients, such as Hobart, Honeywell, Salesforce, Oracle, and more. One of the biggest challenges often is the integrations to complex existing back-end databases which house the information that powers enterprise mobile apps.

Recently named a leader in Gartner’s 2015 Magic Quadrant for Mobile Application Development Platforms, IBM MobileFirst is robust middleware that sits between enterprise systems and databases, and an app’s front end. MobileFirst allows developers and companies to more easily establish those connections and manage them. It also ensures that the apps and the information that powers them are secure — which is critical for today’s enterprise. And with built-in analytics, MobileFirst allows project managers and marketers to understand how mobile apps are performing, making it easier to understand the ROI on a mobile app project.

The Consumerization of Enterprise Apps

We think IBM MobileFirst is positive development toward the realization of enterprise-grade mobile apps that provide a delightful consumer-level experience.

Since the dawn of the smart phone, consumer mobile apps have come a long way and now deliver some incredibly engaging and personal experiences. Meanwhile, more and more companies are building cross-platform mobile apps for internal audiences focused on productivity. However, the development of these apps has been burdened by the difficulty and cost of integrating the apps with complex enterprise infrastructure. With MobileFirst, IBM is easing the burden on developers to make and manage these connections. Which means more time can be dedicated to the user experience (UX) and interface design (UI) of enterprise apps.

The types of features that are popular with consumers can much more easily be created in the enterprise when a platform such as IBM MobileFirst is part of the solution. As a consumer, for example, Mint might send you a personal notification when your cash balance drops below a certain level. Powered by IBM MobileFirst and its integrations with enterprise data, an app for a financial services company might prompt a portfolio manager when there’s a sudden drop in a fund value. Or, a marketing manager may receive a notification when customer cancellations suddenly spike.

As we’ve heard from many of our clients, enterprise users now expect an experience that’s comparable to the apps they use on their own time. And if it’s not a good and useful experience, business users (like consumers) simply won’t use the apps.

Thinking about your next enterprise app?

If you are planning your next multi-platform enterprise app, we’d highly recommend considering IBM MobileFirst as a platform solution. Need help? We’re happy to provide a free consultation to assess your needs.