Alpha Software Blog

Filter by Category
show all


New Forrester Report on the Challenge of Building Offline Applications

Richard Rabins

Forrester Research released a report on the need for offline mobile app support in which analysts report that apps that work offline is the most challenging and difficult app development feature. 

Forrester describes 3 levels of offline app support in their report with "robust" offline app support being the highest and most valuable level for business apps. Forrester defines robust offline app functionality as:

"one that integrates fully with transactional back-end systems of record, with intelligent conflict resolution versus simplistic "last-write wins".

Forrester recognized Alpha Software's offline mobile application development in the report. Analysts say Alpha Anywhere "supports a very robust solution for HTML5 implementations." Alpha Anywhere offers built-in offline app development tools that allow developers to build offline mobile apps quickly and easily. 

Offline mobile app development capabilities in Alpha Anywhere  include:

    • Data persistence when the business app is closed or the battery dies, including data not saved to the server;

    • Built-in support for converting SQL data into hierarchical JSON data sets - e.g. customers, their orders, and the order details;

    • 'Offline capable' applications with no additional development time.

Forrester suggests that companies adopting a business technology agenda that focuses on driving great customer experiences should read this report on the importance of offline apps.
offline applications
Prev Post Image
Apps that Work Without Internet Connection is "crucial" Says Forrester
Next Post Image
Build Offline Mobile Applications: Calculate App Development Costs

About Author

Richard Rabins
Richard Rabins

Co-founder of Alpha Software, Richard Rabins focuses on strategy, sales, and marketing. Richard also served as CEO of SoftQuad International from 1997 to 2001, when it owned Alpha. In addition to his 30 years with the company, Richard played a key role as co-founder, and served as president and chairman of the Massachusetts Software Council (now the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council), the largest technology trade organization in Massachusetts. Prior to founding Alpha, Richard was a project leader and consultant with Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), and a management consultant with Management Decision Systems, Inc. Richard holds a master's degree in system dynamics from the Sloan School at MIT, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and master's degree in control engineering from University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has served on the boards of Silent Systems, Legacy Technology and O3B Networks, and is co-founder of Tubifi www.tubifi.com.

Related Posts
The Digital Transformation Journey Is Tough, But the Advantages are Worth It
The Digital Transformation Journey Is Tough, But the Advantages are Worth It
Alpha Software called upon to support Trans-Atlantic Challenge
Alpha Software called upon to support Trans-Atlantic Challenge
Save on High Cost Data Plans With Offline Apps
Save on High Cost Data Plans With Offline Apps

The Alpha platform is the only unified mobile and web app development and deployment environment with distinct “no-code” and “low-code” components. Using the Alpha TransForm no-code product, business users and developers can take full advantage of all the capabilities of the smartphone to turn any form into a mobile app in minutes, and power users can add advanced app functionality with Alpha TransForm's built-in programming language. IT developers can use the Alpha Anywhere low-code environment to develop complex web or mobile business apps from scratch, integrate data with existing systems of record and workflows (including data collected via Alpha TransForm), and add additional security or authentication requirements to protect corporate data.

Comment