Amid the challenge to stay ahead of the latest technology trends and related organizational needs, CIOs have turned their attention to mobile app development. TechTarget’s new CIO handbook, “Mobile Application Development and the Role of the CIO,” details some of the latest challenges CIOs are grappling with, some of the latest strategies they’re adopting to solve these problems and which future mobile app development trends are grabbing CIOs’ attention.In the opening article, writer Mary K. Pratt explains how business leaders in various industries are attempting to solve the shortage of mobile app development skill shortage within their organizations. “Mobile App Development Skills: How to Meet Enterprise Demand.” Enterprise CIOs are having trouble finding and hiring new developers because they command such high salaries and they often don’t want to work a permanent position in enterprise IT. One source she interviews notes that mobile app development contractors can demand over $200,000 per year, and require flexible schedules and select projects. And once a CIO is able to hire these people, they are tough to maintain, as they are always in high demand.
Pratt includes some startling new data:
“The high demand for mobile app development skills is driving up the cost of talent. In the Robert Half Technology ‘2016 Salary Guide,’ annual pay for mobile app developers ranged from $107,500 to $161,500 last year; this year it’s $115,250 to $175,750, a jump of 8.2%.”
To combat this shortage, CIOs are outsourcing app development to speed the process, but this can be costly. We analyzed this problem and suggest a more efficient and affordable alternative, democratizing app development, in the whitepaper we published this week: “Your Biggest Mobile App Development Resource is Hiding in Your Organization Today.” Our whitepaper tells the story of two business line employees – a sales manager and a business analyst – who were able to build critical mobile business apps within one month.
In another ebook article, “Enterprise Augmented Reality Is Just Around the Corner,” writer Stan Gibson alerts readers to the arrival of augmented reality in enterprises.
Augmented reality applications present stored data, images and videos overlaid on top of a real-world image or view– think Pokémon Go. After seeing success in games and entertainment, augmented reality will now see business application in a variety of industries, with practical applications in medical care, architecture, engineering, manufacturing and more. This is due to costs of augmented reality coming down, while capabilities increase.
Gibson explains:
“Many CIOs have already gotten the picture. More than 50% of organizations are testing AR software or are planning to do so, said IDC analyst Tom Mainelli. “AR has a lot of interest and will be very successful. Like the PC, it will change the way process happens in business,” Mainelli said. IDC’s numbers are bullish: Worldwide revenues for the augmented reality and virtual reality market will grow to more than $162 billion in 2020, up from $5.2 billion in 2016.”
His article reinforces the future importance of AR within enterprises and that it’s time for CIOs to get very serious about how to apply AR in their own organization. One executive predicts:
“Now, [augmented reality is] separate because it’s so new, but at some point, it will fold into the
mobile application development
lifecycle.”
Read the full TechTarget ebook.
Read our CIO guide to democratizing app development.
Read practical case studies on companies breaking the mobile app backlog at their organizations.
To Learn how you can quickly empower line of business employees to build web and mobile apps at your organization, click here for a free 30-day trial of Alpha Anywhere.
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