A standards based alternative to 'the app way'

A standards based alternative to 'the app way'

Kristian NorlingFindwise

KristianNorling

J.Boye 11, Aarhus, 9th November

Region Västra GötalandPublic sector

50.000 employees

© Region Västra Götaland

AbstractWorking hard on mobile intranets/web as well. We have choosen to not going the app way, rather building on html5 first then "compiling" the web site for app market distribution. A killer combo. After a decade of developing for the desktop, the new frontier for the Region Västra Götaland (VGR) intranets is mobile. Kristian will present how VGR has solved a few of the problems associated with mobile development. A practical hands-on presentation on how one organization is developing apps for their mobile intranet.

Agenda

• Developing mobile intranet apps, our thinking on the subject

• Developing for many platforms at once, is it even possible?

• How to develop intranet apps

• Things we think will happen in the (near) future

• Do's and don’ts

“8. In both internetworked markets and among intranetworked employees, people are speaking to each other in a powerful new way.”

The Cluetrain Manifesto

We think mobile...

• Simple to use

• Simple in design

• Simple technical architecture

Developing mobile intranet apps

• The default standard browser we use is... ancient

• We have to support standards only

• NO plug-in technology

• We have standardized on Android and iOS for mobile

• WebKit is IT

Developing for many platforms at once• New, dual strategy for intranets:

Mobile targeted first - Desktop second...

• Forget about developing native apps as a priority - not cost effective in the long run...

• Open Source - lots of good stuff

• Stick to the HTML5 standard (and others by W3C

• do not EVER consider Flash etc.

How do we develop intranet apps?• We eat our own dog food

• Developing accordingly to our reference architecture (SWE)

• We do clean HTML5 front end apps - on top of...

• Nice robust REST / WS based backend

• Use (something like) PhoneGap to make “native” apps for distribution.

Check out the prototypehttp://vgr-portalramverk.dev.netrelations.se/mobile/home.html

Things we think will happen in the (near) future• Notifications

• GPS

• Kamera

• Bluetooth

• The Phone is the Security Device

• Thoughts on a mobile phone enhanced intranet (SYS 64738 blog post)

Do's

• DO consider a dual strategy - or even better focus on...

• DO mobile primarily

• DO use HTML5

• DO use PhoneGap or other similar options

... and don’ts

• Do NOT develop for the lowest common denominator - skip IE7 and IE8

• Do NOT use plug-in technology

• Do NOT develop native apps

• Do NOT listen to me... make up your own mind

Questions?

[email protected]

www.slideshare.net/kristiannorling

twitter.com/kristiannorling

sys64738.se

www.linkedin.com/in/kristiannorling

Thank you!

findwise.com