MOBILE MICROAPPS The shortest path to enterprise mobility MightyCloud Inc. [email protected] Abstract In the most general case, enterprise mobility is a tough problem requiring a big investment in the IT infrastructure, skills, and processes. The cost is prohibitive for many companies. The net result is a relatively small number of truly transformative enterprise-wide mobility deployments. Fortunately, the scope of the problem can be dramatically reduced by making small adjustments in some of the underlying assumptions.
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MOBILEMICROAPPSTheshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
AbstractInthemostgeneralcase,enterprisemobilityisatoughproblemrequiringabig
investmentintheITinfrastructure,skills,andprocesses.Thecostisprohibitiveformanycompanies.Thenetresultisarelativelysmallnumberoftrulytransformative
enterprise-widemobilitydeployments.Fortunately,thescopeoftheproblemcanbedramaticallyreducedbymakingsmalladjustmentsinsomeoftheunderlying
assumptions.
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MOBILEMICROAPPS|Theshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
BackgroundEnterpriseMobilityMaturityModelSeveralstudieshavepointedtoastronglinkbetweenthebusinessperformanceofacompanyanditsmaturityintheareaofenterprisemobility.Companieswithwell-articulatedenterprise-widemobilitystrategiesdemonstratehigherrevenuegrowthandbetteroperatingmargins.
Thenatureofthecauseandeffectrelationshipbetweenmobilityandperformanceisopenfordiscussion.Still,itmaybeinformativetoconstructamodeltoshowhowacompanymightprogressfromalowermaturitytoahighermaturityinenterprisemobility.
Basedonwhatweseeintheindustry,suchamaturitymodelcouldconsistofthreedistinctphases:aware,reactive,andproactive.
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MOBILEMICROAPPS|Theshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
TheAwarePhase.Atthispoint,withthe80percentpenetrationofmobilephonesintheUnitedStates,themajorityofcompanieshavebeenexposedtomobilityandareawareofit.Someorganizationshavenotyethadanopportunitytodoanythingaboutit.Theyareintheawarephase.Employeesatthesecompaniesbringtheirowndevicestowork(BYOD)andinstallapplicationsoftheirchoosing(BYOA).TheyuploadcontenttoDropboxandtakemeetingnotesinEvernote.InspiteofthelackofITinvolvement,ormaybethankstoit,mobilityatthisstagehasapositiveeffectonemployeeproductivity.Atthesametime,duetothewidespreaduseofthird-partyapplicationsandcloudservices,confidentialinformationmaybeatrisk.
TheReactivePhase.RealizationoftherisksassociatedwithBYODandBYOAputsITinthereactivemode.TheytakeactionbydeployingenterprisemobilitymanagementsuitesandissuingdetailedBYODpolicies.Useofthird-partyapplicationsislimitedtotheonesapprovedbytheITdepartment.Thereislittleornocustomapplicationdevelopment.Organizationsissue“managed”mobiledevicestoemployees.Peoplebegincarryingmultipledevices,personalonesandtheonesprovidedbythecompany.Companiesinthereactivephaseachieveahigherlevelofinformationprotectionandriskmanagement.Atthesametime,theiractionsmayactuallyhavenegativeimpactontheoverallemployeeproductivity.
TheProactivePhase.Thependulumswingsintheoppositedirectionwithemployeesdemandinggreaterproductivity,privacy,andcontrol.ThepressureoftencomesfromtheCXOoffice.ManyCIOsarebeginningtounderstandthelimitationsofmobiledevicemanagementandtransitiontomanagementofmobilecontentandapplications.Thisisoftenachievedwiththehelpofcontainerizationofcompany-ownedresourcesondevicesthatmaybecontrolledbytheemployees.Thenewapproachandmindsetputscompaniesintheproactivemode.Manyofthembegindevelopmentofcustommobileapplicationsthatdramaticallyimproveemployeeproductivityandincreasebusinessvelocity.
Nothingpreventsacompanyfromtransitioningdirectlyfromtheawarephaseintotheproactivephaseinthismaturitymodel.Infact,agrowingnumberofenterprisesarelearningfromthemistakesoftheirpeersanddoingjustthat.
ImportanceofCustomApplicationDevelopmentWhileoff-the-shelfproductivityapplicationsmaybecomepopularwithemployeesduringtheawarephaseofourmaturitymodel,theireffectontheoverallcompanyperformanceislimited.Toachieveanoticeableimpactintheproactivephase,companiesmustleveragemobilitytooptimizeandtransformtheircorebusinessprocesses.Sincetheseprocessesareusuallyuniquetothecompany,theiroptimizationandtransformationrequirescustomapplicationdevelopment.
Theneedforapplicationmodernizationisyetanotherfactorthatisdrivingthedevelopmentofcustomapplications.AgreatnumberofenterpriseapplicationsthatareinusetodaywerebuiltintheninetiesfortheWindowsplatform.TheemergenceoftheInternetdidnothingtoshakeMicrosoft’sdominance.Companieswereundernopressuretoreplacetheirlegacyapplications.Thesmartphonerevolutionchangedeverything.Mobilityintroducedsignificantplatformfragmentation,whichisforcingenterprisestoadapttheirapplicationsforthenewenvironment.
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StateoftheArtinMobileApplicationDevelopmentApplicationArchitectureAtsomepointduringtheapplicationdevelopmentcycle,thedevelopmentteammustdecideontheimplementationapproach.Threeoptionsareavailable:native,mobileweb,andhybrid.
NativeApplicationsNativeapplicationsaredevelopedusingthetoolsetprovidedbythemobileplatformvendor.TheyhavedirectaccesstothedevicehardwareandtheplatformAPIs.Theyarecompiledintomachinecodebeforeexecution.Thisguaranteesexcellentperformance.Developersoptimizetheend-userexperiencebyfollowingguidelinespublishedbytheplatformvendor.Nativeapplicationsdevelopedforoneplatformcannotbelaunchedonanotherplatform.Nativeapplicationsaredistributedviaappstores,whichmaylengthentheproductreleasecycle.
MobileWebApplicationsMobilewebapplicationsaredevelopedinHTMLandJavaScript.Theyaredesignedtosupportabroadrangeofmobileplatforms.Awebbrowserisusedtoexecutetheapplicationandrenderitsuserinterface.Consequently,manyapplicationparameters,suchasitsspeed,responsiveness,andsecurity,dependonthequalityofthebrowser.Theend-userexperienceisoptimizedforconsistencyacrossplatformsandmaynotfeel“native”onanyparticularplatform.AmobilewebapplicationhasnodirectaccesstothedevicehardwareandplatformAPIs.WebapplicationsaredistributedviaURLs,instantlyandwithlittleoverhead.
HybridApplicationsHybridapplicationsaremobilewebapplicationsthatarewrappedinalayerofnativecode.ThenativecodeisusedtoprovideaccesstothedevicehardwareandplatformAPIsinaconsistentmanneracrossplatforms.Thenativewrappermayalsobeusedtoaddresssomeofthebrowsershortcomings,suchaslackofrobustsecurityormanageability.Whenwrappingamobilewebapplication,aseparatehybridapplicationiscreatedforeachmobileplatform.Thisincreasesthecostoftheproject,butnotasmuchasinthecaseofnativedevelopment.Hybridapplicationsaredistributedviaappstores.
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MOBILEMICROAPPS|Theshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
MobileApplicationManagementOnceanapplicationisdeveloped,itmustbelaunchedintheenterprise.Theprocessconsistsofseveralstepscollectivelyknownasmobileapplicationmanagement(MAM):
1. Addanapptothesystemofrecord(“apponboarding”)2. Inspecttheapptomakesureitissafe(“appinspection”)3. Securetheappwithpolicies(“appprotection”)4. Addcredentialstotheappsothatitcanrunproperly(“appsigning”)5. Distributetheapptoalltheendusers(“appdeployment”)6. Tracktheappusageandcollectuserfeedback(“appanalytics”)7. Updatetheapponaregularbasis(“appadministration”)
MobileContentManagementManycompaniesaredevelopingmobileapplicationswiththeobjectiveofimprovingtheirbusinessprocesses.Inagreatnumberofcases,businessprocessesareusedtocreate,review,catalog,andpublishdigitalcontent:forms,documents,presentations,images,videos,etc.
Inordertoprovidesecureaccesstocontentonmobiledevices,acompanymustimplementamobilecontentmanagement(MCM)solution.Itconsistsof:
1. Acontentrepository2. Amiddlewarelayerthatconnectstoexternalrepositories3. Mobileapplicationsthatprovideaccesstocontentstoredintheserepositories4. APIsandSDKsforaccessingcontentincustomapplications5. Admintoolsformanagingcontentanddefiningaccesscontrolpolicies
Inthetraditionalmobilityarchitecture,mobilecontentmanagementisadisciplinethatisentirelyseparatefrommobileapplicationmanagement.
IdentityandAccessManagementUseridentitiesanduserrolesformthefoundationforsecuritypoliciesgoverningaccesstomobileapplicationsandcontent.Theseartifactsaremanagedintheidentityandaccessmanagement(IAM)system,whichincludes:
1. Auserdirectory2. Adirectoryofresourcesprotectedbythesystem3. Alibraryofaccesscontrolpolicies4. Atoolformanaginguseridentities,roles,resources,andsecuritypolicies5. PolicyenforcementmodulesandSDKs6. Extensionsforsupportingcommonprotocols,suchasSAML,Kerberos,etc.
ManyIAMsystemsthataredeployedtodaylackcompatibilitywithcloudservicesandmobileapplications.Theymustbeeitherupgradedorreplacedaspartoftheenterprisemobilityeffort.
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MOBILEMICROAPPS|Theshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
MobileBackendasaServiceAmobileapplicationmayrequiresupportfromanumberofcloudservices:
1. Cloudstorage2. Persistence3. Pushnotifications4. Collaboration5. Socialnetworking
AnumberofvendorsofferbundlesofsuchservicesalongwiththecorrespondingSDKsforthevariousmobileplatforms.Thebundleiscalledamobilebackendasaservice,ormBaaS.
PuttingItAllTogetherInsummary,beforeacompanycanbeginmobilizingitsbusinessprocessesandmodernizingitslegacyapplications,itmustimplement:
1. Amobileapplicationmanagement(MAM)solution2. Amobilecontentmanagement(MCM)solution3. Anidentityandaccessmanagement(IAM)system4. Asetofbackendservicessupportingmobileapps(mBaaS)
Theexactsetoftechnologiesdependsonthebusinessrequirements—thenumberofmobileplatformsthatmustbesupported,theapplicationarchitectureselectedbythecompany,andotherparameters.
ThislistofprerequisitesmayseemprohibitivetomanyITmanagers.Asaresult,wearefacingacrisis.Ononehand,companiesmustbuildmobileapplicationsinordertocompeteandgrow.Ontheotherhand,manyofthemlackthefoundationrequiredtocompletethiseffort.
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MOBILEMICROAPPS|Theshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
MicroappstotheRescueNativevsHybridintheEnterpriseIntheconsumerspace,whereintensecompetitionamongmanysimilarappsisforcingdeveloperstoreachforeverytrickinthebag,nativeappsarewinningovermobilewebandhybridapps.Gamingisthetopcategory.AgamedevelopedinObjective-CwillalwaysfeelsnappierandjazzierthantheonewritteninJavaScript.
Inaddition,nativevs.hybridhasalwaysbeenamatterofdeveloperproductivity.Hybridappshavelittletooffertheendusersovernativeapps,anddeveloperproductivitymatterslittleintheworldofconsumerapps,wherewell-fundedstart-upscanfocusongainingtractiononadominantplatform.
Thesituationisradicallydifferentintheworldofenterprisemobility.AnITmanagerdeployinganemployee-facingappinaBYODenvironmentmustsupportmultiplemobileplatforms:iOS,Android,Windows,etc.Developerproductivityhasdirectimpactonthebudget,andtheabilitytowritecodeonceandrunitonallplatformsisveryimportant.
Itisnotsurprising,therefore,thatarecentsurveyofITdecisionmakersconductedbyTechValidatediscoveredthatnativeappsaretrailingmobilewebandhybridappsintheenterprisebyalargemargin.
Preferenceforhybridandmobilewebappsmayalsobeexplainedbythedifferentnatureofapplicationsdevelopedintheenterprise.Thesamesurveyreportedthatthelistofthetopfivecategoriesofappsintheenterpriseincludedprocessautomation(forms,routing),reportingandanalytics,executivedashboards,CRM,andcollaboration.
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Asfarasformsandreportingareconcerned,mobilewebandhybridapplicationsofferperfectlyadequateuserexperienceandperformance.
MobileMicroappsBylimitingthescopeoftheproblemtomobilewebandhybridappsonly,wecandramaticallysimplifytheenterprisemobilitysolution.
Theissueofplatformfragmentationisautomaticallyaddressedbythecross-platformnatureofwebdevelopment.Codecanbebuilt,debugged,andtestedononeplatformanddeployedondevicesofallkindsacrosstheenterprise.
Managementandsecurityofmobileapplicationsisstillaconcern.Theissueispoorlydefinedformobilewebapps.Managementandsecurityofhybridappspresentsthesamesetofchallengesasmanagementandsecurityofnativeapplications.Thereisnoautomaticgain.
Thereisnogain,thatis,untilwerealizethatinsteadofwrappingonemobilewebappinnativecodetoproduceasinglehybridapp,wecanwrapseveralmobilewebappsinonenativeenvelope.Forinstance,wecanwrapallappsrequiredtosupportacertainworkflowprocess.
Wecansignificantlyreducethemanagementandsecurityoverheadbymanagingandsecuringasetofrelatedapplicationsasagroup.
Wecantakethislineofthinkingastepfurtherandturnournativeenvelopeintoagenericcontainerthatcanhostallkindsofmobilewebapps.Wecantransformamobilewebappintoahybridappbysimplythrowingitintothiscontainer.
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MOBILEMICROAPPS|Theshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
Wewillusethetermmicroapptorefertomobilewebappsthataredeployedinacontainer.
TheMicroappContainerandPlatformThemicroappcontainerisanativeapplicationthatcanhostanynumberofmobilewebapplications.Wecancreateonesuchcontainerpermobileplatforminourenvironment:iOS,Windows,Android,andothers.Thecontainerisolatesapplicationsfromidiosyncrasiesofthevariousmobileplatforms.Italsoprovidesaccesstoasetofsharedservices.Implementationoftheseservicesmaybelocaltothecontainer.Servicescanalsobehostedinthecloud.Theyformthemicroappplatform.Inthefollowingsections,wedescribesomeoftheseservices.
Meta-DataManagementApplicationsdeployedinacontainerhaveasetofcommonattributessuchasname,description,versionnumber,andothers.Thisinformationismaintainedwithhelpofthemeta-datamanagementservice.Itisthesystemofrecordforallmicroappsdeployedintheenterprise.Eachmicroappismappedtoanassetmanagedbytheservice.
ContentManagementThemicroappcontainercanhostnotonlyapplications,butalsocontentusedbytheseapplications:forms,documents,images,andvideos.Eachcontentitemismappedtoanassetinthemeta-datarepository.Fromtheperspectiveofthemeta-datamanagementservice,microappsandcontentaredifferenttypesofassetsthatcanbemanagedinaratheruniformmanner.Inadditiontometa-datamanagement,thecontentmanagementserviceprovidesasetoffeaturesthatistypicallyassociatedwithmobilecontentmanagement:acontentrepository,acontentintegrationlayer,andothers.
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MOBILEMICROAPPS|Theshortestpathtoenterprisemobility
IdentityandAccessManagementMicroappsandcontentassetsareuniformlyviewedassecurityresourcesthatcanbeprotectedbythecontainer.Thecontaineractsasanenforcementpointforpoliciesexpressedintermsofuseridentities,userroles,devicelocation,timeofday,andotherattributes.Useridentitiesandsecuritypoliciesaremanagedwiththehelpoftheidentityandaccessmanagementserviceprovidedbythemicroappplatform.Thisservicecanbeintegratedwithotherelementsofthecompany’ssecurityinfrastructure,suchasaninstanceoftheActiveDirectoryoraSAMLprovider.
CollaborationThepowerfulmechanismforexpressingsecuritypoliciesandtheuniformapproachtomanagementofapplicationsandcontentenablerichcollaboration.Applicationsandcontentassetscanbeorganizedintocollections,aspecialtypeofassetssupportedbythemeta-dataservice.Collectionscanbenested.Accesstocollectionsiscontrolledwiththehelpofsecuritypolicies.Itemscanbesharedbyplacingthemincollectionsandgrantingaccesstothesecollectionstousersandgroups.
PersistenceThemeta-datamanagementservicecanbeusedbythemicroappstostoreandretrievearbitraryJSONobjects.Eachapplicationisautomaticallyallocatedanassetcollectionforthispurpose.Sub-collectionscanbecreatedifnecessary.Thesamesecuritymechanismthatisusedtoprotectappsandcontentcanbeusedtocontrolaccesstoobjectscreatedbytheapplication.
EventManagementTheeventmanagementserviceprovidesacross-platformpublish-subscribemechanism.Microappscancreateeventchannels,subscribeforevents,andpublishevents.Duetotheintermittentnetworkconnectivitythatiscommonformobiledevices,amicroappmaynotbereachablewhenaneventisposted.Theservicetakescareofstoringtheeventanddeliveringitwhentheappcomesbackonline.
Real-TimeCommunicationThereal-timecommunicationservicesupportsvideoandaudiocommunicationbetweenmicroappsrunningondifferentdevices.TheserviceimplementstheWebRTCstandard.Communicationcanbeperformedeitherinpeer-to-peermodeorviaacloud-basedgateway.
ThePlatformAbstractionLayerTheplatformabstractionlayerprovidestransparentandsecureaccesstotheAPIsoftheunderlyingmobileplatform.Microappsusethislayertoaccessthedevicecamera,listcontentinthepicturegallery,readGPScoordinates,searchforentriesintheaddressbook,andperformotherplatform-relatedtasksinaplatform-independentmanner.
ReportingandAnalyticsInformationabouttheappandcontentusageisautomaticallycollectedbythecontainer.Thisinformationisaggregatedandpresentedintheformofreportsanddiagrams.Systemadministrators,businessmanagers,andapplicationdeveloperscanusethemtoderivevaluableinsights,tunetheapps,improvethecontent,andoptimizebusinessprocesses.
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SolutionsThemicroapparchitectureisveryversatileandcanbeusedtosupportanumberofcommonsolutionpatternssuchascollaboration,enterpriseapplicationintegration,andbusinessprocessmanagement.
MobileCollaborationInthecaseofcollaboration,wehaveagroupofusers,eachwithamobiledevicethatisrunningamicroappcontainer.Thecontainerispopulatedwithmicroappsthatareusedtosharecontent,exchangemessages,andcommunicateviaaudioandvideo.
Thecontainerrequiresuserauthentication.Theuseridentityandprofileinformationisavailabletothemicroappsandcanbeusedtocustomizeandenhanceuserexperience.Amessagingapp,forexample,canautomaticallyaddauserphototoallmessagespostedbytheuser.
Whenaninstantmessageispostedononedevice,theeventmanagementservicecanbeusedtopropagateittoallotherdevices.Thepersistenceservicecanbeusedtomaintainapersistentstreamofmessagesthatusersjoinandleaveasneeded.Thereal-timecommunicationservicecanbeusedtoestablishapeer-to-peerlinkforstreamingvideoandaudiobetweendevices.
EnterpriseApplicationIntegrationEnterpriseapplicationscanbeintegratedatthedatalevel,applicationserverlevel,APIlevel,oruserinterfacelevel.Theuserinterfacelevelintegrationisoftenthemosteffectiveandtheeasiesttoimplement.Anenterpriseportalisagoodexampleofthisapproach.
Anenterpriseportalisawebapplicationthatconsistsofmultipleportlets,eachportletdisplayinginformationfromasinglebackendapplication.Userscangetthebird’seyeviewofallapplications’dataontheportalhomescreen.Theycaninteractwiththeportletsandgetmoreinformationifnecessary.
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Microappsbringasimilarapproachtotheworldofmobility.Amicroappcanbeusedtoprovideaccesstoabackendapplication.Asinglebackendapplicationcanberepresentedwithseveralmicroapps.Multiplemicroappscanberunninginonecontainer.
Theconceptoftheportalhomescreen,themainscreendisplayingmultipleportlets,cannotbeeasilyrepresentedonmobiledevices.Whatworksinsteadisastreamofnotificationswithsnippetsofinformationpostedbydifferentapps.Ausercanscrollthroughthestream,reviewindividualentries,andlaunchthecorrespondingmicroapps.
BusinessProcessManagementAbusinessprocessisasequenceofstepsthatisperformedbythevariousprocessparticipantsinpursuitofacommongoal.Abusinessprocesscanbeusedtoreviewandpublishadocument,handleaninsuranceclaim,orinspectapieceofequipment.Completingastepintheprocessmayrequireinteractionwithanumberofbackendapplicationsandcontentrepositories.
Thetimeittakestocompleteaprocessinfluencesanumberofcriticalperformancemetricssuchasemployeeproductivity,companyprofitability,andcustomersatisfaction.Thistimecanbesubstantiallyreducedbymakingitpossibletoperformsomeofthestepsintheprocessonmobiledevices.
Microappsareideallysuitedforthepurpose.Wealreadydiscussedhowmicroappsandservicesprovidedbythemicroappplatformsupportmobilecollaborationandenterpriseapplicationintegration.Theseareimportantcomponentsofbusinessprocessesmanagement.
Toenablereal-timeexecutionofbusinessprocesses,microappscantakeadvantageoftheplatform’seventmanagementservice.Whenastepintheprocessiscomplete,amessagecanbesenttotheprocessparticipantsresponsibleforthenextstep.
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ConclusionCompanieswithwell-articulatedenterprise-widemobilitystrategiesdemonstratehigherrevenuegrowthandbetteroperatingmargins.Amaturemobilitystrategyoftenimpliesdevelopmentofcustommobileapplications.
Inthemostgeneralcase,mobileapplicationdevelopmentrequiresaverysignificantinvestmentintheITinfrastructure,skills,andprocesses.Formanycompanies,thecostofsuchaninvestmentcouldnegateanybenefitstheywouldderivefromenterprisemobility.Thenetresultisarelativelysmallnumberoftrulytransformativeenterprise-widemobilitydeployments.
Fortunately,thescopeoftheproblemcanbedramaticallyreducedbymakingsmalladjustmentsintheunderlyingassumptions.
Byanalogywiththeconsumerspace,itiswidelyassumedthatenterprisesmustbedevelopingnativeapplicationsbecausetheyaredeliveringbetteruserexperienceandguaranteeinghigherrateofadoption.Atthesametime,numerousstudiesarepointingtothefactthattypicalenterpriseusecasescanbeequallywellservedwithmobilewebandhybridapplications.
Bylimitingthescopeoftheproblemtomobilewebandhybridapps,onecansignificantlysimplifytheoverallarchitectureofanenterprisemobilitysolution.
Multiplerelatedapplicationscanbehostedinasinglecross-platformcontainer.Theycanbemanagedandsecuredasagroup.ApplicationsandcontentcanbeuniformlytreatedasITassets.Thissimplifiesthetaskofdefiningandenforcingsecuritypoliciesandenablesnon-trivialapplicationandcontentsharing.TheapplicationcontainerreducesthecostofapplicationdevelopmentbyprovidingtransparentaccesstothemobileplatformAPIsandcloudservices.
Companiescanusetheproposedapproachtoimplementsophisticatedsolutionsformobilecollaboration,enterpriseapplicationintegration,andbusinessprocessmanagement.TheycandosowhilepreservingtheirinvestmentsintheexistingITinfrastructure,skills,andprocesses.
AboutMightyCloudMightyCloud(www.mightycloud.com)isanenterprisemobilityplatformthatdramaticallysimplifiesmobileapplicationandcontentmanagement.MightyCloudpioneeredtheideaofmobilemicroappsanddevelopedtheworld’sfirstsecureandmanageablemicroappcontainer.MightyCloudcontainerandcloudservicesenablecost-effectivedevelopment,deployment,andmanagementofsophisticatedsolutionsformobilecollaboration,enterpriseapplicationintegration,andbusinessprocessmanagement.
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