This document provides guidance on creating a business case for developing a mobile enterprise application. It recommends breaking the process into three parts: 1) determining development costs such as staffing, testing, and integration; 2) determining operational costs like licensing, infrastructure, mobile data and updates; 3) calculating benefits, cost savings and potential revenue from increased efficiency, effectiveness and error reduction. Creating a strong business case is important for prioritizing projects, getting approval, and measuring success.

1. THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A
MOBILE APP
ROCK STAR
Part 2:
Creating a mobile
enterprise application
business case

2. Introduction
Enterprise mobility is one of the most exciting opportunities in the workplace today.
That’s because mobile introduces so many remarkable ways to transform operations.
Mobile technologies are driving an irresistible paradigm shift in how organizations look
at their business processes and how they can change – really CHANGE – them with
mobile enterprise applications.
This 3 part series will guide you and your enterprise through:
1 Developing an actionable mobile enterprise application strategy
2 Creating a mobile enterprise application business case
3 Choosing the right Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) partner
Over
Half
of businesses are making
line-of-business apps accessible
from mobile devices
Source: Symantec 2012
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
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3. Creating a strong
mobile enterprise business case
By 2015, four times as many mobile apps will be
developed as traditional PC apps today. Before they
get overwhelmed by demand, organizations must plan
around this.
Gartner (January 2013)
How to Estimate the ROI of Mobile Apps for Employees
It’s tempting to dive head-first into mobile app development especially when you
read, daily, about other organizations that use them to transform business operations,
enhance productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. But it’s important to take
the time to define a proper business case to prioritize projects, get buy in, and
measure success.
But building your business case is no easy task! Some cost and revenue models for
application development are well-understood for web apps, but the the development
and operational costs for mobile enterprise apps are very different and enterprises are
faced with added challenges:
It is often difficult to determine the ROI for employee-facing mobile apps that do
not fall into well-defined categories, such as sales and field force automation.
Cost savings from mobile projects are often associated with process
transformations, making them difficult to assess, especially because most
organizations have not baselined the time and effort required by these
processes.
73
percent of
businesses rated
“increased efficiency” as very important
key benefit of mobile computing
Source: Symantec 2012
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
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4. Inspired by the ancient Project Management proverb - “How do
you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” – this paper offers a
discussion of how to create a strong mobile enterprise business
case by breaking down the work into 3 bite-sized pieces:
Determine Development Costs
1
After completing this process at your business, you’ll will have a
better idea of how to set appropriate budgets, know where best
to direct investment and you’ll understand how to assess the
potential revenue, cost savings and intangible benefits derived
from mobile enterprise applications.
Determine Operational Costs
2
Calculate Benefits, Cost Savings and Revenue
3
OPERATIONAL COSTS
Licensing
Infrastructure
Mobile Data
Cloud
Support & Training
Updates
DEVELOPMENT
COSTS
Staffing
Testing
Integration
BENEFITS
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Error Reduction
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
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5. 1
Development Costs
Staffing
Here are the staff and skills you’ll need:
App development for each platform
User experience design
Visual design
Backend/middleware development
Project management
If you have some or all of these resources internally and would prefer to run the project
in-house, we recommend that you consult with mobile development specialists to assist
in designing the service concept. This will to minimize the overall risk of the project.
This is likely to raise the cost in the short-term, but with the rapid evolution of mobile
application development platforms, technology and capabilities, you’ll want to ensure
that your team has the most up-to-date knowledge/recommendations/ideas from a
team of professionals who live and breathe mobile.
Testing
Consider:
Do you have the capabilities in-house to test all platforms or will you need
to outsource?
Estimate approximately 50% of the overall cost of development for QA
What about devices? You’ll enhance the overall quality of the app by testing
frequently on actual devices rather than emulators
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
DEVELOPMENT
COSTS
Staffing
Testing
Integration
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6. Testing is often under prioritized in development projects, but the reality is that
mobile testing remains a complex, multifaceted activity. Take it seriously because
users will not adopt a buggy app! That being said, we recommend limiting
deployment to certain approved devices to reduce the scale of testing required.
Integration
What is the cost of integrating with your existing IT Systems if there are no
web services available today?
Would it be worth investing in middleware that exposes your legacy services
to mobile? This way you can build a future-proof solution that scales and is
cheaper to maintain.
Do you have costs associated with opening and securing back-end systems?
These could be amortized as part of a general move to multichannel delivery.
Is there a need for containerization or virtual private network solutions for
private connectivity?
The lack of suitable integration points is one of the most common issues
encountered in mobile development. Don’t take it lightly. Allow sufficient lead
time or budget to consult with mobile API specialist to help you design the best
architecture for your applications.
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
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7. 2
Operational Costs
Mobility is driving major changes in the way organizations source technology and
technology services. In fact, Forrester states that 71% of IT services executives say that
increased employee use of apps on tablets and smartphones also increases services
spend (in business and in IT), creates more software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployment on
mobile devices, and drives them to hire more third-party services firms across multiple
areas, including specialized development and security.
But mobile app operational costs are different from those of traditional enterprise
offerings. Here are some costs to consider for your business case:
Licensing
Are there any volume-based licensing fees to consider for your app (CRM,
Document Repository, MDM, MAM, Enterprise app store, etc)?
Infrastructure
How will the added number of devices impact the usage of corporate Wi-Fi?
Will you need to extend coverage to all areas where the apps are to be used?
Time for a mobile device management (MDM) partner?
Make sure to consider these and any other potential impacts that deploying an app can
have on your existing infrastructure. Consider the costs of upgrading bandwidth and
equipment if you want to ensure quality service for your users.
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
OPERATIONAL
COSTS
Licensing
Infrastructure
Mobile Data
Cloud
Support & Training
Updates
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8. Mobile Data
More apps mean more data charges on the device, what’s a fair estimate?
What should you account for in added roaming costs?
Cloud
Will you be using cloud services for your app middleware?
Support & Training
Training courses on new systems for internal support staff?
By how much will you have to increase the head count?
What is the cost/time associated with onboarding training for new users?
As the range of supported systems and devices expands, so does the need for support staff
and training. There are companies that you can outsource this to, but at the very least you
must consider the cost associated with growing your team’s size and knowledge.
Updates
No matter what, if it’s an app, it will need to be updated. In development, you’ll
probably decide some features will have to wait till Version 1.1, or Version 2.0. How
frequently will you update your app? Point releases? Major upgrades?
As they use it, employees and business stakeholders will ask for enhancements and
updates. How will you support enhancement requests and bug reports?
What about security updates?
Don’t pretend it’s not going to happen. How much will each update cost to develop, test
and deploy?
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
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9. Calculating Benefits, Cost Savings
& Revenue
3
Define project benefits metrics based on efficiency, effectiveness and error reduction.
Some tips:
Think about how much time people wasted before
Estimate benefit per employee to generate a more realistic estimate
(don’t just wave the magic wand and assign a number)
Efficiency
Eliminating hardware
Can a mobile device replace a more expensive piece of equipment?
Eliminating paper handling & printing
How much will you reduce paper costs by switching to direct data entry into a
mobile device or by eliminating paper catalogs/brochures?
How does that impact your printing and shipping costs?
Cutting internal communications costs
Can you reduce the load on admin staff and contact centers by equipping your
field team with self-service content?
Is the impact large enough to lower telecom costs?
Cutting internal communications costs
What can people get done with mobile apps during otherwise idle time?
More sales? Calls? Emails? CRM updates?
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
BENEFITS
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Error Reduction
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10. Effectiveness
Process transformation
What is the long-term impact of mobilizing a business process (e.g. Enabling
maintenance crews to receive their work orders directly without having to collect
a paper roster from the office)?
Driving revenue
How will the app increase traditional sales and field force metrics, such as calls
per week and time to repair?
If you deploy digital catalogs that help your customers more quickly understand
and desire your products, how could this increase revenue?
Intangible operational improvements
If your app increases communication between your staff and your customers and
prospects, what’s the value of that?
Mobile Data
How much less data is consumed by replacing web with native apps?
Error reduction
Direct data entry
How much time did staff previously spend correcting data entry errors?
Automated parts control
How much can you reduce return-to-base requirements if your enterprise app
provides a manifest of parts needing replacement in field staff vans before the
service agent leaves the depot?
Automated process
How much faster can a service agent detect a fault with mobile workflow
automation or advanced technology such as augmented reality?
Always up-to-date reference material
How much time did staff previously spend organizing and filing new content?
What about time spent destroying old paper copies?
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
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11. Conclusion
National Range Officers Institute metrics for mobile app development are not black and white. The metrics described in this
report are a combination of industry research and 8 years of application development experience. Take this model and work with
both the business and end users to uncover other business processes that could be improved and quantified. Find the ones that
work best for your company and your app.
It’s a big task, but the reality is that mobile has the power to move from a cost center to a driver of business innovation—so
getting a benefit template in place for each of the typical enterprise apps you plan to deploy will be an essential planning
exercise. Break it down:
1 Identify a small number of tools and vendors to estimate costs
2 Use the metrics derived from the model above to assemble a case based on specific benefits and values
For more information on how to become an enterprise app rockstar read the other parts of our series.
Part 1: Developing an actionable mobile enterprise application strategy
Coming Soon! Part 3: Choosing the right Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) partner
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
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12. DMI
About DMI
DMI Sales Team
One Rock Spring Plaza
6550 Rock Spring Dr
Bethesda, MD 20817
U.S. Sales: 855.963.2099
Int’l Sales: 240.200.5848
sales@DMInc.com
DMInc.com
DMI is the world’s leading provider of enterprise mobility services and solutions. We build enterprise class mobile solutions that
generate results for the world’s top brands and businesses. Our mobile solutions combine the award-winning user experience design
that has made us one of the top creators of consumer apps, with the deep middleware and engineering expertise that we’ve used
to build and manage enterprise applications for the most demanding IT departments in the world. DMI mobility solutions improve
business processes, tap new revenue streams, build customer loyalty, and increase employee productivity. And we offer a full range
of Managed Services to securely set up, configure, and manage your mobile devices.
The proof:
We’ve built more than 400 mobile apps—in the past 12
months alone—for more than 150 leading organizations—
like Disney, Coca Cola, Toyota, Vodafone, P&G, The
National Guard, and Universal Studios.
We offer a full range of security options that include
Federal-grade hardware-based security, two-factor
authentication, secure container, and sophisticated
encryption solutions.
We offer brilliant creative and user experience: Our mobile
app development group was named the Best Branded
App Developer at the 2012 Mobile Entertainment Awards.
With our expertise and economies of scale, we can provide
mobility management at a higher service level and on
average 20% lower cost than most companies can do on
their own.
We have 500,000 devices under management for more
that 100+ clients, including many Fortune 500
companies—like BP, Johnson & Johnson, Sears, The
Associated Press, Allergan, and more. At BP, we’re
deploying 1,000 managed mobile devices each day.
We provide 24 x 7 x 365 mobile service support for more
than 500,000 users. DMI is the one call our customers
need to make to resolve any issue—devices, apps,
infrastructure, even carriers.
Pervasive excellence is our commitment to quality service.
DMI is one of only a handful of companies that is CMMI L3
appraised for both application development and services,
as well as ISO 9001:2008, ISO 27001:2005, and
ISO 200001:2011 certified. Our average D&B Open
Ratings performance score from our clients is 94/100.
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BECOMING A MOBILE APP ROCK STAR (PART 2)
©2013 Digital Management, Inc. All right reserved.
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