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Smart companies must build apps (and “one API to bind them all”)

Michael Prichard

I came across Matt McLarty’s article “BYOD is unstoppable. Smart companies must build apps” and his insight echoes a need WillowTree Apps has been working to resolve for the past 2 years. First, yes, smart companies must allow their employees, in addition to their customers, bring their own devices. There is no question that the capabilities of current mobile devices and tablets is quite powerful and we would be foolhardy to not acknowledge them as tools. But this is one small point that the article is making, the more important point is that in order to use these devices an organization must have a mechanism to communicate with them.


What is an API?


At it’s core the application programming interface (API) is essentially a mechanism to allow for software to communicate with one another. The API can be public or private and comes in many forms. You could think of it as a guideline to how you “talk to” a particular piece of software. It is not a new concept, by any means, but one that is gaining more relevance as we have been moving into a more networked world.


The real challenge with Mobile


Building mobile apps is not hard. At least when compared to processing data and moving it to and from mobile apps. This is the biggest challenge we face as mobile developers. In fact, I would say that this is the biggest challenge we will face over the next few years.


Enterprise has many internal systems and they all speak their own language (and some are mute)


Those that have worked in enterprise environments know that over the years you accumulate a number of systems. These include billing solutions, CRM’s, inventory systems and so on. Some are the “latest and greatest” while others are legacy. Some have an API or a web service others have nothing at all. As an organization you have allocated a lot of time and resources in those systems which, if you do the math, is a major investment.


Guess what, Mobile is here


Mobile is here and you need to deliver those years of hard work and major investment to these devices. But you can’t as those devices cannot talk to your systems. Maybe a few of those have a web service but then they are usually not the same. Trying to process a number of formats on a mobile device is brittle at best. As an organization, you have to start thinking about how to bring all these systems into a common interface that you can use across a number of technologies.


However, while achieving this goal and creating apps, open and free access to your infrastructure is probably not what you were after. An authentication and security protocol also needs to be established.  In addition, the formats you deliver to these devices need to be dynamic. While some web apps could be built on XML other platforms will need other delivery mechanisms to be more efficient — for instance, we prefer JSON for mobile apps as the payloads are smaller and we can process them much more quickly.


Finally, with exposing your infrastructure to build apps or attract other developers, you need to start taking versioning very seriously. If you release an updated API you cannot immediately remove past versions and just cease to support them. It is not a simple flip of the switch and needs to be coordinate and deprecated on a proper schedule. Otherwise you will break a number of apps and create a large number of unhappy constituents.


To recap, mobile is here and your customers, and employees, expect you to move with it. The time is now to start thinking about how to integrate your infrastructure and get ready to deliver.


At WillowTree Apps, we work with our clients to achieve this on a daily basis. The strategies we tell them to consider to achieve this are:
  • Implementation of Single sign-on solution
  • Building a uniform interface to their systems
  • Offering a dynamic API
  • Setting a proper version control policy
All this, if planned and executed correctly, will increase productivity, save you money and put you at the forefront of this change. It could even strengthen your competitive advantage… depending on who in your industry moves faster.


In closing, Mark is right when he says “Smart companies must build apps”. Do not fight it, embrace it. The tools and knowledge to make it happen are already here. It takes a good plan, execution and one API to bind them all.
 
Apr 10, 2012 1 Comment Tags:
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App of the Week: Manta Business Search

Michael Prichard

Now this is cool.  Business Insider names Manta iOS app; app of the week! Way to go everyone.  http://www.businessinsider.com/app-of-the-week-manta-business-search-2011-7

 
Jul 29, 2011 0 Comments Tags:
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More Great news about GreatSchools app!

Michael Prichard

GreatSchools officially announces their Finder iPhone app at Real Estate Connect 2011 today in San Francisco. We are very happy that we are part of their development process and had a chance to work with their awesome team.

Read the iPhone app launch press release here.

Learn more about the GreatSchools App here.

 
Jul 27, 2011 0 Comments Tags:

iOS & Android Developers Need Apply

Michael Prichard

Love iOS or Android; or both? We build apps for iOS, Android, and the mobile web. Whether you are a seasoned mobile engineer, a hobbyist with an iOS or Android passion, or a software dev who’s ready to dive head-first into mobile, we want to meet you.

Come join the developer-centric team at WillowTree Apps. We use GitHub, scrum standups, and hang out on freenode (svn users are welcome, but we will convert you). We are very client-driven, but we are ramping up internal product development with weekly R&D check ins.

We build data-driven apps and games. We have opportunities for cross-platform app and web development. We use Python and Ruby (but mostly Python) on our backend services. Must work in Charlottesville VA.

Email us with examples of your work and more info about you and why you need to be at the coolest place in Charlottesville, VA.

About WillowTree Apps, Inc. – We built that app.™

WillowTree Apps, Inc. is a privately held provider of mobile applications and mobile web design and development services on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry platforms. WillowTree has designed and developed apps for leading corporations, bands, universities, and politicians, including The Game Show Network, Crutchfield Electronics, BabyCenter.com, the University of Virginia, and Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Apps developed by WillowTree have been featured in Apple’s newspaper and television advertising. For more information visit http://www.willowtreeapps.com.

 
Jun 15, 2011 0 Comments Tags:
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WillowTree Apps City street sign goes up!

Michael Prichard

You know you are official when you get a sign on the downtown mall in Charlottesville, VA!  GO @willowtreeapps team :)

Watch it live…well sort of…. – WTA Sign Goes Up

 
May 20, 2011 0 Comments Tags:

Double Dream Hands is charting.

Michael Prichard

I always wondered how the Top Paid categories in the App Store were determined. Now we will get to find out.  Thanks to the Ellen Degeneres show today our Double Dream Hands iPhone App has jumped in the charts.

We are 14 in Entertainment:

And 103rd in the overall top paid category (yes, 4 under the I Am T-Pain app):

Wow!  Stay tuned for more and please please please go download this app!

Thanks!

 
May 11, 2011 0 Comments Tags:
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Ellen Degeneres Found The Best Apps!

Michael Prichard

Ellen love Double Dream Hands!

And one of them happens to be the Double Dream Hands iPhone app!  Watch Ellen talk about it here.

Thanks Ellen!

 
May 11, 2011 0 Comments Tags:
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Mobile becoming focus for Facebook, Google

Michael Prichard

Mobile is making a dramatic move from an “early adopter” position to a “we need to do this” stage for a lot of major companies. At WillowTree Apps, we have noticed a surge in our business and a major move for mobile web optimization and native applications. While our experience is not a scientific poll by any means, we are busy because the trends are moving to what we have been doing since 2008.  It is becoming clearer for all that the best only strategy is to embrace mobile as the future for access to content across all markets.

For example, Facebook’s CTO Bret Taylor and Google’s outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt are publicly declaring the importance mobile to their respective companies future.  And these guys know how to be competitive and how to identify trends quickly.

Nonetheless, we still have a long way to go in this new technology cycle. There are still a lot of things to figure out and a ton of opportunity to create killer apps and new revenue streams. There will be lot of exciting things in all our future’s over the next 18 to 24 months.  We can’t wait and we are loving the ride already!

 
Jan 28, 2011 0 Comments Tags:
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c-ville: Inside Charlottesville’s brainstorming revolution

Michael Prichard

This is why we are in Charlottesville, VA -

http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304062461064&ShowArticle_ID=12681701114148712

Plus it’s cool that Ron Duplain and I are mentioned by name …  pretty neat.

 
Jan 18, 2011 0 Comments Tags:
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WillowTree Apps at edUi 2010

Michael Prichard

Ron & Tobias showing everyone at edUi 2010 what awesome work WTA does.

Link to picture directly here.

 
Nov 11, 2010 0 Comments