TimeWave Media Enterprise Guide to HTML5 Mobile

Transcription

1 Enterprise Guide to HTML5 Mobile Re-defining enterprise mobility with a cross-platform delivery strategy.

2 HTML5 is redefining the possibilities of enterprise mobility. With the explosive emergence of mobile devices in today s workplaces, IT has entered a new paradigm. Today s digital channel reaches far beyond the desktop - smartphones and tablets are revolutionizing the way users interact with data. With a constantly evolving mix of hardware platforms, device display sizes, and screen resolutions; the challenge and goal is to provide the best mobile experience to as many users as possible. HTML5 mobile applications transcend the limitations of hardware fragmentation by harnessing the web browser as a common abstraction layer for the delivery of data, allowing users to access application content from the device of their choice. A Multi-Screen Reality The desktop environment has been the primary mode of enterprise data consumption for the past 35 years, but it is no longer the only player in town. The rise of smartphones and tablets and their associated software applications has fundamentally changed the way in which users interact with data. This paper provides a brief overview of HTML5 technologies and considers the factors for the increasing adoption of HTML5 in contemporary enterprise mobility solutions. Today s mobile-enabled workforce is increasingly sophisticated. Correspondingly, expectations for quality of user experience in the mobile channel have also risen. Enterprise mobility initiatives must deliver a caliber of user experience that meets or exceeds contemporary user and market expectations. 2 Enterprise Guide to HTML5 Mobile

3 Mobile Workforce Mobile devices in the workplace provide easier access to information, in more places, and at more times. These devices serve as elegant interface extensions for accessing rich stores of pre-existing business application data. Net gains of enterprise mobility efforts are directly realized in overall employee productivity. Indirectly, enterprise mobilility initiatives help to foster progressive contemporary workspaces and corporate cultures within a given organization. A Web Delivery Strategy Enterprise mobile applications are here, but there is an important co-dependent consideration associated with this: how will users access application content and data? Currently, there are two basic ways in which this can be achieved: data can either be delivered through a piece of software running as a native application on the device s operating system or it can be delivered through the device s internet browser via standard web markup languages. At the core of the native app versus web app delivery debate is the reality of hardware fragmentation: there are a deluge of devices that need to be catered for. An enterprise mobility strategy is inherently tied to its data delivery method and associated hardware reach and coverage considerations. A common denominator shared between 95% of today s smart devices is web access with WebKit browser standards. By taking advantage of these agreed upon browser standards, today s enterprise mobile applications are increasingly utilizing the web as their means for delivering application content, simultaneously reaching many devices and platforms with the same set of reusable code and data. The mobile web delivery approach stands in stark contrast to the native delivery approach, which many IT departments had adopted during the early years of enterprise mobility efforts. The issue with this strategy is that the list of mobile devices keeps expanding and managing the content delivery and updates of independent codebases for multiple device platforms is time and resource intensive compared to its alternative: HTML5 mobile apps. 3 Enterprise Guide to HTML5 Mobile

4 HTML5 Mobile Apps HTML5 mobile apps are created using a family of web languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and data delivery standards (AJAX, JSON, YQL, etc.) that designers and developers can combine and manipulate in order to create powerful applications within the user s web browser that look and feel like native applications across desktop, handset, and tablet devices. In an HTML5 app: the HTML defines the structure of the content, the CSS handles the visual presentation of the user interface, and the JavaScript manages the behaviors of the app. HTML5 Mobile Frameworks Migrating and retrofitting pre-existing services to mobile environments has never been easier. There are now HTML5 mobile development frameworks available that standardize, as well as simplify, the process of requesting pre-existing service data and binding that data to mobile interface elements and views. Utilizing these modular user interface libraries allows mobility teams to drastically reduce project resource and timeframe requirements for HTML5 app development. HTML5 mobile apps are delivered through the web browser, but they are more than just mobile websites: they are rich web applications. HTML5 mobile apps are unimpeded by app store ecosystem limitations; they are always accessible, and updates as well as bug-fixes are a seamless affair - no user prompts or downloads are required to update the users current running version of the app. The Rise of Sencha Touch One framework in particular, Sencha Touch, has radically disrupted the HTML5 mobile development space by allowing a degree of cross-device cohesion that has been unheard of until now. The framework provides the foundation for enterprise IT to seemlessly extend and manage the virtualization of existing services across today s mobile devices. With features like hardware acceleration and state-management baked into the core, Sencha Touch is focused on allowing teams to create highperformance HTML5 mobile apps that work on an ever-growing list of web-enabled smart devices. 4 Enterprise Guide to HTML5 Mobile

5 Sencha Touch is built off of the architectural foundation of Sencha Ext JS, an industry-tested and proven JavaScript framework that allows developers to use a model-view-controller (MVC) architecture when building apps; enabling a modular approach for defining user interface components and interactions. At its core, the Sencha Touch framework provides an underlying architectural flexibility, maintaining the capacity to seemlessly implement modifications or new feature iterations at will. Project timeframes and associated resources required for Sencha Touch development projects are also exponentially less than their native alternatives. Utilizing a Sencha Touchbased HTML5 delivery layer is a flexible, costeffective, and broad-reaching delivery approach for enterprise IT mobile intitiatives. As an agency, we utilize HTML5 framework libraries extensively in development. We actively advocate leveraging Sencha Touch to allow clients the ability to conveniently bundle their pre-existing software services and data for repackaged delivery targeted at today s web-enabled smart devices. HTML5 Going Forward HTML5 has changed the realities of enterprise mobility. The mobile web now has the ability to deliver rich browser-based user experiences that more than rival native apps. HTML5 mobile frameworks like Sencha Touch are fueling the rapid progression and evolution of this development space. As more mobile devices continue to come online, the growth, influence, and importance of the mobile web will continue to be realized. HTML5 sits as the technological cornerstone of this new mobile paradigm. It is the thread that binds today s divergent device hardware and protocols together, a major factor for why contemporary enterprise mobility initiatives are increasingly turning to HTML5 for their own immersive cross-platform mobile solutions. 5 Enterprise Guide to HTML5 Mobile

6 2012 TimeWave Media, LLC TimeWave Media is a creative agency dedicated to developing great user experiences in the digital channel. TimeWave Media works with clients to discover and deliver solutions across the desktop, handset, and tablet mediums. The agency serves as an infrastructure partner for clients seeking flexible best-in-class technology solutions. Please Recycle