“Appification” Part 1 – Why did we fall in love with Apps?

I was privileged once again to participate in AIIM’s Executive Leadership Council in December, and this time the theme was “the ‘Appification’ of the ECM Industry”. Given that “appification” is not yet a word in the Oxford English Dictionary, that was always going to be an challenging discussion! I will leave it to AIIM’s paper (which I will link here once it’s available) to align the different interpretations of the theme from the multiple contributors at the ELC event, but I offer here my own contribution.

Definitions

Let’s start with the basics. The closest I found to a reasonable definition of “Appification” was provided by the IGI Global Dictionary:

“The replacement of Websites and Web pages with programs that run on mobile operating systems and mobile devises. With appification instead of the Web being a user’s primary user interface, it becomes an underlying service layer for apps, which become the new user interface.”

It’s an OK definition, but it does not go far enough for me. “Apps”, in the form of readily downloadable, simple task applications, mostly on mobile devices, have become a phenomenon that has dramatically impacted buying behaviours in the software market: Everyone who ever owned a smartphone, has downloaded an App at some point in time. This is not a phenomenon exclusive to the “millennials, or Generation Z, most of us use a smartphone. These same users are looking for similar experiences in their corporate environment.

So, for me “Appification” looks at the impact of the “App” cultural phenomenon on the software industry and, in the context of this forum, particularly to the ECM software market.

Why did we fall in love with Apps?

It’s difficult to understand the impact of Apps to the enterprise software market, without understanding first the reasons they became so universally successful at the personal market. What were the reasons that the mass population of smart phone and tablet users fell in love with mobile apps?

• Availability: “There is an App for that” is the defining slogan of the App generation. With over 2.5 million apps to choose from on each of the main platforms (iOS/Android), users are spoilt for choice. A simple search and one button, gives you access to exactly the functionality you need.

• Portability: We carry Apps with us all the time. From the handy units conversion app, to our banking services, to maps and GPS, to our digital darkroom. Everything is readily available wherever we happen to be.

• Self-service: We don’t need to ask permission from anyone, especially from IT, to install a new app. We just do. We don’t need any special skills, we don’t need training programs, we don’t need elaborate configurations. 30 seconds later, it just works.

• Price: We also don’t need permission from anyone, to spend $1.50 to buy an app, let alone install a free one. Not even our spouses would bat an eyelid at the typical App price. Contrast that with a typical IT budgeting and procurement cycle for enterprise software.

• Usability: App designers thrive on usability. The fact that most apps have no need for training, and intuitively deliver value through an interface that is constantly improved, has dramatically challenged traditional software design by putting the user right in the center of the design.

• “Ghost” contracts: When was the last time you read the terms & conditions of an App? We are so used to just clicking the “Accept” button, that the small print has completely disappeared from the App experience. Press the install button and use it. Acceptance of contractual terms & conditions is implicit!

• Provider vetting: There is an underlying assumption that when we download an App, someone has vetted that app for security and malicious code. Rightly or wrongly, we very rarely agonise about installing a new app on our phone of tablet. We just assume that it will mostly play nicely with the other apps on our device, and it will not suddenly take over the device to cause World War III on our behalf.

• Continuous improvement: The overnight, unsupervised, software update. Unlike enterprise software, it just happens and we mostly let it. No planned downtime, to regression planning, no trial runs. New features just appear on our little screens and we (usually) welcome them.

• Device proliferation: “I want it on my desktop / web / tablet / iPhone / Android / Xbox / TV / Fridge”. Apps are ubiquitous. Chances are that the app which securely holds all your passwords and bank details, synchronises them between your iPad, Android phone and your desktop. And you have instant access to your banking app from all three. And when you run BBC iPlayer or Netflix, you expect to continue your movie where you left off, even if you are watching it on your brand new refrigerator.

Appifying your fridge…

I don’t think anybody would suggest that these are the defining characteristics of the average Enterprise software suite. Enterprise Software, including ECM, fails on each and every one of these aspects. It just can’t deliver this experience today. We tend to attribute a lot to the “millennial” generation and their upcoming expectations from the corporate environment, but it’s probably fair to assume that all of us would like to enjoy this “App” experience in our working environment.

Following soon: “Appification” Part 2 – How do Apps influence the ECM market?