MagicQuadrantforMobileApplication

DevelopmentPlatforms
23July2015ID:G00270267
Analyst(s):RichardMarshall,VanL.Baker,RayValdes,JasonWong,AdrianLeow

VIEWSUMMARY
Themobileappdevelopmentplatformmarketcontinuestogrow,evolveandmatureinresponseto
escalatingcustomerrequirements.WeassessthemajorvendorstoenableenterpriseITdevelopers,
architectsandmobiledevelopmentleaderstoselecttherightplatformpartners.

MarketDefinition/Description
Themobileappdevelopmentplatform(MADP)marketofferstools,technologies,componentsandservices
thatenableenterpriseITdeveloperstocreatemobileappsforcustomers,partnersandemployees.A
MADPenablesanenterprisetodesign,develop,test,deploy,distribute,analyzeandmanageaportfolioof
crossplatformmobileappsonarangeofdevicesrunningAndroidandiOS,andaddressingthe
requirementsofdiverseusecasesincludingexternalfacingandinternalfacingscenarios.

MagicQuadrant
Figure1.MagicQuadrantforMobileApplicationDevelopmentPlatforms

NOTE1
PRICING
Toprovideguidancetoorganizationsaboutpricingfor
differentMADPofferings,Gartnerhasdefineda
coarsegrainedthreetierstructure,asfollows:(1)a
lowcosttieroflessthan$25,000peryearforan
initialmobiledevelopmentproject(2)amidrangetier
ofbetween$25,000and$100,000peryearand(3)
anenterprisetierofmorethan$100,000peryear.

NOTE2
VENDORSANDPACKAGESCONSIDERED
Adobe,AlphaSoftware,Amazon,apiOmat,
Appcelerator,Appery.io,AppGyver,Appian,Apple,
appsFreedom,AsialMonaca,Axway,Backbase,
Bizmatica,BrandingBrand,Built.io,Catavolt,
ClickSoftware,DSI,EachScape,Embarcadero,FSI,
Globo,GoodTechnology,Google,Gupta,iexceed
Appzillon,IBM,InstantDeveloper,Kii,Kinvey,Kony,
L&TInfotech,Mendix,MiCorporation,Microsoft,
MicroStrategy,modomodo,Neosperience,Nexaweb,
Oracle,OutSystems,Pegasystems,Pivotal,Progress,
RedHat,ReddoMobility,Retriever,Salesforce,SAP,
Sencha,Smartface,Unvired,WaveMaker,WebRatio,
Xamarin,Zebra,Zetes.

EVALUATIONCRITERIADEFINITIONS
AbilitytoExecute
Product/Service:Coregoodsandservicesofferedby
thevendorforthedefinedmarket.Thisincludes
currentproduct/servicecapabilities,quality,feature
sets,skillsandsoon,whetherofferednativelyor
throughOEMagreements/partnershipsasdefinedin
themarketdefinitionanddetailedinthesubcriteria.
OverallViability:Viabilityincludesanassessmentof
theoverallorganization'sfinancialhealth,thefinancial
andpracticalsuccessofthebusinessunit,andthe
likelihoodthattheindividualbusinessunitwillcontinue
investingintheproduct,willcontinueofferingthe
productandwilladvancethestateoftheartwithinthe
organization'sportfolioofproducts.
SalesExecution/Pricing:Thevendor'scapabilitiesin
allpresalesactivitiesandthestructurethatsupports
them.Thisincludesdealmanagement,pricingand
negotiation,presalessupport,andtheoverall
effectivenessofthesaleschannel.
MarketResponsiveness/Record:Abilitytorespond,
changedirection,beflexibleandachievecompetitive
successasopportunitiesdevelop,competitorsact,
customerneedsevolveandmarketdynamicschange.
Thiscriterionalsoconsidersthevendor'shistoryof
responsiveness.

Source:Gartner(July2015)

VendorStrengthsandCautions
Adobe

MarketingExecution:Theclarity,quality,creativity
andefficacyofprogramsdesignedtodeliverthe
organization'smessagetoinfluencethemarket,
promotethebrandandbusiness,increaseawareness
oftheproducts,andestablishapositiveidentification
withtheproduct/brandandorganizationintheminds
ofbuyers.This"mindshare"canbedrivenbya
combinationofpublicity,promotionalinitiatives,
thoughtleadership,wordofmouthandsalesactivities.
CustomerExperience:Relationships,productsand
services/programsthatenableclientstobesuccessful
withtheproductsevaluated.Specifically,thisincludes
thewayscustomersreceivetechnicalsupportor
accountsupport.Thiscanalsoincludeancillarytools,

AdobehasanumberofmobileandWebdevelopmenttoolsandplatforms,aswellasdesigntoolsthat
emphasizeHTML5support.Adobeisespeciallyeffectivewithofferingstargetingmarketingorganizations,
andisuniqueamongthevendorsinthisMagicQuadrantbecauseofitsownershipofthePhoneGap
framework,thehybridwrappingtechnologythatmanyplayersintheMADPsectoruse.TheAdobe
PhoneGapframeworkisalsoavailableasanopensourceofferingthroughtheApacheSoftware
FoundationasApacheCordova.Thecompany'scommercialMADPoffering,AdobeExperienceManager
(AEM)Apps,isthecoreofAdobe'sMADP,whichincludesbothPhoneGapEnterprise(forutilityapps)and
AdobeDigitalPublishingSolution(DPSforcontentcentricapps).ThePhoneGapEnterpriseoffering
bundlessomelifecyclesupport,businessuserandmarketerauthoringtools,supportfornativeapps,and
integrationswithotherpartsoftheMarketingCloud,includingAdobeAnalytics.AdobeDPS,integrated
withAEM,offersaneasywayforenterprises,usingtheirdesignandcreativeteams,tocreatecontent
centricmobileapps.AdobeExperienceManagerApps,PhoneGapEnterpriseandDPS,incombinationwith
Adobe'smarketleadinganalyticscapabilities,enableorganizationstocreate,deliverandmeasure
experiencesacrossbothcontentrichmobileappsandtheWebwithonesetofassets.

customersupportprograms(andthequalitythereof),
availabilityofusergroups,servicelevelagreements
andsoon.

Forenterpriseinitiatives,theAEMAppsofferingprovidesbothPhoneGapEnterpriseandDPScapabilities
thatintegratewiththeentireAEMplatform.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,in
termsofdirectlicensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areintheenterprisetierofmorethan
$100,000peryear(seeNote1).

MarketingStrategy:Aclear,differentiatedsetof
messagesconsistentlycommunicatedthroughoutthe
organizationandexternalizedthroughthewebsite,
advertising,customerprogramsandpositioning
statements.

AdobeExperienceManagerAppssupportsbothwhenamultiplatformhybridappand/ornativeappsare
therequiredarchitecture.Additionally,AEMAppsisappropriateformarketersthataredeliveringcontent
centricmobileappsandwebsites.Thisisespeciallytruefordigitalmarketersfocusedoncampaign
managementcapabilities.

SalesStrategy:Thestrategyforsellingproductsthat
usestheappropriatenetworkofdirectandindirect
sales,marketing,service,andcommunication
affiliatesthatextendthescopeanddepthofmarket
reach,skills,expertise,technologies,servicesandthe
customerbase.

Strengths
AdobePhoneGapisthedefactoindustrystandardforhybridwrappingtechnology,iswidelydeployed
inthemarket,andhasestablishedarichecosystemofthirdpartyextensionsthataddtothe
capabilitiesofthePhoneGapwrappertechnology.
Simplicityofdevelopmentusingfamiliartechnologies(HTML,CSS,TypeScriptandJavaScript)with
choiceofframeworks(almostanyJavaScriptthatcanruninaWebbrowser)canleadtoaquick
startforsimpleapps.
Adobehasenjoyedsignificantsuccessinpublishingandcustomerfacingsolutions,andhastools
thatarewellsuitedtobusinessanddigitalmarketingprofessionals.
Cautions
Thehybridwrapperapproach,whichisoneoftheoptionsofferedbyAdobe,haslimitationsinterms
ofperformanceandfidelitywhenusedinthemoststraightforwardmanner.Theselimitationscanbe
mitigatedthroughnativepluginsandadditionalnativecodedevelopment.UseoftheApache
Cordovaopensourcesolutioncanrequiresignificanteffortonthepartofdeveloperstofindandtest
extensionsandthirdpartyJavaScriptlibrariesthataddresstheadditionalcapabilitiesrequiredfor
someappdevelopment.
TheAdobemobileappdevelopmenttoolchainislesscompletethanothercompetitorsinthe
segment,andconnectorsforintegrationwithenterprisebackendsystemsarelimited.
PhoneGaphasattainedwidespreadadoptionamongdevelopersfocusedoncustomerfacingmobile
apps,butAdobehaslimitedrelationshipswithITdevelopmentorganizationsfocusedondeveloping
businesstoemployee(B2E)mobileapps.

Appcelerator
Appceleratorisapioneerinmoderncrossplatformmobiledevelopment.Ithasbuiltacommunityofover
600,000developersforitsfreeopensourceTitaniumoffering,anditisseekingtoleveragethisdeveloper
basetoadvanceitsmorerecententerpriseorientedAppceleratorPlatform.
Appceleratorpursuesabroaderscope,platformcentricapproachtotheenterprisemarket.Acquisitions
andpartnershipshaveaddedbreadthanddepthtotheinitialoffering,whichwasbuiltonaJavaScript
frameworkthatcompiledtonativeAndroidandiOSapps.Additionsincludecloudbasedmobilebackend
asaserviceoffering,testingandanalytics,allofwhichcanbeleveragedforbothappsbuiltwith
Appcelerator,aswellasappsbuiltusingObjectiveConiOSandJavaonAndroid.Theresultisarelatively
wellintegratedandcohesivesetofcapabilities.
Appcelerator'spricingstrategyistwofold:maximizeadoptionthroughfreeorlowcostpricingofopen
sourceTitanium,andbuildsustainablebusinessthroughenterpriselevelpricingofAppceleratorPlatform.
Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfeesandrelatedcosts,
areatthelowendofthespectrum(lessthan$25,000peryear)forTitaniumbasedprojects,andmore
thanthatforplatformprojects(seeNote1).
AppceleratorPlatformissuitedforaportfolioofenterpriseappsinternallyandexternallyfacingthat
requiredifferentapproaches(hybrid,Webornative)connectingwitharobustsetofbackendservices.
Strengths
Appceleratoroffersafullportfolioofmobilebackendservicesandfrontendtoolsandframeworks
thatcanaddressdiversescenarios.
Thecompanyhasdemonstratedtheabilitytorespondquicklyinacohesive,integratedmannertoa
changingmarket.
Althoughthevendorisrelativelysmall,ithasbeenabletoachieveapositionofprominenceinthe
dynamicandrapidlyevolvingMADPmarketplace,asevidencedbyshowingupregularlyonshortlists
andproofsofconcept.

Operations:Theabilityoftheorganizationtomeet
itsgoalsandcommitments.Factorsincludethequality
oftheorganizationalstructure,includingskills,
experiences,programs,systemsandothervehicles
thatenabletheorganizationtooperateeffectivelyand
efficientlyonanongoingbasis.
CompletenessofVision
MarketUnderstanding:Abilityofthevendorto
understandbuyers'wantsandneedsandtotranslate
thoseintoproductsandservices.Vendorsthatshow
thehighestdegreeofvisionlistentoandunderstand
buyers'wantsandneeds,andcanshapeorenhance
thosewiththeiraddedvision.

Offering(Product)Strategy:Thevendor'sapproach
toproductdevelopmentanddeliverythatemphasizes
differentiation,functionality,methodologyandfeature
setsastheymaptocurrentandfuturerequirements.
BusinessModel:Thesoundnessandlogicofthe
vendor'sunderlyingbusinessproposition.
Vertical/IndustryStrategy:Thevendor'sstrategy
todirectresources,skillsandofferingstomeetthe
specificneedsofindividualmarketsegments,including
verticalmarkets.
Innovation:Direct,related,complementaryand
synergisticlayoutsofresources,expertiseorcapital
forinvestment,consolidation,defensiveorpre
emptivepurposes.
GeographicStrategy:Thevendor'sstrategytodirect
resources,skillsandofferingstomeetthespecific
needsofgeographiesoutsidethe"home"ornative
geography,eitherdirectlyorthroughpartners,
channelsandsubsidiariesasappropriateforthat
geographyandmarket.

Cautions
Appceleratorisrelativelysmallcomparedwithestablishedenterprisesoftwarevendors,posing
challengesforsellingatthestrategiclevel,especiallytoorganizationsthatdon'ttrackthemobile
sectorcloselyandlooktoestablishedvendors.
Appceleratorhaslostmomentumandmindshareamongtheindependentdevelopersthatwerea
mainstayofitsbottomupstrategy.
Appcelerator'stechnologyiscodecentric,emphasizingprogramminginJavaScriptonbothclientand
server.ThisemphasisonJavaScriptcanbeperceivedasanegativebysomeenterpriseapp
developmentorganizationswhoseteamslackdepthinJavaScript,andwhichpreferapproachesthat
minimizecodingandarefamiliarwithtraditionalenterpriseserversidelanguages(Javaand.NET).

Appian
Primarilyknownasabusinessprocessmanagement(BPM)softwarevendorwithofferingsthatalso
supportdatadrivenandcasemanagementstyleapplications,Appianhasadoptedaunifiedplatform
approach,allowingasingleprocessdefinitiontobedeliveredacrossarangeofdeviceswithoutadditional
development.
Appian'senterprisemobilityplatformextendsthereachofitsexistingBPMproducttoiOS,Androidand
WindowsPhonedevices,aswellasmobileWebandearlysupportforwearables.Thisallowsformsand
processestobedeliveredconsistentlyacrossallemployeetouchpoints.Processesaredeliveredonmobile
viaproprietarycontainerappsthatincludeofflinecapabilitiesandbuiltinencryption.
Appsaresupportedbyabroadrangeofcloudbasedservices,includinganalytics,locationandstorage,but
withthenotableexceptionofpushnotifications.APIsareavailabletoexposethesefunctionsviaRESTfor
consumptionbycustomapps.TheAppiandevelopmentprocessissupportedbyagoodrangeoftestand
applicationlifecyclemanagement(ALM)capabilities,includingatestcloud,userexperience(UX)test
supportandcontinuousintegration.
Appian'slicensingobjectiveistoincludemobileaspartofallitsengagements.Thisissupportedbya
rangeofcostmodelsbasedonmonthlypernameduser,peroccasionaluserandappspecificuserfees.
Theseuserbasedpricesincludebothfrontendandbackendservices.Typicalprojectsizeisatthe
enterpriseendofthescale(morethan$100,000peryearseeNote1).
Appianisbestsuitedforprocessorientedorganizationslookingtodeploythoseprocessesasappsacrossa
rangeofdevices,includingWebanddesktop,andisalsosuitedfordatadrivenandeventdrivenapps.
Appian'sunifiedapproachreducestheriskofprocessfragmentationduetoimplementationvariations,but
doesnotnecessarilyallowperdeviceoptimization.
Strengths
Appianoffersacomprehensivesetofunifiedcapabilitiesfororganizationswishingtodevelop
processbasedapps.
AvisualcompositionapproachhelpsprocessexpertsworkwithITtowardthedeliveryofmobile
apps,eliminatingtheneedforcodingandreducingappmanagementoverheads.
Appian'sproprietarycontainerapproachprovidesnativeperformanceduetohighlevelprocess
interpretation,aswellasprovidingagilityviatheeasyupdatingoftheprocessdefinitions.
Cautions
WhileAppianhasinvestedheavilyinmobileanddatacentriccapabilities,Appianisbettersuitedfor
processcentricandcasemanagementdrivenapps.
Whiletheunifiedapproachisexcellentforenterprisesthatrequirebroadreach,therearemobile
specificoptimizedfeaturesnotavailable,suchasofflinecapabilitiesandpushnotifications.
Appian'suserbasedpricingmodelmeansthatorganizationswithlargenumbersofemployeesneed
tobecarefulinunderstandingusagepredictionstokeepcostsundercontrol.

Backbase
Backbase'sinitialfocuswasUI(Ajaxlibrary),whichbroadenedto"leanportal"technologyandMADPs.
ThecurrentcoreofferingistheBackbaseCustomerExperiencePlatform(CXP),whichcombines
presentationmanagementwithcontentmanagement,customeranalytics,personalizedcampaign
management,formsmanagementandmobileplatformsupport.InadditiontoCXP,Backbasehasa
verticalofferingtargetingthebankingandfinancialservicessector.
BackbaseCXPoffersasetofomnichannelexperiencemanagementcapabilities(security,enterprise
integration,crossdevicerendering,contentmanagement,personalization,targeting,messaging,
publishing,orchestration,andsoon)inasingle,fullyintegratedplatform.Itisbasedonleanarchitecture
principles(widgets,Weborientedarchitecture[WOA],REST,mobileOSagnostic,mobilebackendasa
service[MBaaS]APIgateway).CXPManageroffersaGUIforbusinessuserswithoutprogrammingskillsto
editmobileapps,includingfunctionssuchascontentediting,layoutandnavigation,settingtargeting
rulestorunsalescampaignsandintegratedanalytics,andA/Bmultivariatetesting.
Ontheclientside,thereistheBackbaseMobileSoftwareDevelopmentKit(SDK).TheBackbaseMobile
SDKisacollectionofcomponentsallowingorganizationstoquicklybuildmobileappsbasedonoutofthe
boxtemplatesandapps(widgets).Thesearefullyfunctionalappsthatinmostcasesareastartingpoint
forbuilding(orextending)mobileapps.Amongothers,themobileSDKactsasabridgebetweenCXP
Server(MBaaS)andthemobileapp.ThemobileSDKalsocontainstoolstobuild,test,deployandmanage
apps.TheserversidehasCXPServerwithrobust(micro)servicesforsecurityandpermission
management,enterpriseappintegration,contentmanagement,personalizationandtargeting,workflow,
publishing,andeditorialmanagement.AllCXPServerservicesareexposedviaarobustAPIgateway

deliveringRESTendpoints.
BackbaseCXPenterpriselicensinghastwooptionsunlimited(serverandclient)instancescappedon
thenumberofregisteredappusersoranunlimitedenduserlicensecappedonthenumberofCXPserver
instances.Datacenterandcloudpricingisfeeperuser,permonth.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobile
developmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areatthe
enterpriseendofthespectrum(morethan$100,000peryear).
BackbaseCXPiswellsuitedformidsizetolargeorganizationsinanyverticalthatwanttoimplementan
omnichannelexperiencewithastrongbackgroundinprebuiltsolutionsforfinancialinstitutions.
Strengths
AppsbuiltontopoftheCXPplatform,regardlessofthechannel,areacollectionofminiapps
(widgets)hostedinacontainer(forexample,mobileapporwebsite).Abenefitofthisisthatit
allowseasyreuseoffunctionalitybetweenchannelstocreateatrueomnichannelsolution.
CXPintegrationservicescantakecareoflooselycoupledintegrationbetweenapps/widgetsand
variousbackendsystems.Thisallowsagiledevelopmentteamstoworkonseparatedfunctionality,
testeachcomponentseparately,anddistributemobileappsalmostindependentofeachother.
Backbasedividestheapplifecycleintotwotracks:thedevelopmenttrackandthebusinesstrack.
Thebusinesstrackisenablingbusinessuserstoupdatecontentonadailybasiswithouthavingto
redeploytheapp.Inordertohavecontentmanagementasstreamlinedaspossible,thistrackis
welldefinedandlessflexiblethanthedevelopmenttrack.
Cautions
Customerfeedbackhasindicatedthatcontentreuseofresponsivewidgetsworkswell,but
performanceoptimizationofthewidgetshasbeenanissueinsomeinstances,asthecompanyhas
focusedresourcesonnewfeaturesanditsLaunchpadasetofprebuilttemplates,widgetsand
apps.
BackbasehasarelativelysmallpresenceandecosystemoutsideoftheU.S.andEurope,sosome
selfsupportingcustomersthosenotrelyingonthirdpartyprofessionalservicesreportsubpar
supportandrelativelackofinsightorinfluenceinBackbase'sroadmapanddevelopment.
Backbase'slackofatrackrecordinsomeindustries,combinedwithitslowprofilecomparedwith
portalleaders,limitsitsappealtocustomersoutsidethefinancialservicesmarket.

ClickSoftware
ClickSoftwareisaleadingindependentvendorofmobileworkforcemanagementsolutionsfortechnician
andfieldresourceheavyindustries,suchascommunications,utilities,energy,healthcareandcapital
equipment.ThecompanyhasrecentlymovedintoprivateownershipunderfundsmanagedbyFrancisco
Partners.
ClickSoftware'smobileappdevelopmentplatformincludesvisualformsbuild,whichcanusecomponents
fromanopenlibrary,andanenterprisefocusedruntimeplatformthatincludesdatasynchronizationand
rolebasedsecurity.WhileoftenusedtocustomizeClickSoftware'spackagedsolutions,itcanalsocreate
completelynewmobileapps.
TheClickAppStoreoffersprebuiltappsthatintegratewithothercapabilitieswithintheoverallsolution.
InnovativecapabilitiesareevidentinClickSoftware'sAIbasedClickButleragent,theShoutsocial
technologyandextensiveuseofgamification.
TheClickSoftwareplatform'sdataintegrationcapabilitiesarerobustforanindependentvendor,having
beenproveninthefieldthroughyearsofenterprisedeployments.ClientappsarebasedonanHTML5
hybridarchitecture.ClickSoftwarewasoneofthefirstmobileworkforceappvendorstooffercloudbased
hostingoptionsforitsmobilemiddleware.
ClickSoftwareoffersavarietyoflicensingoptions,includingSaaS,perpetuallicensesandtransaction
based.Pricingstrategyistobuildasustainablesoftwaretool/platformbusinessthroughbasesolutions
targetingspecificroles,towhichindividualappscanbeadded,withdifferentpricingmodels(peruser
subscriptionfeesandtransactionbasedfees).Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,in
termsofdirectlicensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areatthemidrangeportionofthe
spectrum(morethan$25,000peryearandlessthan$100,000peryearseeNote1).
ClickSoftware'splatformprimarilymeetstheB2Eneedsoforganizationsthatrequirecustommobile
workforcemanagementapps.ClickSoftware'sextendedplatformcapabilities,suchascollaborative
workfloworintelligentagenttechnology,canbeofwiderinterestforadditionaldepartmentsandrolesin
anorganization.
Strengths
Continuedinnovationisapparentinthecompany'sofferings,includingearlysupportforwearables,
andbuildingonexistingfeaturessuchasthecollaborativeworkflowengine,socialcapabilities,
intelligentautomatedagentsandgamification.
ThecompanycontinuestodevelopitsstrongstrategicpartnershipswithSAP,SalesforceandIBM,as
wellasofferingwidegeographiccoverageandagrowingnetworkofservicepartners.
ClickSoftwarewasoneoftheearliesttoolcompaniestorecognizetheneedfortherapid
developmentoffunctionallyrichmobileworkforceapps.Existingintegrationtoitsworkforce
platformreducestheneedfordevelopmentinfieldserviceorganizations.
Cautions

ClickSoftware'smobiletoolscurrentlyarebestsuitedforusewithitspackagedworkforce
managementsolutions.Organizationsmustconfirmthattheplatformwillprovidethefeaturesand
licensingmodelsneededforgeneralmobiledevelopment.
WhileClickSoftwareisstrongininnovation,itisweakinsomeareas,includingapplifecycle
managementandconsumerapps.
Aswithallsmaller,independentvendors,potentialcustomersshouldensurethatClickSoftware's
globalsupportoptionsarealignedwiththeirrequirements.

DSI
DSIfocusesontheneedsofmobilityinthesupplychainprocessesofbusinesses.TheDSIMobile
EnterprisePlatformintegrateswithexistingenterprisesystemstomobilizeandoptimizesupplychain
functions,whilepreservingdataandprocessintegrityacrossexistingsystemsofrecord.
DSI'smetadatadrivendevelopmentapproachsupportsmultichanneldevelopment,managingdesign
layoutsformultipledeviceformfactors.Theplatformoffersavisualdevelopmenttoolthatcreatesapps
andwebsitesonWindowsPhone/WindowsMobile/Windows8,iOS,AndroidandBlackBerrydevices.DSI
alsooffersasetofprebuiltbusinessprocessflows,oraccelerators,forappssuchasmobileinventory,field
service,fieldsales,procurementanddelivery.DSIhasalsoopenedupitsplatformtosupportanyfront
endSDKtodevelopthemobileclientusingitsopenAPIs.ThecompanyalsoacquiredRareWire,asmall
mobilesoftwareandservicesvendor,toleverageitsUXexpertiseandproprietarytoolstoaddresscross
platformconsumergrademobileappusecases.
DSIofferstransactionbasedconnectivityintomajorsystemsofrecord(SAP,OracleEBusinessSuite,JD
EdwardsEnterpriseOne,JDEdwardsWorld,MicrosoftDynamicsAX,InforLawson)withvalidatedand
certifiedmobileoptimizedfunctionalinterfaces.Inaddition,DSIsupportsRESTfulAPIs,SOAPbasedWeb
servicesanduseofcustomconnectors.ManyDSIdeploymentsfeaturemobiletomachineintegration,
incorporatingindustrialequipmentsuchasautomatedscalesandconveyorbelts.DSIoffersprivate,
hybridandpubliccloud(viaAmazon)deploymentoptions,butthevastmajorityofcustomersare
deployedonpremises.
DSI'sonpremiseslicensingmodelisbasedonappserversfordevelopmentanddeployment,whileits
cloudbasedplatformislicensedonaperusersubscriptionbasis.Thereisnochargeassociatedwiththe
developmenttoolingitself.DSIalsorequireslicensingoftherequisiteconnectorinterfacesintobackend
systems.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfeesand
relatedpaymentstothevendor,areintheenterprisetierofpricing(morethan$100,000peryearsee
Note1).
DSIiswellsuitedforbuildingandoperatingcustommobileappsforB2E/B2Bscenarios,particularlyfor
supplychaindatadrivenprocesses,includingthosewithsignificantmobiletomachinerequirements.
Strengths
DSI'srapid,visualdevelopmenttoolprovidescustomerselfsufficiency,allowingnondevelopersto
buildandmaintainrichmobileappswithoutdeeptechnicalknowledgeorsupportofthirdparty
developers.
DSIoffersanextensivesetofsolutionacceleratorsthatcansignificantlyreducethetimeandriskof
deployingtailored,mobileoptimizedsupplychainsolutions,particularlyformanufacturing,energy,
utilities,retailandhealthcare.
DSIprovidesoneofthemostrobustbackendintegrationcapabilitiesavailableintheMADPmarket,
withmanyindependentsoftwarevendors(ISVs)resellingconnectors.ItsCloudConnectwizardtool
significantlycutsinstallationandconfigurationtime.
Cautions
DSI'sstrengthinfocusingonmobilesupplychainisalsoitsweaknessintermsofbeingabroad,all
purposeMADP.Althoughithasstartedtogaintractionwithbuildingconsumerfacingappsusing
Wire,thecoreDSIplatformstilllackssomefunctionalitytoprovidethehighestqualityconsumer
grademobileexperiences.
DSIhasarelativelysmallpresenceandecosystemoutsideoftheU.S.,sofindingservicedelivery
partnersmaybeachallengeforsomecustomersnotintheU.S.
DSIusesaproprietarymetadatadrivencontainerapproachtobuildapps,anditsacquisitionof
RareWireintroducesanotherproprietaryXMLbasedscriptinglanguagecalledWirelanguage.
However,WireisextensiblewithJavaScripttoday,andDSIintendstoembraceHTML5inthefuture.

Embarcadero
Embarcaderohasmultipleproductlinesthattargetenterprisedevelopers,architectsanddatabase
designers.
ItsRADStudioXE8isanintegrateddevelopmentenvironment(IDE)andappframeworkthatdevelopers
haveusedtobuildWindowsappsusingtheObjectPascalandC/C++languagesthatalsocomeswith
supportforHTML5andJavaScript.RADStudiosupportsnativelycompiledappsthatcanbedeployedto
iOS,AndroidandWindowstablets(MicrosoftSurfacePro),aswellasdesktopWindowsandMacOSX.The
FireUIfeatureallowsdeveloperstocreateuserinterfacesacrossmultipledevicesusingamasterformto
sharealluserinterfacecode,thenoptimizeinheritedviewsforeachtargetplatformanddevice.Viewscan
becustomizedforeachtargetplatform,includingWindowsdesktop,SurfaceProTablet,Macdesktop,
iPhone,iPad,Androidtablets,andsmartphonesandwearablessuchassmartwatches.
RADStudioprovidestruecompilationtomachinecodewithoutavirtualmachinelayerormiddleware,
unlikemostothermultiplatformapproaches.Itusesestablishedlanguages(primarilyC++butalso
Pascal)thatmanyenterprisedevelopersarefamiliarwith,providinghighperformanceatruntimeandalso

duringthedevelopmentcycle.
Embarcaderoofferstwomiddlewaresolutionsforonpremisesorvirtualprivatecloudhostingtocreate
andmanageremoteAPIsoneisSDKbasedandtheothercontainsprebuiltserviceswitharuntime
fee.EmbarcaderoalsoprovidesRESTclientconnectorstoconnecttovirtuallyanybackend.
Embarcadero'spricingstrategyistobuildasustainablepackagedsoftwaretoolbusinessthroughlowcost
pricingandonlinesalestodevelopers.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsof
directlicensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areatthelowendofthespectrum(lessthan
$25,000peryearseeNote1).
EnterpriseswithB2Candemployeefacingcrossplatformappsthatrequirehighperformance,thatneed
toleverageexistingC,C++orPascalskills,andthatcanrunonbothdesktopandmobileplatforms
shouldconsiderRADStudio.
Strengths
RADStudioXE8hasafocusontheInternetofThings(IoT)byintroducingfeaturessuchasApp
Tethering,BluetoothLE,andproximityawarenessbeaconstoaddproximityandlocationawareness
toexistingapps.
Truecompilation,combinedwithafastcompiler,providesbothhighperformanceatruntimeanda
rapiddevelopmentcycle.
Embarcaderotoolsprovidemultideviceformfactorpreview,whichfeatureslivepreviewsformobile
platforms(forexample,iOSandAndroid)anddesktopplatforms(forexample,64bitWindowsand
MacOSX).
Cautions
TheEmbarcaderoofferingsaremissingsomeaspectsoffulllifecyclesupport,suchasdevicecloud
testingandamobilebackendasaserviceoffering.AppmethodandRADStudioXE8dosupport
integrationthroughRESTtoleadingMBaaSservices,suchasfromKinvey.
Somecustomershaveexpressedissueswiththelackofsupportinginformationforthecomponents
Embarcaderosupplies,andtheonlywaytoknowwhichoneisrightistospendhoursexperimenting
witheachone.Somecomponentshavebeenfoundtocontainpropertyandmethoddesignerrors.
RADStudiohashadlimitedadoption,and,therefore,findingmobileappdevelopersthathave
experiencewiththesetoolsmaybedifficult.

Globo
GloboprovidesarangeofenterprisemobilitysolutionsbeyondMAPDs,includinganenterprisemobility
management(EMM)solutionthatisincludedontherelevantMagicQuadrant.
TheGO!AppZoneplatformcontainstoolsforthecreationofnativeandproprietarycontainerbasedapps
viaGO!AppZoneStudio.ThisusesHTML5forcrossplatformdevelopment,includingofflinecapabilityand
builtinFIPS1402validatedsecurity.SDKsareprovidedtoenablenativepluginsforAndroid,iOSand
WindowsPhone.DevelopmentisacceleratedbyGO!Appsconfigurableindustryspecificapptemplates.
Globo'sglobalnetworkofdevelopmentpartnerscananddoesdevelopadditionalGO!Appstemplates.
BackendoptionsincludecloudandonpremisesoptionsviaGO!AppZoneDeployandGO!Enterprise
Server,respectively.TheseofferMBaaScapabilitiessuchasintegration,authentication,pushnotifications,
basicanalytics,logginganddatasynchronizationtosupporttheappofflinecapability,aswellasuserand
appmanagement.ThesecapabilitiesarelinkedtotheGO!EnterpriseServer,butdonotrequireit.
Globooffersavarietyoflicensingoptionscombiningitsproducts,includingacombinedlicenseforboththe
EMMandMADPproducts.Somecomponentsareofferedonafreemiumbasis,encouragingadoption
othersareavailablewithsubscriptionorperpetualbasisscalingwiththenumberofdevicesused.Back
endproductsincludeavarietyofoptions,includingvolume,deviceandserveroptions.Engagement
pricingistypicallyinthemidsizeandenterprisetiers(greaterthan$25,000peryearseeNote1).
GloboanditsGO!familyofproductsisbestsuitedtocompanieslookingtouseasinglevendor's
technologytobuildandmanageaportfolioofsecureappsintegratedwithbackendsystems.
Strengths
GlobooffersanendtoendmobilitysolutionforthoselookingforasinglevendorcoveringMADPs
andEMM.
Strong,certifiedsecurityandofflinecapabilitiesareincludedaspartofthebasepackage.
Extensivebackendcapabilitiescanbedeliveredinthecloud,onpremisesorhybrid.
Cautions
WhileGO!Appscanbeconfigured,Globodoesnotyetoffertruerapidmobileappdevelopment
(RMAD).
Softwaredevelopmentlifecycle(SDLC)capabilitiesarecurrentlylimited.
WhileGO!AppZonecanbeusedtobuildinitialstandaloneapps,bestvaluewillbeachievedwhen
usedtobuildaportfolioofapps.

IBM
IBMhasintegratedandpackagedseveralacquiredcompaniesandtechnologiesundertheMobileFirst
Platform,notablyWorklight(2012)andCloudant(2014).

TheIBMMobileFirstPlatformhastransitionedtoemphasizeanopenarchitecturethatenablesdevelopers
tobuildappsusingitsEclipsebaseddevelopmenttooloranyotherfrontenddevelopmenttool,including
XcodeandAndroidSDK.ItincludesplatformservicesthatcanbeleveragedviaSDKandAPIand,by
buildingonitsplatformandconnectingwithitsBluemixMBaaS,theappscanleverageMobileFirst'sscale,
security,integrationandmanagementcapabilities.TheMobileFirstPlatformprovidesSDKsforitsMBaaS
forfrontenddevelopmenttools,andithasalsopartneredwithseveralpopulardevelopmenttoolvendors,
includingXamarin,jQueryandDrifty(Ionic).Additionally,IBMoffersmobilesolutionsthatembedthe
MobileFirstPlatformsoftware,includingMaximoandMobileFirstforiOSappsdevelopedaspartofthe
partnershipwithApple.
BluemixMBaaSservicescanbeconsumedinanyappthroughAPIsandenabletheadditionofcapabilities
suchasclouddatastore,notifications,workflowandauthentication,plusspecificiOSservicesfortheapps
builtwithApple.ThroughitsSDKsandthoseofpartners,IBMenablesintegrations,mobileservicesand
hostingforcustomersmovingtothecloud.BluemixrunsonIBM'sownglobalscalableSoftLayercloud
platform,andanonpremisesversioncalledBluemixLocal.
FortheMobileFirstPlatformsoftware,IBMchargesclientdeviceandapplicensefees,plussoftware
subscriptionandsupportfees.Bluemixcloudservicesareavailablewithbothpayasyougoand
enterpriselicenses.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfees
andrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areattheenterpriseendofthespectrum(morethan$100,000per
yearseeNote1).
IBMMobileFirstisbestsuitedformidsizeandlargedevelopmentorganizationsthatwantafrontend
agnosticMADPapproachtodevelopingWeb,hybridandnativeappsacrossmultipledeviceplatforms.
Strengths
IBMisasignificantsupporterandcontributortoopensourceactivitiesandwidelyusesopen
standardsinitsplatform,suchasHTML5,ApacheCordovaandNode.js.
TheMobileFirstPlatformoffersoneofthemostcomprehensiveportfoliosofALM,testing,security
andMBaaScapabilities.
MobileFirstoffersastrongandgrowingsetofprebuilt,customizableappsandiOSspecificbackend
servicesfororganizationsthatareiOScentric.However,overalladoptionoftheseappsstillappears
tobelow.
Cautions
Enterpriseslookingforrapidappdevelopmentforsimpleappsmayfindthattheplatformismore
thantheyneedintermsofcapabilitiesandexpense.Gartnerdataindicatesdissatisfactionfrom
someclientsonplatformlicensingasprojectsexpand.Enterprisebuyersshouldidentifythe
appropriateIBMlicensingtermsforprojectstokeepcostsatamanageablelevel.
SinceIBMhasopenedupMobileFirsttopartnerwithandsupportmultiplefrontenddevelopment
tools,customersneedtoensurethattheEclipsedbasedhybridappdevelopmenttoolcontinuesto
keeppacefunctionally,suchasimprovingitsRMADcapabilities.
WhileIBMisdevelopingsignificantMBaaSandcloudcapabilitiesinBluemix,thesearestillnewand
unproven.

Kony
KonyofferingsspanthefullSDLC,fromdesigntoenterprisemobilitymanagement.TheKonyplatform
includesasetoffoundationalservicesthatcanbedeployedonpremises,inahostedprivatecloudorin
thepubliccloud.Itoffersscalablecloudservicesthatcanbeadjustedondemandwithtestingtoolsand
analyticsembeddedintheplatform.
Theplatformconsistsofthreesystems.First,theKonyVisualizeroffersdesigncapabilitiesintegratedinto
thedevelopmentenvironmentandincludesrealtimepreviewcapabilitiesandrequirementsgathering
capabilities.Second,KonyStudioincludesvisualdevelopertoolsthatcanimportUXdesignsfromKony
VisualizerandallowsdeveloperstoaddcrossplatformJavaScriptcodeandtoconnecttobackendAPIs.
Third,KonyManagementofferscapabilitiesfordeploymentandmanagementofmobiledevicesandapps,
includingbasicdevicemanagement,rolebasedenrollmentandappdeployment.
KonyMobileFabricisahostedsetofMBaaSofferingsthatcanbeusedbyanyclientsidedevelopment
tools,includingnativeandhybrid.KonyMobileFabricoffersRESTAPIsandSDKsforservicesincluding
identity,lineofbusinessintegration,basicAPImanagement,dataorchestration,offlinedata
synchronizationandlocationbasedmessaging.
Konyhasintroducedasetofquickstarttemplatesandrepresentativetaskbasedappsfortheenterprise.
TheseincludeKonySales(forsalesforceautomation),KonyServices(forfieldtechnicians),KonyHR(for
workforcemanagement),KonyHealthcare(formembermanagement)andKonyRetailBanking.
Kony'spricingstrategyistobuildasustainablesoftwaretool/platformbusinessthroughdifferentpricing
models(sessionbasedpricingforB2CanduserbasedsubscriptionsforB2E).Typicalcostsforaninitial
mobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areat
theenterpriseendofthespectrum(morethan$100,000peryearseeNote1).
Konyiswellsuitedforprojectsinwhichlarge,diversedevicepopulationsmustsupportarangeof
complex,longlivedappsneedingstrongintegrationwithenterprisebackends.Enterprisesthatneedto
integratewithSAPandOraclebackendsandwantaflexibledevelopment,deploymentandmanagement
platformwillfindagoodfitwithKony.
Strengths
Withafocusonfullenterpriselifecycleandmultichannelenablement,Konycontinuestodevelop

intoastrongenterpriseplayer.
Konykeepsupwiththehighrateofevolutioninthemobilespace.Thecompanyhasbeenableto
leverageitsoffshoredevelopmentcenterstomaintainasteadyflowofproductreleasesand
enhancements,makinguseofalargerdeveloperheadcountthancompetitors.
ThedirectionofKonyMobileFabricandKonyAppsisconsistentwithevolvingenterpriseneeds,and
reflectstrendsintheMADPsectoraswellashelpingtoshapethosetrends.
Cautions
GartnerhasheardconcernsfromsomeKonyclientsthattheplatformbecomesexpensiveasmobile
developmenteffortsgrow,althoughuseofKonyMobileFabricoffersalowerpricedentrypointfor
smallerprojects.
EnterpriseslookingforrapidappdevelopmentofafewsimpleappsmayfindKonyistargetedat
moreadvancedusecasesandhenceismorethantheyneedintermsofcomplexityandexpense.
Kony'soverallgrowthispartiallydependentonitsabilitytodeliverappsinconjunctionwithits
professionalservices,causingsomefrictionwithKony'schannelpartners,butrecentchangesmay
amelioratethissituation.

Mendix
Mendixisoneoftherarecompaniesthatrecognizestheriseofdigitalbusinessandprovidestoolsto
supportthatinitiativeacrossallchannels.TheMendixAppPlatformenablesrapid,modeldriven
developmentofhybridappswithinthecontextofalargerMendixplatform.Processbasedmodelsare
compiledtoHTML5andexecutewithintheApacheCordovacontainer.Thecodelessdevelopmentprocess
canbeextendedwithcodeextensionsinJava,JavaScriptandScalaasrequired.
Describingitsproductascloudnative,MendixisamemberoftheCloudFoundryFoundation.Inaddition
tothehostedMendixAppPlatform,thereareonpremisesandhybridoptions.Dataintegrationfacilities
includeinterfacestocommonbackendsystemsincludingSAPandSalesforce,aswellasOpenData
Protocol(OData),SOAP,RESTand,unusually,JavaMessageService(JMS).Othercapabilitiesincludepush
notifications,localstorageandidentitymanagement,butdonotincludeanyanalytics.
Mendixaimsattheuppermiddleenterprisemarketasabroadplatformforinnovationanddigital
business.Thismeansthatengagementsaretypicallyinthemidsizeandenterprisetiers(greaterthan
$25,000peryearseeNote1).
TheMendixAppPlatformismostsuitableforcompanieslookingtoadoptacrossplatform,crosschannel
app.OrganizationswithastrongcloudfocuswillfindMendix'sapplicationplatformasaservice(aPaaS)
credentialsparticularlyofinterest.
Strengths
Mendixsoftwareandconsultancytogetherofferstrongstrategicconsultancysupportforbusiness
innovationaroundcontinuousinteraction.
Modeldrivendevelopmentallowsdevelopersandbusinessanalyststocreateappswithoutcoding
whileretainingarigorousapproach.
MendixofferscloudnativearchitectureandstrongaPaaSsupport,supportedbythemembershipof
theCloudFoundryFoundation.
Cautions
TheMendixAppPlatformcurrentlyhasnobuiltinmobileanalyticscapabilities,soisnotsuitablefor
monitoringuseractivityandprocessefficiency.Mendixaddressestheseneedsviaintegrationwith
thirdpartyproductsincludingNewRelic.
TheMendixAppPlatformisnotrecommendedformobileonlyorsingleappdevelopment.
Mendixofferslimitedsecuritycertifications,buthasISAE3402TypeIIservicecompliance
certification,includingsecurityauditing.

Microsoft
Microsoftistakingitsfirststepsintoamultiplatformworld.MicrosoftAzureAppServiceprovidescloud
hostedbackendservicesformobileappsonmultipleclientsideoperatingsystems(iOS,Androidand
Windows),withendpointsforavarietyofarchitecturalapproaches(nativeiOS/ObjectiveC,native
Android/Java,Xamarin,HTML5withPhoneGap/Cordova).Microsoftcontinuestoevolveitscrossplatform,
standardscompliant,andopensourcecapabilitiesviaadditionstoVisualStudio.Inadditiontosupportfor
buildingUniversalWindowsapplications,VisualStudionowhasbuiltinsupportforcreatingcrossplatform
applicationsusingHTML5(Cordova),C#(Xamarin),orcrossplatformC++byincludingsupportforClang,
GCCandGDB.Furtherembracingthecrossplatformstrategy,MicrosoftalsointroducedVisualStudio
Code,acodeeditorthatrunsonLinux,MacOSXandWindows.Microsoftalsooffersanemulatorforthe
Androidoperatingsystem.
MicrosofthasalsoaddedcapabilitiestoimportandeditJavaandObjectiveCcodeandstrengthenedits
partnershipwithXamarin,incorporatingXamarin'scrossplatformextensionforVisualStudiointothe
standardsetup.ThisextensionofMicrosofttoolstosupportasingledevelopmentenvironmentandlinks
toenterpriseSDLCandALMarelikelytoproveattractiveforC#and.NETdevelopers.
WithVisualStudioToolsforApacheCordova,developerscanbuildcrossplatformhybridappswrittenwith
HTML5,JavaScriptandCSSthatcanbedeployedtoiOS,AndroidandWindows.HybridappsinVisual
StudiocanalsobecreatedusingTypeScript,astronglytypedextensionofJavaScriptthatmakesiteasier
toreasonaboutlargescaleapplications.DevelopingmobileapplicationstargetingiOSandAndroidwith
C#/.NETrequirestoolsfromvendorpartnerXamarin.

MicrosoftAzurehasaleadingpositionincloudplatformsand,withAzureAppService,growingadoptionin
theenterpriseMBaaScategory.AzureAppServiceincludescapabilitiessuchaspushnotifications,offline
sync,identitymanagement,SQLandNoSQLdatabaseintegration,socialmediaintegration,location,and
broadsupportforintegrationofmultipleSaaSvendorsinadditiontoenterprisesystemsofrecord.Visual
StudioOnlinefacilitatescollaborationofmobiledevelopmenteffortsandoffersALMsupportacrossarange
ofdevelopmenttoolsandplatforms,includingiOSandAndroid.
Microsoft'spricingstrategyissimilartoothernativeplatformowners:Growtheecosystemofapps
throughlowcostpricingandopensourcedeliveryofdevelopertools,andgainrevenuethroughperapp
commissiononthenowmergedWindowsStoresalesandmeteredusageofcloudservices.Typicalcosts
foraninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothe
vendor,areatthelowendofthespectrum(lessthan$10,000peryearseeNote1).
Microsoft'smobileplatformisasolidchoiceforenterpriseswithasignificantinvestmentandskillsinthe
Microsoftecosystem:VisualStudio,.NETandWindowsbasedbackendsystems.Microsoftalsosupports
Node.jsonthebackend.MicrosoftAzureisastrongcontenderforcompanieslookingforplatform
independent,cloudbasedmobilebackendsolutions.
Strengths
ThelongstandingrelationshipsthatMicrosofthasestablishedwithenterpriseITdepartmentsoffers
Microsoftenterprisedevelopersaflexibleplatform,especiallywhenconsideredinconjunctionwith
thenowintegratedXamarinpluginforVisualStudio.
MicrosofthasbecomemoreopenindeliveringmobileappdevelopmentbysupportingiOSand
AndroidappsinAzureAppServiceandassupportedcodebasesinVisualStudio.Asmentioned,
buildingtheseappsmayrequiretheXamarinplugin,whichofferscrosscompilecapabilitiesforC#
apps,butotherapproachesarealsoavailable.MicrosoftalsoofficiallysupportstheApacheCordova
containerandtheuseofJavaScript/HTML5forhybridappdevelopmentandTitanium.
MicrosoftAzureisaleadingcloudplatform,andMicrosoftAzureAppServiceoffersarangeofservices
formobileappdevelopment(pushnotifications,identitymanagement,databaseintegrationand
socialmediaintegration)inacontextfamiliartoenterpriseITteams,makingitaneasiertransition
tothecloudforMicrosoftcentricorganizations.
Cautions
Microsofthasbroadeneditssupportformultiplatformdevelopmentduringthepastyear,buildingon
theAzureservicesthatwereinplacesince2013,butthisisnewterritoryforMicrosoftanditistoo
soontosaythatitwillattractlargenumbersofcrossplatformdeveloperstoitsdevelopment
platformbeyonditsexistingWindowsdeveloperbase.
MicrosoftisstillfocusedontheWindowsuniversalappstrategy,andthisdoesnoteasilyexpandto
otheroperatingsystemsandstillmayrequiretheXamarintoolforcrossplatformdevelopment.
TheunificationoftheMicrosoftplatformacrossalldeviceformfactorsdoesnottrulyarriveuntilthe
launchofVisualStudioon20July2015andWindows10on29July2015.

MicroStrategy
AspartofitsMicroStrategyAnalyticsPlatformforbusinessintelligence(BI),MicroStrategyoffers
MicroStrategyMobile,aMADPsupportingthecreation,deploymentandmeasurementofmobileapps.
MicroStrategyMobileoffersametadatadrivendevelopmentapproachthatusesaproprietarymultiapp
containerwithnative,visualandnonvisualcomponentsforeachtargetdeviceplatform(iOS,Androidand
BlackBerry10).Theplatformprovidesanocode,visualtooltocomposeandconfigureUIandfunctional
elements,aswellastotunethelayoutforthenecessaryscreensizesandformfactors.MicroStrategy
alsooffersavarietyoftoolswithintheplatform,includingadministration,testing,analyzinguser
behavior,appperformance,appissuesandobjectmanagement.Customerscanfurthercustomizeand
integratewiththirdpartysolutionsthroughitsmobileSDKtool.
MicroStrategyMobiletakesadvantageofalltheprebuiltconnectorsfromthemainAnalyticsPlatform.It
supportsbidirectionalconnectivityusingSQL,HiveQL,MDXandXQuery.MicroStrategycertifiesover100
commonanduncommondatabases,operational(CRM,ERP)andinformationsystems.Dataconnectors
areoptimizedforeachsource,andallowqueriestoachievehighperformance.
MicroStrategyMobileislicensedbasedonpernameduserorperCPU.MicroStrategyalsoprovidesthe
optionofperapppricinginsteadofperuser.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,in
termsofdirectlicensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areattheenterpriseendofthe
spectrum(morethan$100,000peryearseeNote1).
MicroStrategy'sMADPoffersastrongmetadatadrivendeclarativedevelopmenttoolandtightintegration
withMicroStrategyAnalyticsPlatformforrapidlybuildingappsthatneedtoleverageBIdata.
Strengths
MicroStrategyoffersanocodeanddraganddropdesigncanvasthatenablesnondeveloperusersto
buildappsquickly.Italsocontainsalibraryofmobileoptimizedandtouchenabledwidgetsthatlet
appdesignerseasilyconfigureonline/offlinetransactions,embeddedmultimediaanddata
visualizations.
MicroStrategyMobilecaneasilycreatemobileBIapps,asanyexistingreportsanddashboardsfrom
theMicroStrategyAnalyticsPlatformcanbequicklymobilized.
MicroStrategy'smetadatadrivendevelopmentanddeploymentapproachgivesappbuildersthe
abilitytoinstantlypushoutnewcontentandappupdateswithoutanycoderecompilation,whilestill
retainingnativeappcapabilities,suchasGPS,mapping,cameraandoffline.

Cautions
MicroStrategyMobileisbuilttorunwithMicroStrategyAnalyticsPlatform,soitisnotidealfor
customersnotrequiringtheanalyticsservercapabilities.
MicroStrategy'sproprietary,nocodeonlyapproachtoappdevelopmentlimitsthecapabilitiesofthe
platformtoAPIsthatMicroStrategysupports,andisnotwellsuitedforusecaseswithahighdegree
ofcustomization.
MicroStrategyhasnotopenedupitsmobileplatform,likeotherMADPs,toaddMBaaSfunctionsand
supportthirdpartyfrontendmobileappdevelopmenttoolsandbroaderappusecases.

Oracle
Oraclehasplayedacomparativelyminorroleinthemobileappdevelopmentlandscapehowever,this
startedtochangewiththelaunchofaseriesofcompletelynewmobileproducts.TheseincludeOracle
MobileCloudService(MCS),asolidMBaaSsolutionandanalyticspackage,andupdatestotheMobile
ApplicationFramework(MAF).Itsrapidmobileappdevelopmenttool,OracleMobileApplicationAccelerator
(MAX)willlaunchinlate2015alongwithadditionalenhancementstoMAFandMCS.TheupdatedMAFis
usedinanincreasingnumberofpubliclyavailablepackagedmobileappsbuiltbyOracle.
Oracle'spricingmodelisdiverse,reflectingitsportfolioofproductsandservices,butingeneral,its
approachisenterpriselevelpricingforenterprisegradeofferings(includingperserver,perapp,peruser
andvaluebasedpricing).Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirect
licensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areattheenterpriseendofthespectrum(morethan
$100,000peryearseeNote1).
OracleMCScanbeusedwithanyfrontorbackendtools,andexistingOracleclientswillfindMAFsuits
theirneeds.Thedevelopmenttoolsaddressanincreasinglybroadaudience,growingfrominitiallyJava
developerswithMAFtoembracethosewithJavaScriptskillsincludingNode.js.Anewpartnershipwith
XamarinaddsC#developers,whileOracleMAXallowsbusinessanalystswithlimitedprogramming
knowledgetobuildappsvisually.
Strengths
IntegrationcontinuestobeastrongfeatureofOracle'sofferings.AnewfocusonRESTandSOAP
APIsoffersopenconnectivitytoproductsfromothervendors,includingSaaSofferings.
InteroperationwithOracle'ssecurityandmobilemanagementtools,combinedwiththecompany's
analyticsandmarketingsystems,helpsdeliverentireenterprisemobilitysolutions.
SupportforWebcentricdevelopmentskills,especiallyJavaScriptandNode.js,simplifiesstaffing
mobileprojects.MAXwillcontinuethisbroadeningbyaddingcodelessdevelopment.
Cautions
WhileOraclehasarticulatedastrongmarketmessageaboutamoreholisticapproachtomobileapp
development,deliveringproductstomarketistakinglongerthanexpected.
WhileitispossibletocreatestandaloneappswiththeOracleMobilePlatform,itisbettersuitedfor
buildingportfoliosofapps,particularlywithintegrationintoexistingbackendsystems.
WhileOraclehasavast,globalpartnernetwork,onlyarelativelysmallnumberarecurrentlyfamiliar
withOracle'sMobilePlatform.Checkcapabilitieswithlocalprovidersifyouareplanningonusinga
deliverypartner.

Pegasystems
Pegasystems'MADPwasacquiredinitspurchaseofAntennaSoftwarein2013andisnowfullypartofits
Pega7platform.Themobilecomponentoftheplatformintegrateswithandmobilizescustomer
engagementchannelsandbackofficeprocesses.
ThePega7platformhasabuiltinmobileframeworkforagiledevelopmentusingbothamodeldriven
developmentenvironmentandmobileSDK.ItssingleobjectmodelofferspersistenceacrossUIand
integrationfordynamiccasemanagement,processmanagement,complexeventprocessingand
businessrulemanagement.ThePegaMADPcomponentsupportsthedeploymentofWeb,hybridand
nativeapps.Forhybridapps,itusesaproprietaryappcontainerthatrunsacrossmultipledevicesand
supportsovertheairappmanagement,multipleHTML5appspercontainer,andmultithreadedapp
support.Pegasystems'backendservicescanalsosupportthirdpartyfrontenddevelopmenttoolsand
frameworks,suchasJQueryMobile,Sencha,Xamarin,XcodeandAndroidSDK.Pegasystemsoffersits
platforminapubliccloudconfiguration,hybridcloudoronpremises.Theoverwhelmingmajorityof
customershavedeployedinitspubliccloud,whichoffersmanysecuritycertifications,includingFIPS140
2Level2forencryption,FDA21CFRPart11forelectronicsignatures,andEuropeanUnionDataPrivacy.
Pegasystems'MADPcanbelicensedtodevelophybrid,nativeandWebmobileappswithfullappand
devicemanagementservices.ThereisanoptionforlicensingthePega7platform'sabilitytointegrate
intobackendservicesandapps.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirect
licensingfeesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areattheenterpriseendofthespectrum(morethan
$100,000peryearseeNote1).
ThePega7platformanditsMADPcapabilitiesaresuitablefororganizationsfocusedoncustomer
engagementandwithaneedforintelligentcasemanagementautomation.
Strengths
Pegasystemsoffersacomprehensive,Webbased,collaborativeappdevelopmentenvironment,
includingonlinedevelopercommunities,socialcollaboration,builtinagileframeworkfor
developmentmanagement,andcloudbasedtestingtools.

ThePegaplatform'smodeldrivenparadigmforitsmobileapparchitectureandvisualdevelopment
approachisastrongdifferentiatorinacrowdedmarket.
Theplatform'sservicesframeworkallowsdeveloperstocreateandaccessreusablecomponents
acrossdifferentapps.Customdevelopedservicesandthirdpartyservicescanalsobeeasily
integratedintonewappsviadocumentedAPIs.
Cautions
PegasystemshasfoldedAntenna'stechnologywithinitsunifiedplatformand,whileitmayappealto
enterprisesbuildingstrategicbusinessapps,itmightnotbesuitableforindependentMADP
developers.
ThePegaplatform'smodeldrivendevelopmentapproachcanbeappealing,buttherelativelylimited
poolofpeopletrainedontheplatformcanposeahiringchallengefororganizationsthatrequirein
houseexpertise,orforthoseseekingservicepartnersthatareexperiencedorcertifiedinusingits
developmenttools.
Pegasystems'pricingisgearedtowardcomplex,strategicapps,andmaynotbecosteffectivefor
organizationslookingtobuildasmallnumberofsimpleapps.

ProgressSoftware(Telerik)
TelerikisnowasubsidiaryofProgressSoftware.Telerik'sstrengthcomesfromWebdevelopment,where
itenjoyedsuccesswith1.7milliondevelopersandleverageditssuccessbyexpandingitsscopetoinclude
mobileappdevelopment.TheacquisitiongivesTeleriknewsaleschannelsandadditionalresourcesand
expandedintegrationtoolsfromtheProgresssidethatcanbeleveragedforadditionalcapabilities.Telerik
alsohasafullMBaaSofferingthatincludespushnotifications,identityandaccessmanagement,social
mediaintegration,location,andanalytics.TheTelerikPlatformoriginallycenteredonMicrosoftplatforms
(VisualBasic,ASP.NET,WPF,WindowsFormsandSilverlight),butnowsupportsserversideJavaandPHP.
Theplatformenjoysgrowthofover50%peryearandtheacquisitionhasthepotentialtoaccelerate
growth.Themobileoffering,TelerikPlatform,supportsdevelopmentinHTML5andJavaScript,aswellas
theopensourceNativeScriptframeworktohelpthesesamedeveloperscreatecrossplatformnative
mobileappstargetingiOS,Android,Windows8.xandWindowsPhone.
TheTelerikPlatformisacollectionofintegratedmodulartools,frameworksandcloudservicesthat
supportsthedevelopmentanddeploymentofmobileWeb,hybridandnativeapps.Theplatformoffers
appprototyping,building,testingandanalytics,aswellasdataconnectorsenhancedbyProgress
Software'sDataDirectdataintegrationsuite.Telerikalsohasappdeploymentcapabilities.Telerik'smost
popularproductisKendoUI,whichisanHTML5frameworkbuiltontopofjQueryandbestsuitedforWeb
development.ItiscompatiblewithTwitterBootstrapandGoogleAngularJS,andKendoUICoreisan
opensourcevariantoftheKendoUIProfessionalproduct.
InMay2015,ProgressannouncedthelatestreleaseoftheTelerikPlatform,whichisfocusedonmobile
appdevelopmentinadditiontoWebdevelopment.Themostrecentreleaseaddedthreenew
components:ScreenBuilder,AppManagerLiveSyncandenhancedTelerikAnalytics.TheTelerikPlatform
supportshybridWebappdevelopmentbasedonleveragingtheopensourceApacheCordovacontainer.
ThecompanyhasaverifiedpluginmarketplacefortestedCordovaplugins.Telerikalsosupportsnative
UIlibrariesandthenewNativeScriptnativevirtualmachineruntimethatgivesJavaScriptaccessto
nativeAPIsinappsdevelopedwiththeplatform.
Telerik'sgotomarketstrategyhasbeenalteredforthebetterbyProgressSoftware,whichhasa
significantenterprisesalesorganization.Thiscomplementsthehistoricalbottomupapproachofselling
directlytodevelopers(perseatlicenses)andbetterpositionstheenterpriseorientedofferingofthe
TelerikPlatform.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfees
andrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areatthelowendofthespectrum(lessthan$25,000peryear),
whileenterpriselevelpricingismorethan$100,000peryear(seeNote1).
DevelopersshouldconsiderTelerikiftheyarecreatinglineofbusinessappsthatareinwardfacingor
partnerfacing,oriftheywanttobuildprimarilyWebandhybridapps.
Strengths
Telerikhasasuccessfuldevelopercentricapproach,withproductsprimarilysoldonlineatamodest
cost($300to$1,800perdeveloper).TheacquisitionofTelerikbyProgressSoftwareenhancesthe
TelerikPlatformwithadditionalintegrationcapabilitiesandimprovedenterprisesupportcapabilities.
Theplatformoffersanintegratedmodularcollectionofcomponents,frameworksandtoolsthat
supportsdevelopmentfordifferentplatformswithavarietyofapproaches.
Theplatformleveragesdefactoopenstandards,suchasjQuery,Bootstrap,AngularJSandApache
Cordovaalso,theTelerikKendoUICoreframeworkandtheNativeScriptruntimeareopensource.
Cautions
AlthoughthereisaunifiedWebinterface,TelerikPlatformhasbeenbuiltthroughacquisitionsand
internaldevelopmentproducts.ThiswillbefurthercomplicatedbytheintegrationoftheProgress
SoftwareDataDirectintegrationtools.NotunlikeotherMADPs,thismakestheTeleriktoolchaina
modularsetoftoolsthatisbeingintegratedtoensurecompatibilityofthecomponents.
TheplatformlackssomecapabilitiesforfullSDLCsupport,suchasfullfeaturedappmanagement,
andsomecapabilitiesarerelativelynewandunproven,suchasScreenBuilderandAppManager
LiveSync.
Historically,TelerikhashadaWebratherthanamobileappfocus,butthisischangingasthe
companyhasshiftedresourcestomobileappdevelopmenttools.Additionally,thecompanyhas
investedinadditionalanalyticscapabilitythatisamustformobileappdevelopment.Theadditionof
theDataDirectofferingfromProgresshasthepotentialtosignificantlyimprovethecompany's

integrationcapabilities,butthisisstillunproven.

Salesforce
Salesforceisthepreeminentvendorofcloudbasedbusinessapps(SaaS)inCRM,salesforceautomation
andrelatedcategories.Thecompanycomplementsitsappbusinesswitharobustplatformcapabilitythat
hasevolvedtoaddfullfeaturedsupportformobileappdevelopment.Theplatformbeganasdistinct
pieces(Force.com,Visualforce,HerokuandMobileSDK),butwasrevampedintoanintegratedoffering
calledSalesforce1PlatformwhichisanAPI,aplatformandamobilecontainerappallbearingthesame
brand.TheSalesforce1PlatformhasbeenenhancedsinceinitialreleasewiththeadditionofSalesforce
LightningComponents,aUIframeworkusedbythecompanytoimplementtheSalesforce1appandnow
availabletocustomersforitsownapps.LightningComponentsuseJavaScriptontheclientsideandApex
ontheserverside.LightningConnectpullsdatafrombackendsystemsofrecordsuchasSAP,Oracleand
Microsoft.LightningAppBuilderallowsvisualcreationofappswithdraganddropcomponents.
DevelopersbuildingontheSalesforce1Platformcanworkatdifferentlevels,fromthemetadatalevel
(extendingandleveragingobjectsandfunctionsintheCRMsystemwithminimumcode,todeployon
smartphones,tabletsanddesktops),tothemobileSDKsthatallowhighperformancenativeappsto
accesscloudbasedresourcestosupporthybridandHTML5apps.MobileappsbuiltwithSalesforce1tools
aredeployedtothecompanionappcontainerandmanagedthere.Inaddition,Salesforcehas
demonstratedsupportforwearables(AppleWatch,AndroidWear,SamsungGear,GoogleGlassand
others).
Salesforce'sinitialpricingapproachwastocomplementitsenterprisesoftwarebusinesswithaMADP
offeringthatincorporatesdifferentpricingmodels(pernameduser,plusmeteredusageforcloudplatform
services).WithSalesforce1,allcustomerswitheveryeditiongetaccesstotheSalesforce1APIs,the
Salesforce1mobileappcontainer,theAppExchangeandothermobilerelatedcapabilities.Asaresultof
thisstrategicchange,typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensing
feesandrelatedpaymentstothevendor,areatthelowendportionofthespectrum(lessthan$25,000
peryearseeNote1).Pricingonaperusersubscriptionrangesfrom$25permonthperuserto$150,
dependingonvolumeandscale.
EnterprisesthatwanttoextendSalesforcebusinessappsorneedaportfolioofcustombuiltB2Eapps
thattapintothesamehighscalecloudinfrastructureanddata,includingrefinedenterprisesocial
computingcapability,shouldconsiderSalesforceofferings.
Strengths
Salesforceoffersarobustandmaturecloudcentricplatformthatcansupportaportfolioofappsthat
leveragesanintegrateddatamodel,withnoseparatesiloformobile.Theseappscanincorporate
socialcomputing(Chatter),analytics,workflowandothercapabilities.
TheSalesforce1Platformenablesdeveloperstoworkatdifferentlevelsofthetechnologystack,from
metadatatohybridcontainertonativecodetocomponentcentricmobileWebapps.
Thecompany'splatformvisibilityisontherise,asthecompanyenjoysanupwardcurveinrevenue
andmarketreach.
Cautions
ExploitingtheadvantagesoftheSalesforce1Platformmeansthatanenterprisecouldgetlockedin
toasinglevendor,proprietarylanguageandproprietarydatamodel,whichcanbeefficientand
advantageousforsomecompaniesbutunacceptabletoothers.Thisriskcanbemitigatedthrougha
mobileSDKthatenablesdeveloperstobuildnativefrontendstotheSalesforcebackend,and
throughtheHerokuplatformasasystem(PaaS)thatallowsappstobebuiltwithoutbeinglinkedto
theSalesforcedatamodel.
Somecustomersfindtheplatformattractivebutperceivethecosttobehigh.
Developersthatadoptacontainercentricapproachandamixeddeclarativeandprogrammatic
environmentmayexperiencecomplicationsinsomescenarios.

SAP
Inthemobilesector,SAP'sconsiderableinvestmentsandmanagerialfocusonmobilityhaveestablishedit
asahighlyvisibleleaderintheenterprisesegmentofthismarket.SAPMobilePlatform(SMP)isan
assemblageofproductsbroughtinthroughpastacquisitions(Sybase,Syclo)aswellasthrough
organicallydevelopedcomponents,suchasSAP'sHTML5andJavaScriptbasedUIframework,SAPUI5
(basedonopensourcejQuery).
Version3.0,themajorreleaseofSAPMobilePlatform,firstshippedinOctober2013andbecame
generallyavailableinMay2014.ServicePack7(SP07)ofSMP3.0shippedinApril2015.SMP3.0SP07
enhanceddevelopercapabilitiesfordatabaseintegration,andenhancedthePushAPI.Inaddition,SP07
addedmanagementcapabilitiesforFioribasedapps(whichnownumbermorethan500).Fioriisakey
partofSAP'sstrategicvision,whichcombinesinnovationsinuserexperience(Fiori)withahigh
performancedatalayer(Hana),withaflexibleandcloudfriendlybusinessapplicationsuite(S/4).
SAP'spricingstrategyisdiverse,reflectingitsportfolioofproductsandservices,butingeneral,the
company'sapproachisenterpriselevelpricingforenterprisegradeofferings.Afewofferingsarefreeand
opensource(suchasSAPUI5).Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsof
attributabledirectcostsandrelatedfees,areattheenterpriseendofthespectrum(morethan$100,000
peryearseeNote1).
SAPoffersstrongmobilecapabilitiesforfieldserviceandassetmanagementusecases.Enterprises
lookingforasinglevendorthatoffersabroadportfolioofmobiletechnologyalternativesshouldalso
considerSMP,especiallyiftheorganizationalreadyhasastrongvendorrelationshipwithSAP.

Strengths
SMPisaprovenenterprisefocusedmobileappplatformthatsupportsabroadrangeofclient
architecturesanddevelopmenttoolchains,includingnative,HTML5,hybrid,SMSandmetadata
drivenclients.
SAP'sbroadcustomerbaseofthousandsofenterprisesmeansitsestablishedofferingshavebeen
testedinabroadrangeofmobileappsacrossadiversesetofindustries.
PrebuiltsolutionsforsomeSAPmodules,suchasSAPWorkManager,cansignificantlyaccelerate
thetimetomarket.
Cautions
SAP'sbroadproductportfolioandwiderangeofcapabilities,includingsupportformultipleapp
architectures,canleadtolicensingcomplexityandcost.Somecustomersreportthattheyareoften
confusedaboutwhichmobileproductsandcomponentstheyneed,orifthesubsetofcapabilities
theydesireisindependentlylicensable.
Othervendorscannowjustifiablyclaimtohavecomprehensive,maturemobileappplatformsand,
insomecases,haveoutpacedSAPinareassuchasmobileapptestingormobilecloudoptions.
Somesmallervendorsmayhaveanadvantageintermsofreducedorganizationalcomplexity,
becauseatSAP,thebreadthofmobilerelatedofferingsisdistributedacrossmultipleorganizational
units.
SAP'scloudsupportformobilityisrelativelynascent.SAPHanaCloudPlatformmobileservices
(HCPms)seemswellconceivedbutisrelativelynewandunproven(releasedin1Q15).Despite
unificationwithSMPthroughSAPMobilePlatformSDK,therearesomefaultlinesbetweenthe
mobilecloudplatformandSMP3.0.MigrationisnotpossibleforapplicationsbuiltwithAgentry,
Mobiliser,mobilebusinessobject(MBO)technologyorcustomOSGibundles.

Xamarin
Xamarinprovidestools,componentsandcloudservicesforbuildingnativecrossplatformappsinC#for
iOSandAndroid,WindowsPhone,andMacOSX.Xamarin'smobiledevelopmentofferinghasseenrapid
growthfrompositivedeveloperresponsetoitstools,whichallowWindowsenterprisedeveloperstousea
familiardevelopmentenvironmenttobuildAndroidandiOSmobileapps.
XamarincompilesC#intonativelyexecutedcodeforeachtargetplatform.Xamarinofferstwointegrated
developmentenvironments(IDEs):apluginforVisualStudioanditsownIDE,XamarinStudio.Both
IDEsareintegratedwithlibrariesofcomponents(fromXamarinandthirdparties),aswellasvisual
designersforiOSandAndroid.TheIDEsexposeC#APIsforeachplatform.DevelopersachievenativeUIs
andcodesharingbybuildingseparateUIcodeinC#thatleveragesanyoftheplatformspecificAPIs,or
viaXamarin.FormsbuildtheappUIfromsharedcodewithreducedfunctionality,butrenderUIelements
asfullynativecontrols.Xamarin'sIDEsmanagethesplitbetweencommonandplatformspecificcode,
providingcommontoolingforsharedcodealongsideplatformspecifictoolingwhereappropriate(suchas
nativedesignersforcomposingiOSandAndroidUIs).
In2014,Xamarinenjoyedstronggrowthintheenterprise,morethandoublingitscustomers.It
attractedhighprofilepartnerssuchasIBMandSAP,andnowOracle,andhasagrowingpartner
ecosystem.MicrosoftandXamarincontinuetobuildonitsengineeringpartnership.ThoughMicrosoft
salesdoesnotsellXamarindirectly,theplatformisintegratedintotheMicrosoftVisualStudio
developmentenvironment.Toaddresssupportforabroaderspectrumofthemobilesoftware
developmentlifecycle,Xamarincontinuestoexpanditscloudbasedapptesting,XamarinTestCloud,
whichprovidesautomatedfunctionalperformanceappUItestingonover1,600devicesandOSreleases.
XamarinalsooffersXamarinInsights(beta),whichisacrashreportingandmobileappmonitoring
service.BothTestCloudandInsightsaretargetedatallmobiledevelopers,notjustC#developers.Any
nativeorhybridappwritteninanylanguagecanbetestedwithTestCloudandInsights.
Xamarin'spricingstrategyistobuildasustainablesoftwaretool/platformbusinessthroughatieredpricing
model.LicensingoftheXamarinMADPisperdeveloper,withayearlysubscriptionofbetween$900and
$1,900perplatform,perdeveloper,dependingonsupport.Thecompany'srevenuemodelisshiftingfrom
perdeveloperseatstositelicensing.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobileproofofconceptproject,intermsof
directlicensingfeesandrelatedcosts,areatthelowendofthespectrum(lessthan$25,000peryear
seeNote1).
XamarinisappropriatefordeveloperswhowanttouseC#and.NETskillstodevelopnativeappsthat
targetanycombinationofiOS,AndroidandWindowsPhoneplatforms.Xamarinisalsoappropriateforany
organizationlookingforascalableandsustainablemobilequalitystrategy.
Strengths
Xamarinaddresseswhathasbeenanunderservedsegmentofthemobiledevelopmentmarket
namely,C#developerswhowanttobuildnativemobileappswithouthavingtolearnnew
languagesandtools.
Xamarinprovidesitsowncrossplatformmobiledevelopmenttool,XamarinStudio,coupledwithan
extensivelibraryofXamarinandthirdpartycomponents,visualdesigntoolsforiOSandAndroid,
andintegrationwithVisualStudio.Moreover,thecompanyoffersaveryaffordabletrainingpackage.
Xamarinhasbuiltastrongpartnernetwork,primarilyinNorthAmericaandEurope.Thisincludes
bothstrategicpartnerships,suchaswithMicrosoft,IBM,OracleandSAP,aswellasasignificantpool
ofimplementationandchannelpartners.
Cautions
Xamarinstilllagsbehindanumberoflargerplayerswhenitcomestosupportingthemobileapplife
cycle,butithasstartedtoaddressthisgapwiththeXamarinTestCloud,anditfurtherbenefits

fromtheMicrosoftALMtoolsandecosystem.
Xamarinhashistoricallyfocusedonfrontenddevelopment.Mobilityprojectsthatrequirebackend
integration,newbackendlogicorsynchronizationforofflineuselikelywillbedependenton
integrationsthatXamarinhaswithIBMMobileFirst,SAPandMicrosoft'sAzureAppService.
Thecompanyisenjoyingsignificantgrowth,whichinandofitselfischallengingandisstilllimited
whencomparedtootherMADPproviderswhenitcomestoaddressingthefullmobileapp
developmentlifecycle.Additionally,Xamarinfindsitselfcompetingwithanemergingportfolioof
companiesaddressingthemarketforrapidmobileappdevelopmenttools.

Zebra
ByacquiringtheenterprisesideoflongstandingMADPproviderMotorolaSolutions,barcodescannerand
printermanufacturerZebrahasbroadeneditsofferinginthemobileappdevelopmentmarket.
ThecoremobileofferingistheRhoMobileSuite,whichincludesRhoStudio,anIDEforbuildingcross
platformmobileappsRhoElements,anHTML5frameworkandcontainerfornativeandhybridmobile
appsRhoConnect,mobileappmiddlewareforbackendsystemintegrationandsynchronizationforoffline
useandRhoHub,acloudservicethatenablesdeveloperstobuildanddeployappswithouttheneedfor
nativeSDKsrunningonlocalmachines.
Zebra'sdevelopmentplatformdirectionislargelyguidedbytheneedsofthecompany'scustomindustry
solutionsinareassuchasretail,supplychainandpublicsafety.Asaresult,theplatformisfocusedon
robustness,scalabilityandconnectivity,aswellasondeepmobiledevicesupportandruggedized
hardware.
Zebra'sproducthasalwaysbeenopensourceatitscore.Licensingisbasedonaperdevelopercloud
subscriptionmodel.Typicalcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject,intermsofdirectlicensingfees
andrelatedpaymentstothevendor,dependonwhichpartsoftheportfolioareleveraged.Inthecaseof
Rhodes(anopensourcesubsetofRhoElementsthatprovidesnecessarycomponentsforconsumerapps)
andRhoStudio,thesearefreeproducts.Theotherofferingsfallintothelowendportionofthecost
spectrum(lessthan$25,000peryear).
Zebra'sRhoMobileSuiteiswellsuitedformobilescenariosthatrequirestrongdatahandling,backend
connectivity,orbroadanddeepdevicehardwaresupport.
Strengths
Zebrahasadeepunderstandingofthemobileapprequirementsinretail,manufacturing,utilities,
energyandgovernment,anditsproductsbasedontheRhoMobileplatformareproveninthose
environments.
RhoElementssupportsawiderangeofmobiledeviceswithcrossplatformsupportforboththe
leadingconsumerandenterprisemobileplatformsanditshardwarecapabilities.
RhoConnectoffersstrongbackendsystemintegrationandrobustdatasynchronizationcapabilities
formissioncriticalenterprisescenarios.
Cautions
Zebrahasfallenbehindthemarketleadersintermsoffullsupportforthemobileappdevelopment
lifecycle,withfeaturesmissingfromtheplatformsuchasearlystagedesignandprototyping,
automatedcloudbasedtesting,andpostdeploymentmonitoringandanalytics.(Zebraplanstoadd
integrationwithZatar,Zebra'sIoTplatform,aswellasZebra'snewdataanalyticsplatform,in
2015.)
Zebra'sfocusonserviceledsolutiondeliveryhasresultedinlowmarketvisibilityasadevelopment
platformprovider,whichmaymakeitdifficultforenterprisestorecruitandretainRhoMobile
developers(althoughitlaunchedaRhoMobilewebsiteinlate2014toreignitevisibilityinthe
developercommunity).
AlthoughZebraoffersRhodes(whichprovidescomponentsforconsumerapps),consumerand
marketingappsarenotastrongfocusforthevendor.

VendorsAddedandDropped
WereviewandadjustourinclusioncriteriaforMagicQuadrantsandMarketScopesasmarketschange.As
aresultoftheseadjustments,themixofvendorsinanyMagicQuadrantorMarketScopemaychange
overtime.Avendor'sappearanceinaMagicQuadrantorMarketScopeoneyearandnotthenextdoes
notnecessarilyindicatethatwehavechangedouropinionofthatvendor.Itmaybeareflectionofa
changeinthemarketand,therefore,changedevaluationcriteria,orofachangeoffocusbythatvendor.

Added
Weaddedfourvendors:
Appian
Backbase
Globo
Mendix

Dropped
Fourvendorsthatappearedinour2014MagicQuadrantwerenotincludedthisyear:
AppleonlyoffersdevelopmenttoolsforiOSappssoitdoesnotmeetthecrossplatformcriteria.

GoogleonlyoffersdevelopmenttoolsforAndroidappssoitdoesnotmeetthecrossplatformcriteria.
Senchanolongermeetstherevenueorinquirytrafficinclusioncriteria.
VerivoisnolongerintheMADPbusiness.

HonorableMentions
Thefollowingvendorsdidnotmeettheinclusioncriteria(typicallybecauseofrevenue),buttheyare
crediblealternativestothevendorsincludedinthisMagicQuadrant.Severalofthesevendorsarecovered
in"MarketGuideforRapidMobileAppDevelopmentTools"and"MarketGuideforCloudMobileBackEnd
Services."Distinctionsbetweenstylesofmobileappdevelopmentarecoveredin"HowtoAddressthe
ComplexitiesoftheMobileADTechnologiesVendorLandscape."
AlphaSoftwareofferstheAlphaAnywhereplatformwithawizarddrivendevelopment
environmentforbuildingHTML5andhybridmobileapps,includingconnectorsforcommonbackend
systemsandSQLdatabases.
AnyPresenceprovidesanenterprisefocusedMBaaSofferingthatincludesintegration,dynamically
generatedSDKs,APIdefinition,templatesandatestuserinterfacebuilder.Theseprovideaquick
starttoappdevelopmentprojects.
Appery.ioisalowcodeplatformfortherapiddevelopmentanddeploymentofcrossdeviceapps.It
offersacloudbaseddevelopmentenvironmentwithintegratedbackendservicesandpluginsthat
simplifyintegrationwithcloudservicesandenterprisesystems.
EachScapeoffersaplatformforgeneratingnativeiOSandAndroidapps,aswellasHTML5hybrid
apps,throughadraganddropeditor.
FeedHenry(byRedHat)offersacollaborativemobileappdevelopmentenvironment,mobileback
endasaservice(MBaaS)andappmanagementcapabilities.Cloudandonpremisesoptionsare
available,asarealargenumberofNode.jsbasedconnectors.FeedHenryoffersanopenbringyour
owntoolapproach,allowingclientstoselectadditionalfrontenddevelopmenttools.
Kinvey,launchedin2011,providescoreMBaaSfeatureswithadditionalSDKsforabroadrangeof
clients,advancedidentitymanagement,enterpriseintegration,analytics,securityandcontent
deliverynetworkcapabilities.
SpecializinginmobilizingSAP,butsupportingmanypotentialbackends,Movilizeroffersaform
basedtoolforrapiddeploymentofbusinessprocessappsinadedicatedcontainer.
OutSystemsoffersanintegratedplatformtovisuallydevelop,deployandmonitorhybridmobile
apps,includingdevicenativeextensions,Webbasedportalssupportedbybackenddata,workflow
andintegrationlogic,includingwellmanagedWebservices,prebuiltadapterstocloudandon
premisessystemssuchasSAP,andapptemplatestofurtheracceleratedevelopment.
Webalooffersaplatformwithagraphicaldevelopmenttooltobuildandconfiguremobileappsthat
connecttobackendsystemsviaJavaDatabaseConnectivity(JDBC)drivers,XMLWebservices,flat
filesandWebscraping.
ZetessupportsmobileenablementofsupplychainandrelatedactivitieswiththeMCLMobility
Platform.Capabilitiesincludedraganddropappcreation,mainframeandSAPintegration,plus
deviceandpowermanagement.Voicecommandandcontrolisaparticularspecialty.

InclusionandExclusionCriteria
Vendorsinthisyear'sMagicQuadrantmetthefollowingcriteria:
Mustcreateappsformultipleplatforms,atleastforiOSandAndroid.
Demonstratedsignificantmarketimpact,withatleastoneofthefollowing:
MADPsoftwarerevenuein2014ofmorethan$25million
AhighvolumeofinquiriesfromGartnerenduserclients
Hadatleast10newpayingenterpriseimplementationsineachofatleasttwoofthefollowing
geographicregions:NorthAmerica,LatinAmerica,EMEAorAsia/Pacific.
Asaresultofourinclusioncriteria,weexcludedvendorsthat:
Offeronlymobilebackendservices
Onlysellstheirsoftwarecoupledwithdevelopment/professionalserviceswherethetoolisused
exclusivelybycompanyconsultants
Targetonlyasinglesystemplatform,suchasiOSonlyorAndroidonly

EvaluationCriteria
AbilitytoExecute
ProductorService:Howwelldoesthevendor'splatformmeetthebuyingrequirementsofenterprises?
Cantheplatformbeusedtobuildnative,hybridandWebapps?Istheplatformopen?Doesitintegrate
wellwiththirdpartyframeworks,APIsandothervendors'platforms?DoesitrequireonlystandardIT
skillsandtools?Howlaborefficientistheoffering?Doesitsupportdeclarativeormetadatabased
programming?Doesthevendorsupplyapptemplatesorframeworkstoacceleratedevelopment?Does
theplatformsupportthefullsoftwaredevelopmentlifecycle,includingtesting?Whatsupportistherefor
appdeploymentanddistribution,runtimemonitoringandoperations?Doesthevendorhaveastrong
partnerecosystemthatextendsthevalueofitsproducts/services?Doesthevendorofferstrongcloud
options,includingmobilecapabilitiessuchaspushmessagingandlocation?
OverallViability:Welookforcontinuedcommitmentfromuppermanagementandoverallcompany

financialwellbeingincludingfactorssuchasproductinvestmentexceedingcompetitors'product
investment.Wealsolookedforcompanygrowththatexceedsthemarketgrowthrate.
SalesExecution/Pricing:Doesthevendorhavethescopeandsalesmodeltoparticipateinall
enterpriseevaluations,orisitconstrained?Doesthepricingmodelcreateasalesbarrier?
MarketResponsiveness/Record:Howrapidlyhasthecompanyrespondedtochangesinthemarket,
includingnewoperatingsystemversions?Doesthecompanysupportnewcategoriessuchaswearables?
MarketingExecution:Whatisthelevelofmarketawarenessofthecompany'smobileenterprise
offering?Hasthevendorachievedmeaningfuldifferentiation?
CustomerExperience:Whatisthenumber,varietyandsizeofcustomerreferences?Whatspecific
feedbackandobservationsareofferedbycustomers,bothfromreferencesandfromothercontacts
(inquiries,conferencesandsoforth)?Whatisthecustomerexperiencewhenpartnersareinvolved?
Operations:Howwelldoesthevendorsupportcustomers?Doesitprovidecosteffectiveandcompetent
consultingservices?Canitprovideacloudbaseddeploymentmodelorhostingservices?

Table1.AbilitytoExecute
EvaluationCriteria
EvaluationCriteria

Weighting

ProductorService

High

OverallViability

Medium

SalesExecution/Pricing

High

MarketResponsiveness

Medium

MarketingExecution

Low

CustomerExperience

High

Operations

Low

Source:Gartner(July2015)

CompletenessofVision
MarketUnderstanding:DoesthevendorunderstandtheneedsofIT,marketing,productengineering,
systemintegratorandverticalsectorusers?Howdoesitstayontopofthoseneedsandtranslatethem
intousefulproducts?Towhatdegreehasthemarketvalidatedthevendor'svision?
MarketingStrategy:Doesthevendorhaveareasonablestrategytocreatebroadawarenessofthe
companyanditsofferings?
SalesStrategy:Willthestrategyenablethevendortocompeteinthemajorityofenterpriseselections,
orwillitconstrainthevendor'ssuccess?Doesthevendorhaveasuccessfulapproachtowardchannel
salesandservicespartners?
Offering(Product)Strategy:Doestheroadmapfortheproductreflectthemarket'sdirectionandthe
likelyrequirementsofbuyerswithin18to24months?Drillingdownfromthehighlevelroadmap,does
thevendorprovideaneffectiveandachievablestrategywithregardtoeachofthefollowingareas:
multiplatform,multichannel,applifecycle,userexperience,integration,analytics,standardsandcloud
support?
BusinessModel:Doesthevendor'sbusinessmodelyieldthekindofgrowththatwillallowthecompany
toleadthemarket?Arethelicensingmodelsappropriateandsupportive?Doesthevendorencouragea
strongecosystemarounditsproducts?
Vertical/IndustryStrategy:Isthevendorabletoarticulateastrategyforverticaldifferentiationin
specificsectors(suchasfinancialservices,government,healthcare,manufacturingandenergy),andcan
itsustainthatposition?Doesthevendorofferpackagedmobileappsortemplatesforspecificvertical
industries?
Innovation:Doesthevendorleadthemarketwithinnovativeproducttechnology,softwarearchitecture
andbusinessmodels?
GeographicStrategy:Doesthecompanyhaveastrongplanforsupportingcustomersandgrowing
businessindifferentregions?

Table2.CompletenessofVision
EvaluationCriteria
EvaluationCriteria

Weighting

MarketUnderstanding

High

MarketingStrategy

Low

SalesStrategy

Medium

Offering(Product)Strategy

High

BusinessModel

Medium

Vertical/IndustryStrategy

Low

Innovation

High

GeographicStrategy

Low

Source:Gartner(July2015)

QuadrantDescriptions
Leaders
LeadersmustrepresentastrongcombinationofAbilitytoExecuteandCompletenessofVision.Inthe
MADPsector,thismeansthatLeadersnotonlyaregoodatcrossplatformdevelopment,deploymentand
managementacrossthefulllifecycle,butalsohaveagoodvisionofthemultichannelenterprise,support
formultiplearchitecturesandstandards,asolidunderstandingofITrequirements,andscalablechannels
andpartnerships.Leadersmustprovideplatformsthatareeasytopurchase,program,deployand
upgrade,andwhichcanconnecttoarangeofbackendandcloudservices,fromthesamevendoraswell
asthirdparties.

Challengers
Challengersinthismarketmusthavehighnumbersofenterpriseclientsalarge,growingbaseofseats
indeploymentandtheabilitytomeettheneedsofalldepartmentsinglobalrollouts.Theyarevendors
withahistoryofexecutioninthebroadmarket,buttheymaynotyethaveaccumulatedasubstantial
trackrecordintheMADPsectoracrossarangeofscenarios.Challengersmayalsolackacohesive
technicalorbusinessvisionormayhavelingeringgapsorconfusingoverlapsinproductsorchannelsto
market.

Visionaries
Visionariesinthismarkethaveacompellingvisionofproductsandthemarket'sfuture,aswellasthe
technicaldirection(andnecessaryresources)totakethemthere.However,theyhavenotbackedupthat
visioninoneormoreofthefollowingareas:historyofexecution,revenue,sizeofclientbase,diversityof
solutionsorstrongfinancialresults.

NichePlayers
NichePlayersinthismarketarenotasstronginoneormoreofthefollowingcriteria:product
breadth/completenessorfocus,geography,ornumberofcustomers.Althoughtheymaybeagoodchoice
foraparticularproject,theyarenotwellsuitedasabroadplatformforalltypesofprojects.Nevertheless,
forspecificscenarios,anofferingfromaNichePlayermayrepresenttheoptimalchoice.

Context
Theenterprisemobilitymarketcontinuestoevolve,withgrowingdemandformobileappsinallareas.
Thisgrowingdemandmeansthatorganizationsarerecognizingthattheycannolongercontinuetobuild
acollectionofsingleappsaportfolioapproachisrequired.
Implementingsuchanapproachrepresentsasignificantshiftinmobiledevelopmentatalllevels,andthis
isreflectedinthemarket.Appdeliveryismuchlessaboutthetechnicalaspectsofprogrammingthe
clientandsignificantlymoreaboutitsbusinessimpact,design,integration,deploymentand
management.
Manyorganizationsarerealizingthatmobileisanessentialcompetitiveadvantageaspartofanoverall
digitalbusinesstransformation.Mobileisonlypartofthisbiggerpicture,andwhilemobilefirstthinkingis
helpfultoensureasimple,powerfulexperience,itisnotinitselfsufficient.This,too,isreflectedby
changesinthemarket,emphasizingmultichanneldeliveryandsupportforcontinuityofuserexperience
acrosschannels.
Diversityoftargetdevicecontinuestoincrease,withmanufacturersofferingcompellingdevicesinmany
formfactorsfromwatchtomassivetablet.Noonescreensizeoroperatingsystemdominates.Any
companywishingtoaddressawideaudiencemustdeliveracrossplatformexperiencethatisoptimized
forarangeofformfactorsandoperatingsystems.
Herearesomepointstokeepinmindwhenusingthisresearch:
AswithallMagicQuadrants,vendorsintheLeadersquadrantarenotnecessarilythebestforall
projectsorenterprises.Dependingonenterpriseneeds,avendorinanyquadrantcouldbethebest
fortheenterprise.Someplatformsmaybeabetterfitwiththeorganization'sskillsets.Considerthe
matchbetweentheskillsthatarethereandthoserequiredbyeachMADPevaluated.Alsoconsider
thecostandcomplexityofthevendor'soffering,andwhetherthisofferingalignstobenefits
expectedduringtheestimatedlifespanoftheproductuse.
DonotassumethatthereisaonetoonecorrespondencebetweenaMADPandaproductlistingin
avendor'sportfolio.MADPisaplatformthatcanbeassembledoutofsubsystemsofvarying
granularityandwithdifferentdegreesofeffortthatdon'talwayscorrespondtothegranularity.In
addition,thedevelopingnatureofmobileappsandinfrastructurecanmakeitdifficultforsome
enterprisestoselectasingle,strategicMADPvendor.Concentrateonfindingasmallsetofplatforms
thatwillsatisfyshorttomidtermneeds,andbepreparedtoreexaminechoiceseveryfewyears.
InimplementingaMADPandindeployingitthroughitslifecycle,accountforvaryingratesof

technologychangeindifferentsubsystems.Ingeneral,backendsystemswillhaveaslowerrateof
changewithalongerlifespan,whilefrontendtechnologies(suchasHTML5,nativeUIcomponents
andgraphicshardware,aswellastheAPIsthatsupportmobileapps)willevolveataratethatistwo
timesorthreetimesthatofbackendtechnologies.Donotconstraintheevolutionoftheentire
systemtothespeedofchangeoftheslowestevolvingsubsystem.
ConsidertheMADPasanintermediatestageinapathfromfragmentedtoolsandplatformstoward
aunifiedorchestratedsetofdigitalandnondigitalchannels.Donotassumethatamobilesiloisa
longlastingdestination.Considerhowtheorganizationcandeliveraneffectiveuserexperiencethat
isorchestratedacrossmultiplechannelsinaseamlessmanner.

MarketOverview
TheMADPmarketcontinuestomature,movingawayfromthetechcentricpositionofthepasttowarda
morebusinessalignedapproach,expandingsupportfortheappdevelopmentlifecycleandofferingmore
robustandscalablecapabilities.Enterprisesfacethechallengeofbuildinganddeliveringasizableportfolio
ofmobileappsforcustomers,partnersandemployees.Organizationsthathadsuccessfullybuiltand
deployedahandfulofcustomerfacingandemployeefacingappsnowfindthatthereisabacklogof
dozens,evenhundreds,ofappsthatareneededtoallowdifferentpopulationsofuserstogetdatafrom
diverseinformationsystems,bothinternalandexternal.
EnterprisesseekingamobiledevelopmentplatformhaveexpressedtoGartnerthefollowing
requirements:
Crossplatform,supportingmorethanoneplatform(thatis,notjustiOSorAndroidorWindows
Phone).
Multiarchitecture,supportingnotjustnativeormobileWeborhybridarchitectures,butsupporting
morethanone(or,ideally,all)ofthesearchitectures.
Builtinsupportforofflineoperation,whichisbecomingarecognizednecessityformany
organizations.Offlinesupportisonefactorinconsideringamobileappoveramobilewebsite.
Supportfortheappdevelopmentlifecycleforexample,metadatadrivenapps,prototyping,
multidevicetesting(testcloud,forexample),multiplatformbuildprocess(buildcloud),versioning,
configurationmanagement,analytics,distributionandmanagementofmobileappsoncedeployed
throughvariousmechanisms(notjustanappstore),andsoforth.
Prebuiltorconfigurableintegrationstocommonbackendsystemssuchasdatabases,SAP,Oracle
appsorMicrosoftDynamics.
Rapidmobileappdevelopment(RMAD)toolsthatcanbeusedbylesstechnicalstaffsuchas
businessanalystsorprocessexperts.
Cloudbasedservicesforintegration,datapersistence,notifications,dataanalysis,socialmedia
integration,andsoon.
Usingstandards(HTML5andCSS3),includingdefactostandards(jQuery,PhoneGap/Apache
Cordova).
Anecosystemofthirdpartylibraries,frameworks,tools,componentsandservicespartnersthatcan
fillinthegapsintheoffering.
Atrackrecordofsuccessfuldeploymentsatdifferentlevelsofscaleandindifferentverticals.
Anothertrendwehaveobservedisthatbecauseoftheexplosivegrowthinmobileusage,manyvendors
continuetoenterthemarket(seeNote2).Often,theseareexistingvendorsfromothersectorssuchas
businessapplications,BI,mobilesecuritysolutions,virtualizationandverticalmarketsespecially
businessprocessmanagement(BPM).
Majorvendorscontinuetobreakproductsuitesintosmallercomponents,forexample,IBMWorklight
becomingtheMobileFirstportfolioofcompatibleproducts,orKony'sMobileFabric.Thesevendorsrecognize
andencourageenduserstomixandmatchtools,typicallylayeringdifferentfrontendtoolsoveran
MBaaScorewhileaugmentingtheappswithspecialistcapabilitiessuchassecuritymonitoring.
Itisimportanttonotethatbecauseofthis,thereisnotaonetooneequivalencebetweenaMADPanda
specificiteminavendor'sproductcatalog.AnenterpriseMADPmaybebuiltoutofdifferentsubsystems,
includingopensourcelibrariesandnativecodetoolkits.Alternatively,anenterprisemaybeginwithacore
systemthatisaproductfromacommercialvendorpossiblyaproductwithaspecificfocusornarrow
scopeandthenintegratethiswithothersystems(SDLC,testingorbackendservices)toarriveatits
ownMADP.
Itisalsoimportanttonote,aswithotherMagicQuadrants,thatthebestchoiceforoneenterprisemay
notbethesameasforanother,andthatthesechoicesarenotjustintheLeadersquadrant.Itall
dependsontherequirements.SomevendorsinquadrantsotherthanLeaders(NichePlayers,Visionaries
orChallengers)mayprovideabetterfitforthoserequirementsandoftenbettereconomicvalueas
well.
Fromlastyear'sMagicQuadrant,wehavecontinuedtoincludecostindicators.Thisisinresponseto
requestsfromenduserorganizationsforatleastroughguidanceonwhattoexpect.Preciseguidanceis
difficult,becausevendorshavedifferentpricingmodels,organizationshavedifferentskillsetsand
methodologies,andapprequirementscanvarywidely.Nevertheless,itispossibletodefineasimple
threetierstructureforcostsforaninitialmobiledevelopmentproject:low,midrangeandenterprise.Low
islessthan$25,000peryear,midrangeisbetween$25,000and$100,000,andenterpriseisabove
$100,000,asdefinedinNote1.EveryvendorprofileinthisMagicQuadranthasamentionofcostsusing
thiscoarsegrainedcategorization.
AstheMADPsectorcontinuesitsrobustgrowthandevolution,thequestionarises,"Wherewillthingsgo

fromhere?"Vendorshavebroadenedanddeepenedofferingsto,inmanycases,arriveatarobustand
completemobiledevelopmentplatform.FragmentationsuchasnativeversushybridversusWebhas
beeneliminated,oratleasttempered.Despitethevendors'undeniableprogressintoolsandplatforms,
thecriticmaysaythatthefinalresultisaverygoodmobilesilo:functional,comprehensiveand
worthwhilebutasilononetheless.ThefutureevolutionofMADPistogobeyondthemobilesilo,inthe
directionofaunifieddigitalchannel,sothatorganizationscanfieldasingledigitalpresencethatspans
desktopWeb,mobileWeb,mobileapps,andappsforotherdevicesandchannelssuchaskiosksand
wearables.Thiswillenableorchestrationofexperiencesacrosschannelsthroughtheconstructionof
coordinatedsolutionstargetingdifferentchannels,andoptimizedfortheparticularcapabilitiesofeach
channel.ThisiswhatGartnercallsensembleorcontinuousinteractionwhenauserbeginsa
transactionononedeviceandcontinuesitonotherdevicesorchannels,sometimesinsequencebutalso
inparallel.Thisvisionofacontinuousexperienceacrosschannelswilltakeyearstobefullyrealized.This
willlikelyrequireamixofchannelspecifictechnologiesintegratedwithchannelneutralbackend
services.Untilthattime,siloedMADPofferingswillcontinuetoplayanessentialroleindigitalbusiness.

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