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More than four fifths of businesses lack the skills or resources to develop employee-facing mobile apps in-house, new research has found.

Research published by mobile data capture specialist WorkMobile, found that employee-facing mobile apps play a key role in the majority of businesses’ enterprise mobility strategies, with 91% of businesses making use of the technology. 

However, while in-house app development offers businesses the necessary flexibility when it comes to tailoring and implementing effective mobile solutions – particularly crucial for businesses with a significant proportion of field-based workers – a staggering 85% are unable to do so successfully.

According to the research, 38% of IT teams are overstretched and don’t have the time or capacity to develop their own apps, while 36% do not have the coding skills and expertise required to do so.

IN-HOUSE MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT CAN BE A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY FOR BUSINESSES TO RESPOND QUICKLY TO EVER-CHANGING EXTERNAL FACTORS

Given the growing digital skills shortage, and the prevalence of apps in both our professional and personal lives, it is unsurprising that 47% of businesses have found it difficult to recruit employees with the right mobile development expertise.

The research also found that even among those businesses that are capable of developing their own apps, many have struggled to make them a success.

More than two thirds (63%) of businesses have experienced problems developing apps within a particular timeframe, and as a result 56% have been forced to abandon the development of an app before completion.

More than a third (36%) have had difficulties developing apps within a designated budget, and 30% have struggled to develop apps for a range of operating systems and devices.

Colin Yates, chief support officer at WorkMobile, commented: “These statistics are very concerning in the current climate, given the crucial role that mobile solutions play in a successful enterprise mobility strategy.

“Even pre-pandemic, enabling remote working was the most common pressure CIOs faced from the rest of the C-suite, according to half of those surveyed. And with so many more people now working away from the office, that pressure is greater than ever.

“The past few months have also shown us that in order for businesses to succeed, agility is absolutely key. In-house mobile app development can be a really cost-effective way for CIOs to respond quickly to ever-changing external factors, and ensure employees always have the right tools to do their jobs.

“However, with so many teams facing such significant barriers to in-house app development, they could find themselves struggling more than necessary over the coming months to keep up with rapidly evolving business requirements.”

In light of these difficulties, the research revealed that 64% of CIOs would be interested in using a no-coding mobile app toolkit as an alternative to developing apps in-house themselves.

44% said that they believe no-coding mobile apps would reduce the workload for their team, a third think that they would enable their teams to implement mobile solutions more quickly, and 29% expect they would find it easier to adhere to financial budgets.

Colin added: “It’s clear that effective in-house app development is just not feasible for the vast majority of businesses. Fortunately, technology is evolving and no-coding app development platforms can now offer a fantastic alternative.

“These toolkits make it possible for CIOs and their teams to quickly produce mobile apps that are specifically tailored to the needs of their employees, with no coding expertise required.”

For more information on WorkMobile and no-code mobile apps, visit https://www.workmobilesolutions.com/

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about WorkMobile on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/workmobile
• Learn more about WorkMobile @ www.workmobilesolutions.com/
• Follow WorkMobile on Twitter @ twitter.com/WorkMobile
• Follow WorkMobile on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/esay-mobile

A national commercial landscaping company has dramatically increased its efficiency and improved its environmental credentials after embracing digital transformation.

Since adopting the WorkMobile mobile data capture app, Grace Landscapes has saved many hours’ worth of filing and data inputting time each month and greatly reduced its paper waste.

Grace Landscapes, which has a head office in Yorkshire, is one of the forerunners in the commercial landscaping sector. Established in 1978, it has grown from one to more than 120 members of staff based in four different locations, with an annual turnover of £6million.

Previously, the company’s field workers relied on paper-based forms and handheld cameras to capture information on landscaping and maintenance projects.

This resulted in a cumbersome paper trail, with a three to four-day wait to receive paperwork back by mail. The information then needed to be manually inputted into its CRM system and filed away in a time-consuming process.

Grace Landscapes recognised that it could benefit from a digital solution to help manage its data more effectively, and as it decided to upgrade its company mobiles to smartphones, began to look into ways that they could be used to their full potential.

After trialling WorkMobile’s cloud-based application for eight weeks with just four users, Grace Landscapes now has a permanent licence for each of its 40 field workers and supervisors.

[quote float="left"]After trialling WorkMobile’s cloud-based application for eight weeks with just four users, Grace Landscapes now has a permanent licence for each of its 40 field workers and supervisors. [/quote]With the help of WorkMobile’s flexible form designer, information can now be sent back to the Grace Landscapes head office instantly, along with photographs. With this information automatically integrated into the CRM and saved in the correct file, it not only saves time but also leaves less room for human error.

Team members can now search for completed jobs and other data within seconds, something that could previously have taken members of staff many hours to do.

It has also greatly enhanced the company’s reporting capabilities, making it much easier and quicker to find out, for example, how many jobs each person has done, to see any outstanding work, or to check the risk assessments for each site.

Neil Pix from Grace Landscapes said: “Once we realised how much time and money our previous method of data capture was really costing us, we made it a priority to find a more sophisticated, digital solution.

“WorkMobile’s app was exactly what we were looking for, and the results we’ve seen have actually exceeded our expectations.”

All these factors have improved Grace Landscapes efficiency and enabled us to spend money on other areas of the business.

“We pride ourselves on being an environmentally responsible business, and even established our own on-site recycling facility over 10 years ago, so the major reduction in paper waste is a fantastic added bonus.”

Colin Yates, chief support officer of WorkMobile, said: “We’re delighted that Grace Landscapes has seen such immediate, tangible benefits from using our mobile data capture solution.

“Our goal is always to help businesses revolutionise the way they work, saving them time and money while also helping them to become more sustainable.

“With just a few simple changes, Grace Landscapes has embraced digital transformation and completely eliminated its reliance on outdated physical paperwork.”

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The water sector is coming under immense pressure to improve the quality of its service after Ofwat announced it will intervene in water companies whose business plans for PR19 don’t match the “high bar” it expects for customer service...

With an increased demand for water, an ageing infrastructure and rising costs, some large water providers are exploring the use of cloud-based technologies, as a way to make considerable cost savings and manage the network more effectively.

Yorkshire Water is one such water company that has been investing heavily in advanced technology to improve the services it provides.

Since adopting the WorkMobiles’ mobile data capture app, the company has used it to become more agile and efficient compared to its previous method of data capture.

Previously, field engineers were relying on paper-based forms and handheld cameras to capture information on jobs and projects and were then having to drive at least five miles back to head office to load their job data into the company portal. Yorkshire Water recognised that it needed a digital solution that would help to collect and manage essential project information more effectively and also reduce administration costs based on the price of fuel and non-productive wage costs.

After trialling the cloud-based application with a team of 400 workers, the water provider has deployed the WorkMobile solution to over 1,800 of its employees.After trialling the cloud-based application with a team of 400 workers, the water provider has deployed the WorkMobile solution to over 1,800 of its employees. They are also continuously looking for new ways to further increase usage of the app.

WorkMobiles’ flexible form designer allows users to create mobile forms relevant to the specific job in hand, including site inspections, health and safety forms and timesheets for all workers on site. Using a digital form to capture the information for these important documents reduces the risk of data being lost or incorrectly collected.

Job details can now be sent to employees in the field and project data can also be captured in real-time, with all information integrated into internal project management systems. Work can now be completed quickly and recorded more accurately, making for a more efficient network management process.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “There is an increasing pressure to become more efficient and innovative in order to remain competitive and deliver an even better customer service. However, with new, emerging technologies, water companies are now gaining the ability to streamline their working practices and meet the needs of their customers more effectively.

“Our main challenge was that our previous data capture process was simply not cost-effective and meant that our teams were spending extra hours travelling back to base to record their job details. We needed a solution that could provide greater efficiency and connectivity, so staff working out in the field could record and share information in a timely manner.

“With our aim to roll out the WorkMobile application across various departments in the business, we have calculated that this will result in huge cost savings for us and our customers. The money we save as a result of this switch will help to relieve some of the pressure on our resources and will also help us to provide a better quality of service to our customers.”

With pressure mounting from Ofwat to provide a better quality service through the use of innovation, water companies are looking for ways to become more agile and efficient so they can work more effectivelyColin Yates, Chief Support Officer at WorkMobile, said: “With pressure mounting from Ofwat to provide a better quality service through the use of innovation, water companies are looking for ways to become more agile and efficient so they can work more effectively. The sector is facing a number of challenges, particularly due to ageing networks that can’t cope with the rising demand for water and the inherent leakage synonymous with older pipes. In order to keep these networks operational, now is the perfect time for water companies to get smarter and embrace new technologies so they can deal with issues quickly and successfully.

“It’s great to see that solutions such as ours are helping the water industry to combat its current issues. Yorkshire Water, for example, now has a tool that can help meet the needs of its workforce, so that work can be quickly recorded by employees and information then sent back to the office. The business has now seen greater efficiency amongst its workforce, along with huge cost savings. Every water company across the sector should be looking to embrace technology to achieve similar results in order to create a more sustainable future.”

For more information, please visit: www.workmobileforms.com/

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