MWC 2012: Big businesses favour iOS apps

Enterprises are choosing to roll out business-focused applications onto iOS-based devices, even with the extra concerns the Apple platform brings.

In an interview with IT Pro at this year's Mobile World Congress event, Antenna - which focuses on the Fortune 500 level of business - claimed its own customers were looking to the iPhone and iPad, rather than more traditional corporate devices.

"The majority of the apps our customers build are iOS apps," claimed Jim Somers, chief marketing and strategy officer at Antenna.

"Even the old line companies are realising they have to embrace Apple and make sure their apps work on the devices."

Ken Parmelee, senior director of product management at the firm, said the ongoing consumerisation of IT is leaving enterprises little choice but to build apps able to run on Apple.

"There are concerns around security.... and the idea of putting a corporate app on the app store, as well as the arduous approval process," he said.

"[But] the IT guys are saying I have to deal with iOS because it is what everyone is bringing in to my environment.'"

Antenna launched its latest product AMPChroma last week. It enables businesses to build applications through a SaaS model, then easily rolling it out to numerous devices.

Both Somers and Parmelee claimed it was the extra level of management they provided that enabled customers to worry less about the corporate issues of Apple, agreeing this was the reason for the recent influx of third parties getting involved with app development.

"We can create a store front for the customer so they bypass the App Store," said Somers. "We can manage all the security, from data encryption to device security, and we can keep that customer safe, whichever device they use."

AMPChroma recognises 10,000 different IP devices and renders to the screen automatically, rather than a developer having to program several versions of the same application.