In a recent survey published by PMG Business Process Automation, 44 percent of business organizations surveyed have implemented, or are interested in implementing enterprise app stores within their organizations. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, enterprise app stores are web portals that allow end users to access, download and install corporate-approved software applications.
The advantages of having such a system seem pretty clear; an in-house app store would most definitely provide simplicity, especially for BYOD users. However, based on the PMG survey, 56 percent of businesses still do not see the benefits of enterprise app stores provided by industry leaders such as Apperian. Here are 5 good reasons your business should consider implementing an enterprise app store today.
1. They improve quality control
By approving apps and maintaining greater control over the apps that your employees download, you can prevent your employees from downloading bogus apps. Michele Pelino, an analyst at Forrester Research points out that these sorts of app stores can ensure that the correct, authorized apps are being downloaded. “If you don’t have some way of controlling that, you have people using different versions, or apps that you don’t want them to have access to,” she says.
2. They enhance security
In general, enterprise app stores are much more secure than public app stores. By allowing IT to filter out all the bad apps, you eliminate the risk associated with malware-infested public apps. Even technology stalwarts like Apple aren’t impervious to mailicous apps, as was widely reported earlier this month. Additionally, having an enterprise app store will also let your IT staff prevent employees from using file-sharing services on their wireless devices, which tend to spread malware. Never again will you have to worry about company-owned tablets or other devices crashing on your employees, at least not due to malware via bogus apps.
3. They allow you to gather information
Corporate app stores give IT staff greater insight on user behavior than regular public app stores. Implementing an enterprise app store will allow your IT staff to measure the productivity of your employees, receive feedback on approved apps, and make recommendations to management for relevant apps to test out. Many enterprise app stores even allow employees to rate and review apps, so your IT staff can work on continually improving your company infrastructure.
4. They lower costs
With the ease and simplicity of an enterprise app store, there is less of a need for a large IT staff, since your company has a much smaller, much easier infrastructure to maintain. Additionally, centralized purchasing of apps means more clout and loyalty with software vendors, which often leads to large volume discounts for your company. What’s more, the heightened security of an enterprise app store reduces costs associated with repairing and replacing malware-infected computers, smartphones and tablets.
5. They give the IT staff a break
With an enterprise app store that makes software easily accessible to all employees, there is much less need for IT staff to constantly be running around, fixing problems on personal devices and making sure every smartphone or tablet is up-to-date with the latest iOS or Android software version. This frees up your IT staff, and allows them to work on more strategic tasks, such as improving your company’s IT infrastructure.
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