Five Best Practices for Mobile App Lifecycle Management

When mobile app lifecycle management is executed well, your enterprise apps can better provide end users with a simple and seamless experience. Apps are easy for employees to use and access based on their roles and needs. Apps can be downloaded and installed quickly through an enterprise app store, making it possible for employees to become more productive instantly. What employees don’t see – and shouldn’t be concerned with – is what goes on behind the scenes to make all of this happen. Employees don’t see where the apps originate from (whether from a third-party app store or if they’re hosted internally). They’re insulated from how the apps are secured and protected from malware. They’re also not aware whether an app has been encrypted. Fundamental to providing employees with top-notch experiences in enterprise mobile apps is the ability to manage the mobile application lifecycle from beginning to end. We offer a set of best practices for each stage of the application lifecycle.

Mobile App Lifecycle Management Best Practices

1. On-boarding: Identifying the key stakeholders (business unit leaders, employee groups) that are most likely to use specific apps and developing a sound business case for their acquisition and deployment is a useful first step. But it’s just as important to include employees being targeted into the acquisition and selection process to drive engagement and ensure that the necessary functionality and features are being addressed with each app. Having the right enterprise mobility solution can ensure that it’s easy for employees to find and access the apps that are intended for them.
2. Inspection: A recommended way to mitigate risk is by evaluating the behavioral aspects of each app before rolling them out to employees. Mobile app inspection can inspect apps for risk behavior and vulnerabilities, such as malware, trojans, and intellectual property exposure.
3. Protection: Apps can and should have app policies applied to them based on corporate policies to enforce desired behavior and functionality. App wrapping can be applied directly to your enterprise mobile app so that no SDK or code modifications are required.
4. Packaging: App signing automation can dramatically simplify mobile application lifecycle management by eliminating the complexity of the app signing process. Auto signing allows non-technical administrators to sign apps from the admin portal without developer involvement.
5. Deployment: As we mentioned in the on-boarding stage, it’s essential to include employees in app selection, design, and development. Once an app has been inspected, protected, and packaged, it’s ready for distribution. A role-based mobile app distribution model will ensure that only those users who require the app will see it in the enterprise app store.