Mobile enterprise application platform

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Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) is a type of Mobile Application Development Platform (MADP). It consists of a suite (products, frameworks, services, toolkits) which provides aid in the development of mobile applications. MEAP platforms enable organizations or businesses to develop, test, and deploy applications through use of standardization and protocols.

An organization may either build their own IDE which offers such features, or it may purchase or fork a MEAP/MADPs from a third party. MEAP/MADPs ideally include tools for testing, debugging and maintaining existing applications, as well as API calls for back-end databases and "middleware" for linting, parsing, and compiling.^[1]

The terms origin is attributed to a Gartner Magic Quadrant report in 2008 and was formerly referred to as "multichannel access gateway market." ^[2]

MEAPs address the difficulties of developing mobile software by managing the diversity of devices, networks, and user groups at the time of deployment and throughout the mobile computing technology life cycle. Unlike standalone apps, a MEAPs provide a comprehensive, long-term approach to both developers and end users.

Cross-platform utilities are a significant factor behind using MEAPs. Companies can use a MEAP to develop a mobile application once, deploy it to various mobile devices with different operating systems, and maintain it through continuous testing. Examples include: smartphones running android or iOS, tablets, notebooks, and some modified handheld game consoles. MEAPs ideally allow for this cross-platform services simultaneously without changing the underlying machine or business logic. Target audience of these platforms are companies wishing to rapidly develop multiple applications on an infrastructure. This infrastructure can be available on-premises (offline), on the cloud (online) or a mixture of the two.^[3][1]
Mobile platforms provide templates for easy and simple development through use of high-level languages, hence rapid development and maintenance cycles accompanying them.^[4]

Gartner observed companies consider the MEAP approach when they need to:

1. Support three or more mobile applications
2. Support three or more mobile operating systems (OS)
3. Integrate with at least three back-end data sources

Gartner promoted using a common mobility platform in this situation.^[5]

A cloud-infrastructure MEAP is generally composed of two parts: a mobile middleware server and a mobile client application. A middleware server handles all system integration, security, communications, scalability, cross-platform support, and more. No data is stored in the middleware server—it manages data from the back-end system to the mobile device and back.

Mobile client applications are software that connect to platform or middleware servers and drive both the user interface and the back-end logic on a device. Such applications are able to transfer across Mobile operating systems, as a tool upon which to launch applications. Mobile apps are typically deployed as "thick" applications or as native apps that are installed on the device. They may also be rendered as a "thin" application using browser technologies such as HTML5. The choice between these approaches is dependent on its complexity, device support, requirements for user experience, and the need for app availability in the absence of network coverage.

• MEAPs can support more than one type of mobile device and operating system without having to maintain separate sets of code.
• MEAP typically contains a mobile middleware server where integration connectivity, security, and app management are supported.
• Most MEAPs use techniques that do not require writing code to extend them. This can use an industry-standard integrated development environment, such as Eclipse.

Some tools have a hybrid mode, which uses JavaScript-based UI design SDK, such as Dojo Toolkit, YUI Library, jQuery Mobile, or Sencha Touch, and a new JavaScript-based device featuring APIs encapsulation (Geo Loc, Connective, AccMeter, Camera, G sensor, Events, File system, etc.) that is plugged into IDE as well, such as Apache Cordova (formerly PhoneGap) or Appcelerator. That means a custom application can use most of the mobile device features without any 4GL coding or native coding, and make it once developed, and deployed anywhere.

• MEAPs evolve the principle of defining the mobile business support mobile workflow and embedded functionalities by moving beyond 4GL tools towards using the graphical environment and dedicated script language.^[6]
• MEAPs Integrates with multiple server data sources to leverage SOA services from backend systems.
• Leverage development skills and tools one already knows and expertise one already has. More details are in the Mobile application development section.
• Centrally managing mobile applications. The management of the actual devices is more tailored for the B2E scenario, and it is typically done with the mobile device management (MDM). Some also enable a device's features by integrating with MDM.
• Enhance existing business platforms by making them accessible to users anywhere, at any time.
• MEAPs can be run on the cloud.^[7]

The cost of developing a mobile application can vary significantly depending on the complexity, features, and platforms involved. For a detailed analysis of the costs involved in developing an app in 2024, see Goo Apps' comprehensive breakdown.^[8]

A 2016 marketing report predicted a US$189,000,000,000 market by 2020.^[9] In 2023, the market was valued at US$252,890,000,000 and is expected to keep growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3% from 2024 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.^[10] Statista, a global data/business intelligence platform, had the market valued at US$315,260,000,000 in 2020 and US$467,120,000,000 in 2023.^[11]

• Cross-platform software
• Field service management
• Mobile development framework
• Application server
• Low-code development platforms
• Mobile application development
• Multi-channel app development