Three Enterprise App Distribution Models To Consider For Your Organisation

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Just because you’ve been using the same enterprise app distribution model for years doesn’t mean it’s the best one for your organisation. It’s still early in 2016 and its prime time to re-evaluate the way your company lets its employees access apps to help them with their work. Here are three enterprise app distribution models that you can consider switching to.

Magic man with enterprise apps image from Shutterstock

According to mobile apps management vendor Apperian, it is important to get the right apps to the right users within an organisation in a timely manner. Determining the best app distribution model for your company is a vital first step doing that.

Here are three enterprise app distribution models that could work for business:

Enterprise App Store

This type of set up is suitable for companies with a plethora of apps that they use in their businesses. Usually the apps can be acquired by users through a specialised web portal. The portal could be offered through a third party provider (for example, Microsoft Store) or it can be a private app store built in-house.

The best approach for organisations looking to implement an enterprise app store is to take inspiration from consumer app stores such as the ones managed by Apple and Google. End-users are already familiar with the formats in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store through their personal devices. By modelling your enterprise app portal on these consumer app stores, you’re reducing the time needed to train staff on how to it.

An enterprise app store also has other advantages, according to Apperian senior director or customer success Robert Lacis.

“In addition to making it easy for users to discover apps, enterprise app stores can also be used to highlight screen shots, app details, and other capabilities such as links to training videos just as users have become accustomed to with consumer app stores,” he said.

Corporate Portal

This is a more controlled portal compared with an enterprise app store. This model works best when employees are already used to accessing a secured company website that is part of their regular work routine. Corporate portals can be used to distribute secure and policy-enabled apps so that companies can save resources on building and managing a brand new enterprise app store.

This model is best suited to organisations that have a smaller number of apps available to users.

Direct Link Download

If you’re only dealing with a handful of apps in the work environment, distributing apps via a direct download link to users could serve as a cheap and convenient option. The get users to adopt an app quickly, you can send out a web link to the relevant users.

According to Lacis:

Web links can be sent via email to a small population or user group, launched from a QR code, or can be embedded in newsletters. This works well if there isn’t another good place to provide access to the app (e.g. if a corporate portal doesn’t exist, and if there aren’t enough apps to warrant an app store).

[Via Apperian blog]


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