Mobile App Backlog

Is Directly Damaging
Revenue in the Enterprise
Oct 2014

Only 6% of Enterprises Have All the

Mobile Developer Talent They Need
New research conducted by Opinion Matters
reveals that 85% of enterprises have a mobile app
development backlog because they cant cope with
business demands. With the average application
taking anywhere between three and 12 months to get
out the door, this slow approach to app development
is resulting in competitive disadvantage.

vacancies due to a shortage of developer skills which

means that 94% do.

THE SURVEY
The survey, which polled more than 200 US and UK
enterprises, found that organizations are currently struggling
with a significant mobile backlog. 85% of companies
surveyed noted that they have a mobile backlog of between
one and 20 applications, with half (50%) having a backlog
of between 10 and 20 apps. The primary goal of these new
mobile app initiatives is either to generate revenue (64%) or
to improve the mobile experience of existing apps (58%).
The research was sponsored by OutSystems, the open,
rapid application delivery platform (PaaS) provider. The
results provide a compelling snapshot of the mobile
application development landscape within enterprises and
the challenges that organizations face when delivering such
projects to the business.

This survey was undertaken to understand firsthand the

role that mobile is playing in enterprise IT strategies and
some of the challenges that businesses are struggling
with today. Its no surprise that 99% of respondents
recognize the importance of incorporating mobility into
their IT strategy. However, how easily and quickly this
can be achieved is another story altogether. The survey
also looks to establish whether business is demanding
change at lightning speed when it comes to mobile
app development and if users really understand what is
required to develop mobile apps. The survey investigates
the top challenges enterprises are grappling with, how
easily these challenges can be overcome, and ultimately
whether mobile app dev is a bottleneck in businesses
today to the point that it is damaging revenue and
creating competitive disadvantage.
What follows is a window into the state of play of mobile
app development in the enterprise.

KEY FINDINGS
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Today, mobility is a core requirement for any business. In
fact, Cisco recently published statistics that demonstrate
how user demand is driving every enterprise down the
mobile route whether they like it or not.
The Cisco study found that 90% of American workers use
their own smartphones for work. Meanwhile between now
and 2018, the number of mobile users will grow by 20%
annually to 4.9 billion. Additionally, in a study undertaken by
Enders Analysis leveraging data from comScore, by early
2014 mobile devices already comprised 55% of Internet
traffic.
This explosive growth is driving a deluge of mobile app
requests with multiple platforms to support, hundreds of
change requests, and complex backend integrations. As
demand for mobile apps grows, companies will increasingly
find it difficult to hire developers with the right skills. The
industry is already dealing with a considerable developer
skills shortage, which is also borne out in this survey.
The research found that 63% of the respondents had
between 11% and 25% open vacancies for developers as
a percentage of their current team size. Over one quarter
(29%) had somewhere between 26% and 50% open
vacancies as a percentage of their current team size. Of
those that had open mobile app developer vacancies, the
top three skills respondents had major challenges hiring
for were Java (31%), JavaScript (19%) and .NET (17%). A
very small percentage (6%) advised that they have no open

Mobility - A Top Priority

99% of respondents recognize the
importance of incorporating mobility into
current and future applications in their
organizations.

(99%)

Growing Demand for Mobile Apps

In the last 12 months, just over half (51%) of respondents
have undertaken between one and five mobile app
projects and 44% have undertaken between six and
10. This means that over a 12 month period, 95% of
respondents have undertaken somewhere between one
and 10 mobile app projects.

(64%)

Money Spinner for the Enterprise

When asked about the goal of new mobile
app initiatives, the top three cited were to
generate revenue (64%), to improve the
mobile experience of existing apps (58%),
and to improve customer experience (52%).

Big Challenges
The top two challenges when
building mobile apps are budget
(53%) and time (50%). Only 4%
of those surveyed admitted to
having no challenges when building
mobile apps, which means that
96% are grappling with issues of
one nature or another.

1. MOBILE APP BACKLOG IS DIRECTLY DAMAGING REVENUE IN THE ENTERPRISE

(85%)
LOADING...

Dealing with Growing Backlogs

85% of companies surveyed noted that they
have a mobile backlog of between one and 20
applications with half (50%) having a backlog
of between 10 and 20 apps.

Losing Competitive Advantage

Over half of the respondents surveyed (51%) stated that
it was taking them on average between three and six
months to build and deliver a complete mobile application.
Amazingly, 6% of the survey respondents advised that it was
sometimes taking up to one year to build and deliver mobile
applications.
Increasing Demand for Mobile App
Developer Skills
Nearly three quarters of the
respondents reported to have between
six and 15 developers working on their
mobile app initiatives, and 21% are
using somewhere between 16 and 30.

Independent research company, Opinion Matters, surveyed

228 Application Development Directors/Managers in the US
and UK during August and September 2014 to understand
the challenges organizations face around mobile application
development. The split between UK and US respondents
was about equal with around 50% from each territory (111
UK versus 117 US). Results were also segmented by industry
sector, role and company size. Here are the full findings from
this study:
How important is mobility to your organization?

(21%)

Hybrid versus Native versus HTML5

When asked about their preferred type of mobile app
development environment, one third voted for hybrid (33%),
while 29% preferred native and 22% opted for HTML5/
responsive design. 16% stated that this would vary on a
case by case basis.

(63%)

FULL RESEARCH FINDINGS

A Growing Developer Skills Shortage

63% of the respondents had between 11%
and 25% open vacancies for developers as
a percentage of their current team size. 29%
had between 26% and 50% open vacancies.
A very small percentage (6%) advised that they
have no open vacancies due to a shortage of
developer skills.

Top Skills in Demand

When asked if they have any open mobile application
developer vacancies, the top three skills respondents had
challenges hiring for were Java (31%), JavaScript (19%) and
.NET (17%).

With mobility very much on the agenda, nearly all (99%)

respondents recognize the importance of incorporating
mobility into current and future applications in their
organizations. In fact, the vast majority (81%) ranked this
as very important and 18% stated that mobility was quite
important. 94% of senior software developers surveyed
graded this as very important and likewise 94% of
application development directors also considered this to
be very important. Interestingly, 7% of mobile application
development leaders ranked this as not important.
The financial services and insurance sectors were the top
two industry categories that placed mobility highest (87%)
followed by manufacturing (86%). Large organizations with
between 1001 and 5000 employees considered this very
important (88%). However it was the smaller organizations
(250-500 employees) who rated lowest with 71% stating
that it was very important and nearly one third (28%) stating
that mobility was quite important rather than very important.
There was a 10% difference between UK and US
respondents with 86% of US respondents ranking mobility
as very important versus 76% for the UK.
What is the goal of new mobile app initiatives?
When asked about the goal of new mobile app initiatives, the
top three cited were to generate revenue (64%), to improve
the mobile experience of existing apps (58%), and to improve
customer experience (52%). Other key initiatives driving
mobile application development included building brand
awareness, making employees more productive, targeting
either new geographic markets or new demographics.

99% OF RESPONDENTS RECOGNIZE

THE IMPORTANCE OF INCORPORATING
MOBILITY INTO CURRENT AND FUTURE
APPLICATIONS
2. MOBILE APP BACKLOG IS DIRECTLY DAMAGING REVENUE IN THE ENTERPRISE

Senior software developers were primarily taking on these

new projects to generate revenue (82%) whereas mobile
application development leads were more focused on
improving the mobile application experience of existing apps
(76%).
When we looked at these initiatives across industries, the
retail sector scored highest (76%) for using new mobile
app initiatives as a means for driving revenue, whereas the
financial services sector was most focused on improving the
mobile experience of existing apps (74%). Interestingly the
manufacturing sector scored very high (55%) on using new
mobile app initiatives to target new geographical areas.
From a company size perspective the 501-1000 employee
sector scored highest on generating revenue (70%) while the
larger enterprises (1001-5000) cited improving the experience
of existing mobile apps as their number one priority (66%).
The US is far more focused on mobile app initiatives as a
means for driving new revenue - 70% in the US versus 58%
in the UK.
Do users understand what is required to deliver new
mobile apps?
88% of those surveyed felt that users did understand and
were totally in sync with what is required. A startling 12% of
the survey sample felt very strongly that users either often or
completely underestimate what is required to deliver these
new projects.
87% of the US respondents versus 89% of UK respondents
stated that business users recognize what it takes to deliver
mobile applications and are totally in sync with what is
required and understand. Interestingly, software solution
architects are significantly more likely than web application
development leads to state that business users are totally
in sync with what is required and understand (55% versus
14%), which expresses a deeper level of understanding.
In the industry sector, 19% of corporate business
respondents consider that business users rarely understand
what it takes to deliver mobile applications.
How many mobile app projects have you undertaken in
the past 12 months?

had the highest proportion of between one and five mobile

app projects, both reported 63%.
Companies between 250-500 employees had the highest
number of projects between one and five (60%) and larger
companies between 1001-5000 had the greatest number of
projects between six and 10 (62%). In the 250-500 employee
category 5% of the survey sample had undertaken more
than 10 projects and 33% of respondents had undertaken
between six and 10.
What are the major challenges faced when delivering
mobile apps?
Only 4% of those surveyed admitted to having no challenges
when building mobile apps which means that 96% are
grappling with issues of one nature or another. The top two
challenges when building mobile apps are budget (53%)
and time (50%). Other challenges ranged from a gap in
skills needed to undertake mobile (36%) to both business
(25%) and users (33%) having unrealistic expectations to
not enough developers with the right level of skills (19%) to
the development environment not currently being right for
mobile (17%).
Interestingly, nearly half (46%) of software solution architects
and 47% of senior software developers believed there
was a gap in the skills needed to undertake mobile. This is
probably why 77% of senior software developers felt that
time was a major challenge in delivering mobile applications.
More than half of the web application development leads
(57%) and 40% of the application development leads felt
that the expectations of users were unrealistic.
The pharmaceutical industry had the highest percentage
of respondents (50%) who felt there was a gap in the skills
needed to undertake mobile. Just over a quarter (26%) of
those from the manufacturing sector felt that there wasnt
enough stakeholder buy-in and the same proportion felt
that the development environment wasnt right. Budget
was particularly an issue for those with between 501-1000
employees with 60% citing this as a major challenge to
delivering mobile apps.
There was a significant difference between the US and UK
with regard to time being a challenge 43% (UK) versus
56% (US).
Is there a mobile app development backlog?

In the last 12 months, just over half (51%) of respondents

have undertaken between one and five mobile projects and
44% have undertaken between six and 10. This means
that over a 12 month period, 95% of respondents have
undertaken somewhere between one and 10 mobile app
projects.
The manufacturing industry had the highest percentage
of more than 10 projects on the go in the past 12 months
(10%), and both the insurance and pharmaceutical sectors

85% of companies surveyed noted that they have a mobile

backlog of between one and 20 applications, with half (50%)
having a backlog of between 10 and 20 apps.
Specifically two thirds (66%) of mobile application
development leads had a backlog on current projects.
Among the different industry sectors, retail had the biggest

3. MOBILE APP BACKLOG IS DIRECTLY DAMAGING REVENUE IN THE ENTERPRISE

What are the different ways to

approach development?
When asked about the different
ways or sources that respondents
were using to approach or aid the
development of mobile apps, the
vast majority (72%) were using
in-house development versus
just over half (52%) who had
outsourced IT. 29% were using some form of cloud services,
be that SaaS, PaaS and so on.
From an industry perspective, the financial services
market had the highest level of outsourced IT (58%), while
manufacturing (38%) followed by insurance (37%) showed
the highest level of adoption of cloud services.
The US appears to be using cloud to aid the development of
apps more than the UK (35% versus 23%).
backlog in the between 10 and 20 range with 58% of
projects stacking up, while manufacturing had the greatest
number in the one to 10 range (45%).
Surprisingly, the 250-500 company size felt that their
organization could cope with the current level of projects and
had no backlog (21%). In the 5011000 category however,
nearly 60% were struggling with a backlog of anywhere
between 10 and 20 projects.
The US respondents reported slightly more projects on
backlog than the UK (89% versus 82%).
How long do mobile apps take to build and deliver?
Over half of the respondents surveyed (51%) stated that it
was taking them on average between three and six months
to build and deliver a complete mobile application. 43%
stated that it was taking between one and three months.
Amazingly, 6% of the survey respondents advised that it was
sometimes taking up to one year to build and deliver mobile
applications while only 1% suggested that it was taking less
than one month.
21% of web application development leads state that it
takes up to a year to build and deliver a mobile application,
whereas 57% of application development directors advised
that it takes somewhere between zero days to three months.
When it comes to industry sectors, both financial services
and insurance had a high percentage of respondents (over
70%) stating that projects take between three and six
months to deliver.
It would appear that the UK is building applications faster
than the US with 49% taking between one and three months
and 43% taking between three and six months, whereas
37% of US respondents are taking between one and three
months and 58% are taking between three and six months.

How many developers are being used to build mobile

apps?
Nearly three quarters of the respondents reported to be
using between six and 15 developers on their mobile app
initiatives, and a further 21% are using somewhere between
16 and 30.
Financial services (86%), insurance (86%), and
pharmaceutical (85%) industries all had high numbers of
developers (between six and 15) working on mobile app
projects.
Over one quarter (27%) of 1001-5000 sized organizations
have between 16 and 30 developers working on mobile app
projects.
While the UK respondents had a higher percentage in the
six to 15 category (75% versus 69%), the US respondents
reported higher percentages in the between 16 and 30
category (17% versus 26%).
How many application developers do you have in total?
Well over half of respondents (60%) have somewhere
between 11 and 25 developers in their business. Just over a
quarter (27%) have between 26 and 49, and a small number
(10%) only have up to 10. However only 11% (19) of these
developers are actually qualified mobile app developers.
The insurance sector (73%) has the greatest number of
developers in the between 11 and 25 category, closely
followed by pharma (70%) and retail (70%).
69% of 250-500 sized companies had developers in the
between 11 and 25 category, while the 1001-5000 company

4. MOBILE APP BACKLOG IS DIRECTLY DAMAGING REVENUE IN THE ENTERPRISE

70% OF RESPONDENTS TAKE

ON AVERAGE THREE TO SIX
MONTHS TO RECRUIT
size sector had the greatest number of developers (38%) in
the between 26 and 49 category.
From a country perspective, the UK had the greatest number
of developers (63% versus 57%) in the between 11 and 25
category while the US had more developers in the between
26 and 49 category (29% versus 25%).

How many open vacancies are there for developers?

63% of the respondents had between 11 and 25% open
vacancies for developers as a percentage of their current
team size. 29% had between 26 and 50% open vacancies.
A very small percentage (6%) advised that they have no open
vacancies due to a shortage of developer skills. Therefore,
only 6% of the survey sampled have all the mobile app
development skills they need.
A staggering 91% software solution architects had between
11% and 25% vacancies. 40% of application development
leads had vacancies in the between 26 and 50% range of
current team size category.

What is the preferred mobile app development approach?

When asked about their preferred type of mobile app
development environment, one third voted for hybrid (33%),
while 29% preferred native and 22% opted for HTML5/
responsive design. 16% stated that this would vary on a
case by case basis.
Hybrid is definitely preferred by application development
directors (49%) whereas application development managers
prefer native (35%) and application development leads prefer
HTML5/responsive design (40%). The highest category for
software solution architects was to look at this on a case by
case basis (36%).
Manufacturing scored highest out of all the industry sectors
for hybrid (43%), closely followed by the financial services
sector (39%). Pharma, insurance and retail all scored highest
on native (33% each).

Insurance and pharma had the most vacancies (70%) in the

between 11% and 25% current team size category. Bio and
energy had the highest percentage of vacancies (43%) in
the between 26% and 50% sector, and financial services
had the highest percentage (10%) in the we dont have any
open vacancies category.
The 1001-5000 employees sector had the highest number
of vacancies in the between 26% and 50% category (48%).
Both the US and UK were very similar in the between 11%
and 25% category (each with 63%), but the US had more
vacancies in the between 26% and 50% category (33%
versus 24% in the UK).
What is the average time it takes to recruit?

The 501-1000 employees scored highest on hybrid, whereas

the 250-500 employees scored highest on native.

For 70% of respondents it is taking on average anywhere

between three to six months to recruit and over one fifth
(23%) claimed it was taking between six and 12 months.

The US prefer to use a hybrid development environment

(37%) while the UK is more comfortable with native (32%).
Use of HTML5/responsive design was the same (22% each).

The survey also shows that it is taking longer in the US than

the UK (27% versus 18% take between six to 12 months to
fill their requisitions).hat are the top skills in demand?

5. MOBILE APP BACKLOG IS DIRECTLY DAMAGING REVENUE IN THE ENTERPRISE

What are the top skills in demand?

When asked if they have any open mobile application
developer vacancies, the top three skills respondents had
challenges hiring for were Java (31%), JavaScript (19%)
and .NET (17%). Other skills cited were HTML5, CSS and
UI/Design.
Java (43%) was the most sought after skill for the web
application development leads, whereas HTML5 was
high (21%) for the mobile application development leads.
JavaScript (35%) was the most sought after skill for the
senior software developers.
From an industry perspective, outside of Java, HTML5 is
highly sought after in pharma (27%) and .NET scored high
in corporate business (22%), financial services (23%) and
insurance (20%).
Outside of Java, .NET scored high for the UK (23%) versus
the US (10%).

IN THE LAST 12
MONTHS, 44%
HAVE UNDERTAKEN
BETWEEN SIX AND 10
MOBILE PROJECTS.

CONCLUSION
With only 6% of respondents clearly stating that they have
all the mobile app development skills they need, it is clear
that this issue is only going to become more challenging
as demand for mobile app dev projects continues to
grow. Eventually it will outstrip the supply of mobile app
developers. Add to this the growing skills shortage for
more general app developers and it becomes clear that
enterprises need to find a fast and efficient way to deliver
enterprise mobile and web applications otherwise they
will very quickly lose ground. In particular, the skills that
are critical for mobile app development such as Java,
JavaScript and .NET comprise a significant percentage
of the current vacancies. So what can organizations do
about this challenge?
There are a number of approaches that IT departments
and operations teams can take. These include:

Understanding where and when to automate

with 80% of IT spend still focused on keeping the
lights on, freeing developers from low level, low
value technical tasks will raise productivity, improve
business efficiency, and may well free up resources to
undertake those new mobile app dev projects.

Leveraging outside resource where it makes sense

while at the same time ensuring that you dont become
dependent on outsourcing relationships where you can
be held to ransom. Today its critical that organizations
retain the brain side of IT, especially when it comes
to mobile app development. However again, low level,
low value tasks could be outsourced.

Investing in staff training ensure that your staff are

equipped and able to cope with business demands
and have the skills to build innovative mobile
applications.

Develop once your mobile app dev strategy should

focus on developing once for all devices with apps
that can be easily integrated into existing systems
which are effortless to change. In fact, your approach
should be multi-channel from day one.

6. MOBILE APP BACKLOG IS DIRECTLY DAMAGING REVENUE IN THE ENTERPRISE

ABOUT OUTSYTEMS
OutSystems provides the open, rapid application delivery platform (PaaS) that makes
it easy to develop apps once and deliver seamlessly across iOS, Android, Windows
Phone, and Web - deeply integrated with existing cloud and on-premises databases
and systems of record. OutSystems Platform enables the rapid delivery and effortless
change of large application portfolios and is available as a public cloud, private cloud
and on-premises solution. Over 400 enterprise organizations in 25 countries across 22
industries use the Platform to deliver beautiful mobile and web apps in record time. For
more information visit us at www.outsystems.com or follow us on Twitter @OutSystems.