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Industry experts and IT professionals say the app stores have the potential to serve the needs of business users, but for the most part they mainly address the consumer market today.
"Currently the impact of mobile app stores for business users has been limited," says Mike Mierwinski, CIO at Mid-America Overseas, a transportation and logistics provider. "While there have been some useful applications that add business functionality to the iPhone for corporate network connectivity, communication and resource management, the majority of the applications appear to be geared towards the personal use of these devices."
Mierwinski says some of the current lack of applications for business users can be attributed to security restrictions placed on corporate networks that require the intervention of IT to implement applications.
"The best applications I have seen are those that further enhance the built-in time management and contact tools that normally come with these devices," Mierwinski says. "I believe mobile app stores with hundreds of applications written by independent software developers won't become a killer app for business solutions on these devices. The issues around support and [data privacy] are likely too great to overcome for the independent developer, and would require the staff and reputability that only a company focused on the development of these applications can provide."
For simple productivity-based applications, apps stores could be useful enablers, says Nick Holland, senior analyst at consulting firm Aite Group LLC. "However, core business functions usually require tight integration with existing back-end systems. It is unlikely that business IT departments are going to use app stores to purchase and distribute software to employees," Holland says.
Furthermore, Holland says, a decentralized use of mobile software for business applications has a number of risks, such as the corruption of office data and the introduction of malware.
Holland says there is potential business use for any mobile application that saves people time or money. "Remote access to core business capabilities such as transaction authorization have obvious benefits," he says. Another example is the ability for remote users to reduce time spent on submitting expenses, travel booking, etc. with access to a central system using a mobile device.
Pelino thinks mobile app stores are an important channel for device makers to reach business customers with mobile applications that address the needs of business users.
"The key value to CIOs and business users of these mobile app stores is that they provide a single location for CIOs to find applications that have been developed for the mobile devices and operating systems that they support in their organization," Pelino says. "There is also the convenience factor for business users who can go to the stores and quickly find applications that can work on their devices immediately."
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