Salesforce.com pre-briefed me on their refreshed mobile SDK which will be generally available this summer. This should allow developers to more easily link their CRM data to mobile applications, whether native, HTML5 or hybrid.
As they were presenting, it occurred to me, compared to the highly organized and plentiful shelves of the iOS and Android (Google Play) app stores (and smaller ones at Amazon, Verizon, Microsoft and others), how empty the mobile enterprise apps landscape looks.
Oh, there are plenty of nifty examples (admittedly B2C) I have profiled on New Florence - Walgreens prescription refill app, Ikea's augmented reality catalog, Tesco's subway shopping wall in S. Korea. And there are growing "apps stores" - Uncle Sam's, on Wall Street etc.
But every software vendor and SI you talk to will mention the mobile front end aesthetics are the easy part, the back end integration is "tough". You certainly don't expect them to sell their mobile apps for 99c, but not reusing and charging each client tens of thousands to millions is not right either. And it is hardly reassuring that the SAP Mobile Apps Store launched couple of years ago has only about 100 offerings, with the latest filed six months ago.
Mobile is hot - somebody better tell the enterprise world. Maybe salesforce.com will shake it up.
