Large companies are adopting internal enterprise applications now more than ever before. These types of applications are essential in a number of enterprises. TechCrunch stated that U.S. enterprises spend $297 billion in the enterprise software industry every year.
Internal communication apps allow businesses to reach their remote staff, enable employees to know what’s happening at the office from anywhere they are, encourage instant group communication, empower employees to make better use of their time during a commute, and even guarantee that all staff receive and access all of the information they need.
According to The Guardian, enterprise applications boost worker productivity by more than thirty-four percent. Companies gain approximately 240 hours of work from each employee, per year due to mobile working. That’s almost six additional working weeks!
Not only are internal enterprise applications good for employee productivity, but they are also good for the enterprise to collect employee data. This data can help enterprises stay ahead of the game.
Considerations When Developing an Internal Enterprise Application
Know Your Audience and Brand.
Whether an application is consumer-facing or not, considering your audience is crucial. You must consider your employees and the brand which you wish to represent. Do research and discuss it with your employees: what would they want, or not want in an app?
Consider Design Aesthetics.
A good design will make your employees want to use the application. The best consumer applications are clean, simple, and user-friendly. This needs to carry over into your internal, non-consumer facing app.
If the app has a bad user experience, your idea of boosting employee engagement will be shot down.
Competition.
When you are brainstorming a strategy for your app, keep competition in mind. A competition between different departments could mean a boost in engagement and could get employees excited to interact with the app. Internal enterprise apps are typically not about sales or business, but about employee productivity and engagement. This means that any way to get your employee utilizing the app is a success. For example, by using a gamification strategy in 2013, T-Mobile saw an increase of one thousand percent in employee engagement.