Over the past 18 months, Summa has continued to increase our mobile capabilities and mobile development capacity. We have taken on, and delivered high quality enterprise caliber mobile applications for companies like PNC, PPG, Eaton, and Tarkett. These projects have run the gamut from straight mobile web apps to HTML5 based hybrid apps to native iOS apps.
Given our level of expertise, it was decided that we needed an internal mobile app to showcase our capabilities. The Summa Summit, a two-day offsite corporate retreat for all employees was targeted as the opportunity to showcase such an app. The Summit provided the perfect platform to show off our mobile app development expertise and gave a handful of recently added employees a chance to work with tenured Summanoids using our development methods and approach. The experience also served as an opportunity to refine our internal mobile architecture recommendations around newly available components.
While the Summa Summit 2013 Mobile App turned out to be wildly successful, it did not come without its own set of learning lessons and challenges to overcome. Over the course of this blog series, we will discuss some of the architectural, technical, design, and management decisions made during the course of this project.
Some of the topics that will be discussed include:
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Developing a mobile app in a short window, under a month. We wanted to place stress on a team to deliver under duress and a tight deadline. What can be done in 3 weeks? How can we support multiple platforms? How can we test in app adequately in that timeframe? How many features are plausible?
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App integration with Salesforce.com using the Mobile SDK 2.0. As a Salesforce.com partner and users, we wanted to integrate tightly with the Force.com platform. We used the platform integration to handle authentication and authorization, deliver Chatter, and to leverage custom objects for capturing employee survey results.
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Using AngularJS and jQuery Mobile on a hybrid mobile project. We have been working to develop a quick start framework for rapid prototyping, and used this app as a guinea pig for the proposed technology stack.
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True cross-platform development. This requirement, especially with the short runway, stretched our capabilities to perform testing across a wide range of devices, including a number of Android 4.1 and later smart phones, and iOS 6.1 devices and above (including iPad and iPad mini).
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Using an agile approach for a distributed team. The development team was located across 3 metropolitan areas. This entailed coming up with creative and some tried and true methods for collaboration across teams in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New Jersey.
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Integrating our Design team on a mobile application. This application was a chance to introduce newer Summa team members to our design driven approach to application development.
Another Summa Success Story
While the application served as a testing ground for training developers, exploring technology decisions, and finding ways to improve the productivity of remote teams, there was still a business purpose behind the application. Over 175 employees were able to go to the Summa intranet and download the application. The Chatter app facilitated communication between employees, in particular for setting up meetings, social endeavors, and even an impromptu soccer match. Also, having the Summit Survey available as part of the app led to a record percentage of employee feedback.
We hope through this series we can help to showcase Summa’s mobile practice, as well as shed some insight into how we develop enterprise caliber mobile applications. We would encourage feedback, and welcome questions regarding Summa’s mobile practice.
Best Regards,
Lou Biancaniello
Mobile Solutions Architect
Summa
