Mobile systems integrator Mutual Mobile has announced its LaunchPad integrated software testing and deployment platform for mobile enterprise applications. The product is positioned as an antidote to delays caused by rapidly evolving device environments, longer testing/approval cycles and security and management concerns for mobile business apps at scale. Built with an integrated, cross-platform approach to business app development, distribution, QA and management, LaunchPad is intended to give users an easy way to find, download and use mobile business applications via Mutual Mobile's Enterprise App Catalog.
Mutual Mobile says that LaunchPad addresses the full life-cycle of mobile software application development by monitoring version-control systems, building new versions of apps and deploying them over the air to various internal stakeholders. It also gathers feedback using an integrated defect-reporting tool. The web-based administration platform allows developers to access issues reported across the organization and allows administrators to manage access control.
"Agile development, access control, automated updates, and enterprise-level security are essential for the success of internal mobile business applications," said Mickey Ristroph, Mutual Mobile chief technology officer. "LaunchPad provides IT organizations with a platform to deliver mobile apps in a consistent and structured way. LaunchPad will do for businesses what the public app stores did for consumers."
In empirical real-world tests, Mutual Mobile suggests that LaunchPad has already shown that it is capable of reducing testing, approval and deployment cycles by up to 70 percent. The company notes success with companies using the platform to introduce cross-functional distributed teams into the application life-cycle and bring apps to production faster. With support for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone, LaunchPad's central technology proposition is an opportunity to cross the hurdles that organizations face in developing and deploying mobile apps across increasingly diverse mobile devices.
