Enterprise App for the Masses

Need:

I have been reading lately about the new trend for 2013 in app development will be Enterprise Applications. As the Weopedia describes it: "An enterprise application is the term used to describe applications -- or software -- that a business would use to assist the organization in solving enterprise problems. When the word "enterprise" is combined with "application," it usually refers to a software platform that is too large and too complex for individual or small business use."

There is a big argument about how Enterprise App are going to become the norm in the future given the raise of Digital Natives (Update Nov 2012: Read this for an explanation on Digital Natives). Read this article (Digital natives and enterprise consumerization? It's simple as ABC) by Jonny Evans at CITEWorld about how (and why) the new generation (Digital Natives) are going to require a different type of Enterprise App, if you want more explanation.

I believe there is a big need for a simple plug-and-play Enterprise App that any medium and small business can implement. The need that I am describing is for small or less sophisticated business (i.e. Businesses in the developing world).

Description:

Imagine a tablet enterprise app (probably starting with iOS) that any IT guy can connect to the database of the company to extract few but key metrics from the company´s accounting system. Maybe even something as simple to converting an excel file to a beautiful dashboard in your iPad. Something that the executives, leaders and managers at the company will appreciate to see everyday in their tablets. We do not need to start with something very sophisticated (e.g. do not try to have an app that automatically links to the company´s database). If we make it pretty simple (e.g. linking the app dashboard to an excel that the IT guy can configure himself and linking it the app), the price for this app can be really inexpensive (thus my title: For the Masses).

Potential:

Lets assume that we can charge something like $1 for each "client" app and $25 for each "server" app (Client–server model). The company will need one "server" app that is managed by the IT guy and multiple "client" apps for the managers. Lets assume that in average each company will have one "server" app and five "client" apps. That makes it $30 per company. If we think we can capture a million companies with this app we can generate $30M in revenues.

Now, it may make more business sense to sell it as a SaaS instead of a one-time sale but I am not sure how use to buying SaaS are small and medium business in developing countries. This business model will probably make more money if it ramps up. I am just afraid that it won´t catch fire without a large investment in marketing. The other model (one-time sale) it may more sense to have it catch fire. Maybe after it catches fire we can implement some additional services to the mix.

The App that helps parents educate their children

[Update: April 2013]

I should have updated this post long time ago. Just a month after my post Agnitus launched its App Trailer. I recently found out about this App (currently on the Apple AppStore) and I am thrilled about its capabilities. My 2-year old daughter is using it every other day and I can see her progress on the scorecard.

Another game studio that has a promising product is Mapache Studios. Mapache Studios is an Edutainment Media Company that develops games for mobile education. They use the game mechanics of the most popular games such as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope to make extremely fun and engaging games.

[Originally Posted: May 2012]

Need:

Parents nowadays do not have the time to learn how to educate their children. In the best cases they may have the time but are sometime clueless about the latest tools or techniques to educate their children. In the worse scenario (and in most cases) do not have the time to research or be efficient about where to focus on their children education. Parents leave a lot of the education to the daycare or school.

Description:

Similar to the market that you can find in Brazil with the famous learning systems (or Sistemas de Encino), we can create a Sistema de encino for parents in an app for all tablets. This learning system will have different parts. It will have the level of detail for the parent to understand what are the key milestone for children of different ages. It will have what type of exercises is (or should be) doing his/her child at school given age (and maybe other variables). It will have what type of exercises should be doing at home given the previous information (how long the child should do the exercise and ways to make it fun and engaging). Finally, it will recommend other apps that can help with engaging the child into doing the exercises. The idea is that the app makes the parent a better teacher, depending on the type of child and the type of parent.

Potential:

Probably do not charge for the app, give some content for free and then start charging for extensive or additional content. Let's assume that the parents ends up finding the app so useful that they buys the content for every age stage. Let assume that the app provides stages from 1-5 years old (and maybe older) and charges for each stage $20 (less than a good textbook). That means that a parent may spent $100. Multiply that by the number of parents that can be millions depending on the success of the app. This easily can become a billion dollar market.