Here's Who Made Gartner's 2016 Magic Quadrant For Mobile App Development Platforms
Vendors Doing Well With Mobile App Development
As mobile apps become the main driver of accelerating digital transformation in businesses, more vendors are coming out with cutting-edge mobile app development platforms.
According to market research firm Gartner, mobile app development platforms will become widely adopted in the near future: By 2020, Gartner predicted, more than 75 percent of enterprises will have adopted at least one platform to accelerate their digital business transformation strategies, up from 33 percent in 2015.
Gartner highlighted the major vendors in the mobile app development space this year in its Magic Quadrant. Following are the 17 vendors that made it into Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Mobile App Development Platforms.
Ranking Methodology
Gartner evaluated mobile app development vendors that are major players based on their products, services, sales strategy and execution, customer experience, market understanding and innovation, and pricing.
A mobile app development platform offers tools, technologies and services constituting the critical elements of an integrated platform. This platform enables organizations to design, develop, test and deploy a portfolio of cross-platform mobile apps addressing the requirements of multiple use cases.
The vendors are ranked in the Magic Quadrant for mobile app development platforms on two fronts: their ability to execute and the completeness of their vision. Gartner places vendors into four categories: Niche Players (low on vision and execution), Visionaries (good vision but low execution), Challengers (good execution but low vision) and Leaders (excelling in both vision and execution).
IBM: Leader
IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., was named a Leader in the Magic Quadrant this year, in part because of its partnership with Apple and its strong execution with larger enterprises.
IBM's work in mobile app development is accumulated in its MobileFirst platform, which spans the full software development life cycle and offers elements addressing app design, development, testing and deployment of mobile hybrid apps using Cordova. This platform leverages IBM's Bluemix cloud services for advanced mobile back-end services, including new mobile content manager and Watson services.
IBM has also partnered with Apple for the IBM MobileFirst for iOS, which has developed more than 100 template apps with specific iOS feature support.
IBM
Strengths: Gartner highlighted IBM's MobileFirst for iOS as delivering a strong portfolio for mobile apps that gives enterprises the ability to jump-start their app development efforts, by using well-designed apps that address known "pain points" in selected industries, as well as IBM's MobileFirst App Builder, which the research firm said adds a useful visual development tool to the platform.
Weaknesses: Developing mobile apps with IBM can get expensive, according to Gartner, because it usually requires additional investment in professional services like Watson services. Another issue is that IBM's MobileFirst Platform is a complex development and deployment environment for enterprises that are in the early stages of mobile app development.
Kony: Leader
Austin, Texas-based Kony was another Leader listed in Gartner's Magic Quadrant. Kony's strong partnerships with system integrators, including Cognizant, helped the company achieve strong execution globally.
Kony's Mobility Platform is made up of of Kony Visualizer and Kony MobileFabric. Visualizer is a visual development environment with cross-platform design elements and controls. This tool is used to create apps for mobile and wearable devices as well as desktop-based web apps. MobileFabric, meanwhile, delivers services like data integration, authentication, offline sync and analytics, which can be deployed and managed across public or private clouds, or on-premise implementations.
Kony
Strengths: According to Gartner, Kony's platform is one of the most secure, and the vendor embeds advanced technology in its platform for cryptography and app hardening. Meanwhile, its Visualizer delivers a strong set of capabilities for a visual development environment rich in features. MobileFabric is another strong tool that has added the ability to create, bundle and orchestrate APIs for greater flexibility and productivity.
Weaknesses: Like IBM's platform, Kony's Mobility Platform may be more than some enterprises need, especially those in the early stages of mobile app development for simpler apps. Also, Kony Visualizer is a powerful tool, but requires training for non-developers to master its sophisticated feature set.
Salesforce: Leader
Salesforce's strong execution with large enterprises, as well as its strong vision for mobile app development through its Lightning technologies, has made the San Francisco-based company a leader in the mobile app development platform space.
Salesforce sells the App Cloud, which features all essential elements of a mobile app development platform for multiple usages -- from line-of-business users to experienced developers.
App Cloud is made up of of Lightning technologies, including a UI Component Framework, a Lightning Schema Builder and Process Builder (to build web apps without coding) and an App Builder (which offers a drag-and-drop editor to create and deploy hybrid apps through the Salesforce1 app container).
Salesforce
Strengths: Salesforce's App Cloud is supported by a mature and growing third-party market in AppExchange. Salesforce also offers an interesting comprehensive self-service developer training program -- Trailhead -- using social features to onboard administrators and developers to its tools.
Weaknesses: Salesforce's out-of-the-box integration capabilities are not as flexible and extensive as other mobile app development platforms. Also, Salesforce's App Cloud platform does not focus on mobile app testing support or third-party testing services as much as other platforms do.
Microsoft: Leader
Microsoft has expanded its mobile app development platform drastically, with its integration of Xamarin (acquired in March) and enhancements of Azure's App Service and DevOps capabilities for mobile.
The Redmond, Wash.-based mobile app development platform is made up of an omni-channel offering, based on Visual Studio, Azure App Service and the Xamarin platform. While developers can build hybrid apps with Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova and native apps using Xamarin in Visual Studio, line-of-business analysts can create hybrid apps with Microsoft PowerApps.
Azure App Service, meanwhile, offers mobile back-end services on various operating systems, with capabilities such as push notifications, identity management, social media integration and location services.
Microsoft
Strengths: Microsoft is a good choice for enterprises that have a significant investment and skills in the Microsoft ecosystem (including Visual Studio and Windows-based back-end systems). The company's platform is also strong in that Xamarin developers can design app interfaces to create fully native user interfaces customized for each platform.
Weaknesses: Microsoft has struggled to attract large numbers of cross-platform developers to its platform beyond its existing .NET developer base. The platform also has not generated traction with higher level line-of-business buyers because of its developer-oriented tools.
Adobe: Leader
San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe ranked as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant this year, in part because of its enhancements to Adobe Experience Manager Mobile and its entrenched user base -- with designers and marketers as well as web developers.
Adobe's platform is AEM Mobile, which supports both native and hybrid app development. The company's full mobile app development capabilities require the use of other Adobe products, such as Adobe Marketing Cloud and Adobe.io offerings.
Adobe
Strengths: Adobe's platform is strong in the business-to-consumer market, touting creative tools in addition to analytics and marketing cloud solutions. AEM Mobile builds on these tools and solutions with strong native and hybrid app development capabilities. In addition, AEM Mobile allows marketers to measure engagement with the apps by incorporating a subset of Adobe Mobile Services.
Weaknesses: AEM Mobile's Adobe-centric development construct may be unfamiliar to developers who have not worked extensively with Adobe's Marketing Cloud before. In addition, integration into back-end systems of record may be a challenge without the investment in Adobe's Marketing Cloud and Adobe Analytics.
SAP: Challenger
SAP was ranked a Challenger in the Magic Quadrant this year based on its execution in moving existing customers to its SAP Mobile Platform and SAP HANA Cloud Platform mobile service offerings.
SAP's mobile app development platform has extended its mobile user experience. The Walldorf, Germany-based company introduced Splash and Build, cloud-based collaborative design and prototyping tools that can help jump-start the development process. SAP also offers mobile back-end services through HCPms.
SAP recently unveiled a partnership with Apple to create new, Swift-based iOS SDK optimized for SAP's 4HANA and HPC.
SAP
Strengths: Organizations already invested in SAP back-ends and SaaS applications will usually pick the SAP Mobile Platform, because of the tight integration through HANA Cloud and prebuilt solutions for SAP modules for accelerating time to market. Also, SAP's API Management offers robust API creation and monitoring capabilities based on OEM technology for Apigee.
Weaknesses: While SAP offers capabilities to discover and connect its APIs, its set of ready-to-use connectors for popular third-party systems and services is limited. SAP's diverse mobile product portfolio also leads to product confusion and licensing complexity for customers.
Oracle: Challenger
Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle experienced positive market traction because of its Mobile Cloud Service offering and new focus on mobility at a corporate strategy level, propelling it into the Challenger ranking of Gartner's Magic Quadrant.
Oracle's Mobile Platform offers a suite of products, including the company's mobile back-end services, JavaScript Extension Toolkit for web development, and Mobile Application Framework for cross-platform hybrid app development. In May, the company's cloud-based no-code app development tool, Mobile Application Accelerator, became available.
Oracle has used its Mobile Application Framework to extend mobile apps for enterprise application suites, including Siebel and JD Edwards.
Oracle
Strengths: Oracle offers extensive integration options to its enterprise application portfolio, including more than 160 packaged mobile apps in Apple's App Store, and connects to third-party systems using Oracle middleware. The company has also elevated its Mobile Platform to one of its key corporate "pillars," meaning greater resources and focus will go into it.
Weaknesses: Although Oracle's mobile Application Framework has been on the market for years, other mobile offerings are still relatively new, and Oracle continues to try to integrate and improve its platform, according to Gartner.
Pegasystems: Visionary
Cambridge, Mass.-based Pegasystems was ranked a Visionary in Gartner's Magic Quadrant, for its improved market execution and mobile product enhancements.
Pegasystems' mobile app development platform offering is built into its Pega 7 Platform, which includes predictive analytics tools, case management and business process management capabilities. The platform includes an integrated Pega Express rapid mobile app development tool, offered as a free Software-as-a-Service product, that enables non-developers to build cross-platform mobile apps using visual user flow and workflow components.
Pegasystems' portfolio also includes mobile app back-end service support development, using Android Studio and Xcode, in addition to third-party front-end development tools and frameworks like Xamarin.
Pegasystems
Strengths: Pegasystems' platform includes a wide array of enterprise data connectors and enables a virtualized data layer that has the capabilities of transforming any data source to a common data model for mobile development. The company also offers one of the most intuitive platforms for building not only mobile apps, but also desktop and mobile web apps.
Weaknesses: Pegasystems' shortcomings are that is has not effectively targeted or supported independent mobile app developers, and its mobile developer community is nascent compared with other major vendors.
Outsystems: Visionary
Atlanta-based Outsystems is a new addition to Gartner's Magic Quadrant for mobile app development platforms. The company's support for the needs of IT and line-of-business users as well as its platform's rapid mobile app development capabilities were factors in making Outsystems a Visionary on the Magic Quadrant.
Outsystems' platform offers a visual, low-code rapid development app tool for developing mobile hybrid and web-based HTML5 apps. This platform allows users to visually create cross-platform UXs, including device-specific customizations for different target devices. For back-end development, the platform enables developers to consume and orchestrate multiple data sources, cloud sources and enterprise systems.
Outsystems
Strengths: Outsystems' platform enables high-productivity using a model-driven approach to configure the apps' layers, including UIs, data models, business processes, integration workflows and APIs. Also, developers can incorporate their own customer Java or C# code or libraries and compose them as part of the model.
Weaknesses: Outsystems' metadata model, which describes the behavior of an app, does not give the developer complete control over the generated code, because it limits developers' ability to define how code is generated. Also, Outsystems does not give any options to directly deploy apps to Cloud Foundry-based environments.
Progress: Visionary
Bedford, Mass.-based Progress ranked as a Visionary in the Magic Quadrant this year because of its enhancements for supporting more robust enterprise requirements and strong vision for the mobile app development platform. However, the company still has some work to do -- its platform is not yet showing significant enterprise traction, and it needs to demonstrate a more cohesive solution, not just for developers, but also business stakeholders, Gartner said.
Progress touts its Telerik Platform, which provides a suite of products for the entire mobile app development life cycle, and supports hybrid apps using JavaScript, HTML5 and Cordova through its AppBuilder IDE. AppBuilder enables visual screen designing capabilities, but can also support other user interface frameworks.
Progress
Strengths: Progress' Telerik platform is one of the few platforms that can address mobile and desktop web, hybrid and native app development with its own tools. The platform also features very strong DevOps support, with powerful app analytics, app feedback management, app life cycle management and integrated mobile test automation.
Weaknesses: According to Gartner, some enterprise customers have indicated insufficient support, so Progress' mobile developer customers need to be be self-sufficient. The platform also falls short of being a full-fledged rapid mobile app development tool for those who are not technical professionals, although it has some visual screen designing and building capabilities in its AppBuilder tool.
Mendix: Visionary
Mendix ranked in the Visionaries quadrant this year, in part because of its growing capabilities to support the mobility needs of various lines of business, as well as IT. The Application Platform-as-a-Service company's app development platform is broad and supports digital business initiatives, including management of applications across all channels.
Boston-based Mendix, which focuses on collaboration between business and IT, features a platform with capabilities enabling rapid model-driven development of hybrid HTML5-based apps, which execute within the Apache Cordova container.
Mendix
Strengths: Mendix has a strong cloud focus and architecture based on Cloud Foundry -- so it is well-suited for organizations seeking a cloud-native solution. The company's model-driven development also provides high-productivity tools for business analysts and developers to create apps without needing code.
Weaknesses: Mendix offers limited ready-to-use connectors to popular packaged enterprise application and service providers, although it offers capabilities to discover and connect to APIs. The platform also has limited mobile analytics capabilities, which are important for supporting DevOps and business decision making.
Red Hat: Visionary
Red Hat, Raleigh, N.C., ranked in the Visionaries quadrant for mobile application development because of its integration of FeedHenry with core Red Hat products and the release of its Red Hat Mobile Application Platform.
Red Hat's Mobile Application Platform offers a no-code Forms Builder with drag-and-drop functionality to create apps.
The platform, which supports development across multiple teams and projects with centralized access control and project visibility, consists of a suite of products such as FeedHenry's MBaaS plaform and technology like OpenShift enterprise.
Red Hat
Strengths: Red Hat's platform has a combination of rapid mobile application development capabilities, including mobile forms creation and support for code-centric development styles, which support an agile, flexible approach to developing and deploying mobile apps.
Weaknesses: The platform has limited built-in analytics and operational dashboards -- users need third-party analytics modules like AppDynamics for these capabilities. Also, Red Hat's built-in deployment and management capabilities are fairly lightweight, according to Gartner.
Appian: Niche Player
Appian, Reston, Va., ranked as a Niche Player in the Magic Quadrant, for its focus on enterprises that want to rapidly deploy process-driven and case-driven multichannel apps. According to Gartner, Appian has strong execution in its market, but has not extended that vision to address broader mobile app development platform requirements, like a mobile-oriented visual UI designer.
Appian's Self-Assembling Interface Layer Framework enables cross-platform app development, and takes declarative UI definitions to generate dynamic user experiences. The platform is specifically for enterprises -- the company's Interface Designer tool enables collaboration between business and IT as it is built on a visual composition methodology.
Appian
Strengths: Appian's process modeler and rules designer tools are its strength -- these tools enable a visual composition approach to minimize the need for coding and decrease app development overhead. Through Appian's cloud architecture, mobile apps can also be linearly scaled to support higher user loads.
Weaknesses: Appian's app layout designer does not provide mobile-specific previews of the app while it is being built -- a user who wants to view it needs to deploy the app to a physical device. Also, Appian's UI capabilities are not as extensive as those of other mobile app development platforms.
DSI: Niche Player
DSI's market focus on mobile supply chain use cases, like data-driven processes, helped it rank in the Niche Players quadrant this year. The Kansas City-based company's Mobile Enterprise platform is targeted toward existing enterprise systems, where it can be fully integrated to mobilize and optimize supply chain functions.
The platform can also create consumer-grade app user experiences by combining its supply chain expertise with its Wire framework's UX design capabilities.
DSI
Strengths: DSI acquired RareWire in 2015, enhancing its UI capabilities through the Wire technology. The company also created a plug-in to its Sketch design tool to generate Wire code. The company's back-end integration capabilities and certified connector availabilities are broad -- many independent software vendors use and resell its connectors.
Weaknesses: According to Gartner, customers have experienced issues with shortages in resource availability for DSI's professional services, especially on larger projects that have higher demands. The company also has a small ecosystem outside of the U.S., which is a challenge for customers outside of the country.
Appcelerator: Niche Player
San Jose, Calif.-based Appcelerator, which was acquired by Axway this year, made the Niche Players quadrant. The acquisition of this company gives Appcelerator new sales channels and expanded integration tools for enterprise capabilities.
Appcelerator Studio, the company's development environment, offers functionality for building and testing native apps across mobile platforms leveraging the Titanium SDK and Hyperloop framework. Appcelerator Arrow enables mobile back-end service functionality for a broad range of services running in Arrow Cloud, such as push notifications.
Appcelerator
Strengths: Appcelerator offers strong developer-oriented front-end tools and frameworks, as well as mobile back-end services and management capabilities that address a variety of mobile app use cases. The platform provides a fully integrated and automated testing capability for fast, thorough assessments of app quality and behavior on various platforms.
Weaknesses: Some customers say Appcelerator apps have a slower-than-native performance, according to Gartner, and the Studio user interface editor is still a code-centric approach to developing apps that falls short of the more seamless rapid mobile app development processes that help mobile development teams accelerate their work.
Backbase: Niche Player
Backbase ranked in the Niche Player quadrant for its sole focus in the financial services vertical. The Amsterdam-based company's Backbase Customer Experience platform offers cross-platform development capabilities and supports open-source NativeScript, React Native, and native iOS and Android technologies.
Backbase's platform touts the Mobile SDK, a collection of components enabling organizations to build, test and deploy mobile apps based on out-of-the-box templates and "widgets" used as a starting point for building mobile apps.
Backbase
Strengths: Backbase excels in its app security -- the company provides out-of-the-box communication that supports JavaScript Object Notation Web Tokens with different encryption methods. The company also supports standard native technologies and common web technologies.
Weaknesses: Backbase does not use its own cross-platform integration development environment to create native apps, so developers need to be familiar with native IDEs. The company also does not have a strong presence in industries other than the financial services sector.
Embarcadero: Niche Player
San Francisco-based Embarcadero was ranked in the Niche Player quadrant for its focus on the C, C++ and Pascal developer segments.
Embarcadero, which was acquired by database and infrastructure management software company Idera in 2015, offers RAD Studio 10 cross-platform development tools as part of its mobile application development platform. These tools are targeted toward sophisticated developers using the Object Pascal and C/C++ languages.
Embarcadero
Strengths: Embarcadero has more than 200 partners that develop app components and add-ons to improve developer productivity. The company's RAD Studio 10 tool also has a unique focus on IoT and wearables, with features like Bluetooth LE and proximity awareness beacons.
Weaknesses: The company's platform lacks some aspects of full life-cycle support, such as device cloud testing and robust mobile back-end service capabilities. RAD Studio also has not been widely adopted and only addresses a limited segment of developers, so enterprises without developers familiar with Object Pascal or C++ may have a hard time.