IBM MobileFirst Gives Organizations Better App Security, Engagement

When it comes to mobile payments, there’s a whole mobile experience that needs to be considered beyond just the making and taking of payments.

Security is also a big issue; just ask anyone who was on the losing end of the myriad of data breaches at major retailers back last year.

IBM, meanwhile, may have a way to help make the mobile experience better and more secure, and it comes from a new set of modular mobile solutions known as the IBM MobileFirst Platform.

The IBM MobileFirst Platform is designed to not only make apps safer, but also help narrow down time to completed development.

Given that 85 percent of companies report a backlog of apps to release measuring as high as 20, that makes it clear that being able to shrink that time down is going to be a welcome development for many companies finding the mobile channel to be critically important to their business.

IBM MobileFirst not only works in an on-premise capacity, but can also be put to use as a cloud-based system, providing the best in versatility between those who want a simple, scalable approach and those who want complete control over the process.

Better yet, it can be used as a complete development platform, or as a means to add third-party tools to currently-existing apps, meaning that things like click-to-call services or geolocation can be a part of current systems, instead of having to stage a complete tear-down. Plus, the MobileFirst system has the Cloudant module, allowing for “data-rich” applications to be constructed, and more data to arrive in the operators’ systems.

IBM’s vice president for enterprise mobile, Phil Buckellew, offered up some comment on the release, saying “Based on thousands of client engagements, we appreciate that no matter where clients are in the process of executing their mobile strategies, the pressure on speed is creating tremendous business and technology challenges. With new cloud-based and on premise services we continue to make investments in the IBM MobileFirst Platform to ensure our clients can move at the speed of mobile while securely connecting to the enterprise.”

Security, ease of use, and rapid time to market; these are parts of the mobile experience that consumers don’t commonly think of, but are no less important.

It’s impossible to use a mobile payment system that isn’t trustworthy. Tools like MobileFirst are making it easier for mobile developers, especially in payments, to close the loop.