How to Reengineer Yourself as a Mobile Developer

Developers with mobile skills are in a great position.

The question then becomes, "if you are a talented developer, what is the fastest and most cost-efficient way for you to add "mobile developer" to your skill set?

Recruiting firm Ranstad Technologies, CIO Magazine's annual found a whopping 104% year-over-year demand for developers with mobile skills. CIO Magazine's annual State of the CIO survey echoed the finding, reporting that 60% of CIOs surveyed faced a shortage of skills on their teams, with 18% reporting a skills shortage related to mobile technologies. TechRepublic reports that mobile app development is one of the ten most in-demand jobs this year.

This well-documented problem will only get worse with the mobile app explosion. Gartner reports that demand for enterprise mobile apps will outstrip the capacity of IT to deliver them by a factor of five to one by the end of this year. Gartner principal research analyst Adrian Leow warns, "We're seeing demand for mobile apps outstrip available development capacity, making quick creation of apps even more challenging."

If you're a developer without mobile skills, you'll be challenged; but at the same time, if you can quickly gain mobile app development skills, you'll benefit from the mobile app explosion.

Gaining Mobile App Development Skills - Quickly

Becoming a guru at native mobile development using Java, Objective C, or Swift is a major undertaking. It requires significant time investment and is an arduous process. But what if there was another approach? Low-code mobile app development offers a better path. Here's how to reengineer yourself as a mobile developer through low-code development:

1) First, assess the skills you have. If you have .Net, JavaScript skills, HTML5 skills or database skills (Microsoft Access, for example) then you're in a great position to go mobile.

2) Look at low-code products that can leverage the skills you already have. Alpha Anywhere, Outsystems and Force.com are low-code development products that leverage these types of skills.

3) Select a product based on two key criteria:

I. Technology capabilities:

• uses standard languages - preferably languages that reflect existing development skills you already have
• offers front=end and back-end development - this is important for apps with data integration, offline capabilities and security features like authentication
• is low-code but enables developers to add to code when needed - this insures that your apps will never "hit the wall"
• is truly cross-platform - optimized for mobile devices (including smartphones with small screens) and either operating system (Android or iOS)

II. Rapid self-proficiency:

The goal is to be completely self-sufficient at complex cross-platform pixel-perfect mobile app development in a short period of time, including the ability to add offline capability with intelligent synch, geo-location, back-end and front-end reporting/analytics or accessing the mobile device hardware for large file storage.

For example, Alpha Anywhere has a program that quickly makes any developer completely self-sufficient at complex mobile app development. At the end of a handful of weeks, you have your first completed Alpha Anywhere mobile app and are fully trained at low-code development.

4) Presto - you're a mobile capable developer!

Using your existing skill set and a comprehensive low-code development platform, you can position yourself as a fully-capable mobile app developer. This will allow you to take on new or expanded projects, increase your market value, and make you a long-term asset to your any organization.