Do you need MEAP in 2014?

Gartner has added many buzzwords in technology industry, MEAP being one more of them. MEAP in 2008 was like what wearable is in 2014. However since it's 2014 (and that's cool 6 years since Gartner coined this term), have a quick look at some of these interesting articles on web about why you might be appearing like Dinosaur if you are championing MEAP today.

Read this blog (http://blog.capriza.com/2013/02/22/you-dont-need-a-meap/) to know about the famous Rule of Three that organizations used to follow in order to determine whether or not to implement a MEAP. This rules says that a company should use a MEAP if it needs a solution that can:

1. Support three or more mobile applications
2. Support three or more mobile operating systems (OS)
3. Integrate with at least three back-end data sources

And it also mentions about the common issues (Cost, Support, Coding Issue, Vendor Lock in) of MEAP. Apart from the known issues, ask yourself if you are still seeing a fragmented device market within your org, considering this graphics from IDC. Your answer to (2) above might help you to take a position on whether to go for MEAP or not in your org.

You may check this slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net/simonguest/objective-view-of-meaps) also, which not only talks about the pitfalls, but also talks about few alternatives.

This blog (http://www.verivo.com/mobility-watch/is-meap-obsolete/) also talks about how MEAP is actually taking you away from Open platforms. The current Smartphone market leader Android is all about Open source and collaboration. Whether you would like to go for a closed system while using Android device would definitely be an interesting question.


If you are building an App portfolio for your organization, share your thoughts on MEAP vs. various other App strategy (Native, HTML5, Cross Platform etc) and your take on this.

PS: This post was also published in my Linkedin Author page - here.

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About me: I have been working in the areas of IT strategy & usage of Digital technology to deliver business growth. My areas of interest include Enterprise Mobility, Cloud Solution Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, Social Media and Big Data. I am an alumni of Indian Statistical Institute (MTech Computer Science) and also attended Harvard Business School Executive Education on Innovation and Driving Growth.