Mobile Apps Outlook 2009, hosted by Potomac Tech Wire, brought together several Washington, D.C.-based executives working in the mobile applications space. The experts--which included Chris Brozenick, vice president and general manager of Mobile for WeatherBug and Guy Vidra, head of business development and emerging media at Washington Post Digital--had a lot to say about the direction of mobile applications and consumer acceptance.

In addition to mobile app providers and mobile device makers, the event attracted business owners who were eager to learn about mobile apps. Many of these entrepreneurs hoped the event would lay the groundwork--and provide the business to business connections--they needed to launch apps for their customers.

Despite the presence of so many business owners, few were looking internally at how apps could improve enterprise efficiency. "Be very specific with the point of your app," Daniel Odio, co-founder and COO of PointAbout, reminded attendees. "You may want to make an app so that your customer support team can write tickets right from their phone. That doesn't have to be widely marketed. You might just want your sales team to be able to enter information in the CRM right from their phone so they can actually use it. Not every app has to be made for the masses. Be very specific in order to get the maximum value out of it."

Despite Apple's recent inroads in the enterprise, not a lot has been done to develop an enterprise app store. Still, the panel said there is a case for an enterprise app store. Brozenick predicted that if a company were to dive in, it would likely be RIM, not Apple. He was able to verify the need for enterprise apps because his company, WeatherBug, had received requests to build enterprise-oriented weather apps.

"Someone in a construction job needs to know when to pour the concrete, or a truck driver or fleet manager would want to be aware of how temperature will affect their business," said Brozenick.

Manoj Ramnani, founder and CEO of DubMeNow, said, "While there is not a specific app store for the enterprise, we're seeing more and more applications that benefit the back end of corporations."

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