Appirio Releases Three Mobile Cloud Apps for Salesforce.com

Appirio has released three new mobile cloud apps to help customers take advantage of Salesforce CRM and put more content into the hands of its customers.

The new Appirio apps were designed to extend the existing functionality of Salesforce CRM to mobile devices to get the flexibility of a back-end cloud app while retaining the usability of a native mobile app. As part of Appirio’s Cloud Asset Library, the new mobile apps help businesses with three CRM-related activities:

Each application ties into the back end of Salesforce CRM, and information is shared between Salesforce and the apps to make it easier on end users: They don’t have to re-enter data or have a specialized mobile developer on hand to enhance the applications, according to Appirio.

However, the apps were designed with iOS in mind, making things a bit more challenging for Android users. According to Appirio, the apps are optimized for iPads and iPhones, “but can be configured for Android devices.” It sounds like the ease of use and installation is really only applicable to iOS users, leaving Android customers with some tinkering to get things working properly.

“Research indicates that the majority of business decision-makers will increase their mobile applications budget in 2012 and beyond as they look for better ways to engage with customers and partners,” said Kevin Dodson, senior consultant for Appirio’s mobile team, in a prepared statement.

There are surely opportunities for solution providers with mobile apps that tie directly into their Salesforce CRM databases, but it might be more helpful to see optimization on both iOS and Android platforms.