Beating the Mobile App Backlog

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- To help organizations struggling to meet the huge demand for easy-to-use mobile applications, iRise today announced a new version of its popular software prototyping and visualization platform. Meeting the increasingly high expectations for business software created by the "consumerization of IT," iRise 8.9 helps businesspeople and designers visualize and experience what it's like to use new applications before they're coded, and includes special features to speed app development for the iPhone, iPad, and other mobile platforms.

iRise helps companies cope with the growing need of business and government to meet new expectations raised by the ease of use of mobile platforms such as the iPhone, the iPad, and laptops.  The skyrocketing use of such platforms in business—often referred to as "the consumerization of IT"—has put many organizations under intense pressure to create business applications for stakeholders who expect to take their apps with them wherever they go, and who are quickly irritated by even small flaws in their user experiences.

"The mobile app revolution has left a lot of companies facing a huge mountain of applications that need to go mobile immediately, in virtually every field—from banking to transportation to medicine," says Maurice Martin, president, COO and founder of iRise.  "The new features in iRise 8.9 help speed up the process by quickly simulating real apps before a single line of code is ever written, which really helps firms work through their backlogs," he explains.

Similar to computer-aided design (CAD) designs for physical products, simulations built with iRise act as working models—visual blueprints—for complex business applications. Users actually use the simulation the way they'll use the final version—scrolling, using slider bars, flipping through apps, stretching or compressing displays and entering information into forms—eliminating the painful surprises and expensive rework that's often needed when users only get to use the near-final versions of software projects. 

And once everyone on a project has used a new prototype—and agrees on how the application should work and what it will look like—iRise can help produce the HTML code that creates the screens and apps that users interact with, further speeding up software delivery.

The following iRise 8.9 capabilities make it easy to develop new apps, or take existing ones mobile:

• iPhone pages automatically simulate inside an emulated iPhone, complete with virtual keyboard and momentum scrolling, for a rich, realistic mobile experience delivered entirely through the browser.
• iRise Mobile, a free, native iOS app available in iTunes, helps stakeholders view mobile visualizations directly on their own iPads and iPhones.
• It's easy to jump-start mobile simulations with the iPhone Content Module, which contains the full set of iPhone user interface (UI) elements and controls, such as the barrel spinner and the on/off switch.  All elements comply with with Apple's iOS UI Element Usage Guidelines, so simulations look almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
• iConnect, a series of APIs for extending iRise, provides full read and write access to requirements in iRise, enabling bi-directional integrations with almost any requirements system.
• Companies can easily access all project details through iConnect—pages, widgets, logic, data, etc.—for custom integrations, extensions, and reports to meet the unique needs of each organization. For more information on iConnect, see idn.iRise.com.

The effect of using iRise on organizations' software capabilities is often stunning. "Our customer base is full of organizations whose leadership was concerned that they couldn't develop apps fast enough to meet demand, but used iRise to quickly deliver experiences that delighted their customers, on time and under budget," says iRise's Martin.

To learn more about iRise 8.9 or to download a free 30-day trial, see: http://www.irise.com/products/overview

About iRise
iRise is the world's leading provider of enterprise visualization software for business applications. Visualization has become a critical competitive advantage for businesses to more effectively communicate their needs to technology teams and give everyone involved the ability to interact with and fully experience applications before they are built. Companies of all sizes like General Motors, UPS, FedEx, Haworth, Manpower, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and hundreds of others use iRise to "test drive" their applications before building, which accelerates time to market, improves customer experience, and drives cost down. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., iRise is backed by Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, and Deutsche Bank, and has sales offices across North America and in London.

iRise is a registered trademark of iRise. All other companies and products mentioned are trademarks and property of their respective owners.

SOURCE iRise