Businesses cannot wait any longer to invest in the use of mobile apps and to develop their own as the practice of people using personal mobile devices in the workplace – the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model – becomes more prevalent, according to David Patrick, CEO of mobile app management company Apperian.

He told Mobile Apps Briefing that many business chiefs now want smartphones to do more than merely provide email, calendar and contact functionality, meaning the time is right to “either build highly targeted bespoke apps, license and customise frameworks that are available, or buy apps for their workforce”.

Patrick added that mobility in the enterprise sector is now “a white-hot market” making it virtually impossible for IT departments to wait any longer to embrace apps.

“Businesses are quickly coming to grips with BYOD in terms of content, privacy, security, intellectual property and corporate policy requirements. They also are rapidly realising how to leverage this trend to reap productivity gains,” he said.

And the Apperian chief added that his company’s business has grown alongside the rise of the BYOD model. “The faster the BYOD market grows, the faster the MAM [mobile application management] market will grow,” he said.

Such are the demands for mobile app management that Patrick said Apperian’s biggest challenge is making sure its app management technology keeps pace with the number of mobile apps being used in the workplace.

Our full interview with David Patrick will be published later this week.