Mobile is on the rise with tablets and smart phones passing desktops and laptops in usage.  A number of vendors are rushing to provide capabilities to this emerging opportunity. DoubleDutch has expanded its initial offerings to provide a comprehensive suite of mobile apps for the enterprise. I recently spoke with their CEO Lawrence Coburn about this move.

Lawrence rightly noted that software that is in your hand and often at your side 24/7 is different than the apps you use at your desk. With HYVE they are providing a series of lightweight apps with specific functions and simple interfaces to serve the worker on the run. He said that they are not trying to be a Facebook for the enterprise with a single destination point to cover all needs. Instead, they are offering a series of easy to use productivity tools for the business user in the field.

They are working in alignment with four emerging themes in the workplace. Mobile is passing desktops as the most used device, social is passing email as the most used app, simplicity and limited functionality is becoming the norm for enterprise apps, and the Management 2.0 approach to flat and transparent organizations in gaining acceptance over the old hierarchical structures.

HYVE is designed to support all of these trends with mobile, social, simple, and location-aware apps. It also provides an engagement layer between the user and traditional enterprise apps such as ERP or CRM.  Part of the employee – app interaction is automated by geo-location awareness and much of the rest can be handled by the tapping capability of smart phones rather than typing. A sample status update screen is shown below.

For example, logging in a client account activity into a traditional CRM system takes, at best, around ten minutes and is often delayed until a sales rep returns to the office. With the HYVE Sales app, geo-location sensitivity picks up when the repauto fills some input and provides relevant client context from the client location. The rep can then tap selections from list of options. HYVE Sales shortens the update time to around 10 seconds and it happens in real time so account records are always up to date.  For example, another employee could learn of the rep’s presence at the client site as soon as it happens and ask the rep to handle an additional matter while they were there.

HYVE also makes good use of analytics. You can get a breakdown of your activity and this can be aggregated for groups and organizations. Here is a sample analytics screen showing the activity for a user.

Here is sample activity feed so you can check on what is happening with the people of interest.

The DoubleDutch HYVE enterprise suite includes seven apps with more on the way. Here are their descriptions. There is HYVE Knowledge™ for project-management teams, including product development, management, small and mid-size businesses, and IT consultants.

HYVE Field™ serves field workers, including service, delivery and maintenance professionals working outside the four walls and servicing customers and partners.

HYVE Sales™ supports sales teams in multiple industries looking to build collaborative environments that track pipeline progress, tighten strategy on accounts, and enhance customer retention and satisfaction activities and metrics.

HYVE CSR™ is designed for enterprises that want to build communities, engagement, and collaboration around Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts and employee volunteer opportunities.

HYVE Onboarding™ serves HR organizations that want to streamline the employee onboarding process and create a collaborative culture for both existing and new employees.

HYVE Engage™ is for brands and media companies that wish to engage both businesses and consumers.

HYVE Events™ meets the needs of event producers that want to add mobile, location and social capabilities for conference and tradeshow attendees. I can certainly see the utility of this one, as well as the others.

Lawrence said DoubleDutch designed HYVE’s features for intuitive ease of use like most consumer Web tools. In fact, they borrowed some of the interface from social media applications so it would be recognizable to new users. They also added a gaming component to further encourage use. You can get points for various activities and receive achievement badges. It can become every addictive and DoubleDutch reports that 60% of the users log in more than 100 times a week. Mobile is the next frontier in enterprise apps and DoubleDutch has developed a very strong offering for this expanding market. I like all aspects of what I have seen.