What makes enterprise apps different
A consumer app has one owner and one audience. An enterprise app has many stakeholders: the business unit that asked for it, IT who will deploy it, security who will review it, legal and procurement who will contract for it, and the employees who have to use it on a warehouse floor or in a client's office. Each group has requirements that rarely appear in the first feature list.
Our approach to enterprise mobile app development is to bring those groups in early. We ask for your security questionnaire, your identity setup and your device policy in the first weeks, because each one shapes the architecture.
Single sign-on with your identity provider
Employees should sign in with the account they already use. For mobile apps, the modern pattern is OpenID Connect (OIDC) on top of OAuth 2.0, using the authorization code flow with PKCE and the system browser rather than an embedded web view. This lets users benefit from existing sessions and lets your identity provider enforce MFA and conditional access.
Microsoft Entra ID
We use the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL), which supports broker-based sign-in through Microsoft Authenticator or Company Portal and works with Conditional Access policies.
Okta, Ping and others
Standard OIDC libraries such as AppAuth, or the vendor's own mobile SDK, handle sign-in, token refresh and sign-out.
SAML-only environments
SAML was designed for browser flows. When an older identity setup only offers SAML, we typically bridge through an identity provider or broker that can issue OIDC tokens to the app.
Tokens are stored in the iOS Keychain and Android Keystore-backed storage, and sessions respect the revocation and lifetime rules your identity team sets.
Device management: MDM, MAM and Intune
How the app is deployed affects how it is built. Corporate-owned devices are usually enrolled in mobile device management (MDM). Personal devices are more often handled with mobile application management (MAM), which protects company data inside specific apps without controlling the whole phone.
| Requirement | What we build or configure |
|---|---|
| Intune app protection policies (MAM) | Integrate the Intune App SDK so policies such as copy-paste restrictions, PIN on launch and selective wipe apply to your app |
| Managed app configuration | Read settings such as server URLs or tenant IDs pushed by the MDM through AppConfig-style managed configuration on iOS and Android |
| Private distribution | Support Apple Business Manager custom apps and managed Google Play private apps, so internal apps never appear publicly |
| Other MDM platforms | Work with Jamf, Workspace ONE or similar using the same managed configuration standards where supported |
Offline-first design and data sync
Field technicians, drivers, inspectors and sales reps lose signal constantly. An enterprise app that blocks on every network call will be abandoned. We design these apps offline-first: the local database is the app's working copy, and a sync engine reconciles it with the server.
- 1
Decide what lives on the device
We define which records each role needs offline, how far back, and how sensitive they are. Less data on the device means faster sync and smaller exposure if a device is lost.
- 2
Queue changes locally
Every create, update and delete is stored as a pending operation and replayed in order when the connection returns.
- 3
Resolve conflicts on purpose
When two people edit the same record, rules decide the outcome: last write wins, field-level merge, or flag for human review. Each entity gets an explicit rule.
- 4
Show sync status
Users see what is saved locally, what has synced and what failed, so nobody assumes a job is submitted when it isn't.
Our logistics app projects rely heavily on this pattern for drivers and warehouse staff.
Integrating with legacy systems safely
Enterprise data often lives in systems built long before mobile: on-premises ERPs, mainframe-backed services, SOAP APIs, file drops. Connecting a phone directly to these is risky and fragile. We place an integration layer between the app and the legacy estate, usually a backend-for-frontend service, which handles authentication, translates formats, caches slow responses and absorbs changes so the app does not break when a back-office system is upgraded.
- Reuse your existing API gateway or integration platform where you have one.
- Respect rate limits and batch windows of older systems instead of hammering them with mobile traffic.
- Keep credentials for back-end systems on the server, never in the app.
- Document every data flow for your architecture review board.
If the app itself is the legacy problem, our app modernization service covers rebuilding older enterprise apps in stages.
Role-based access and audit logging
Permissions are enforced on the server and reflected in the app. We map roles to groups or claims from your identity provider, so access changes in one place when someone moves teams or leaves. The app hides actions a user can't perform, but the API is what actually refuses them.
Audit logs record who did what, when and from which device for sensitive actions such as approvals, record changes, exports and permission changes. We agree with you on what to log, how long to keep it, and whether it should feed your SIEM. Logs are designed to avoid capturing personal data that isn't needed, which matters in regulated settings like healthcare apps.
Security reviews and penetration testing
We expect your security team, or a third-party firm you hire, to test the app. We make that easier rather than treating it as an obstacle.
- We use the OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard (MASVS) as a checklist during development, so common findings are handled before testing starts.
- We complete security questionnaires accurately and document architecture, data flows, third-party SDKs and data storage.
- We provide test builds, test accounts and environment access for penetration testers.
- We triage findings with you, fix them by severity and supply evidence for retesting.
We don't claim certifications we haven't been verified for. Compliance remains a shared responsibility between your organization and us, and we document our controls so your auditors can assess them.
Governance, procurement and scaling across business units
Procurement realities
Expect vendor onboarding, security assessments, data processing agreements and insurance checks before work starts. We plan the project timeline around these steps and can start with a small, low-risk discovery phase while paperwork completes. Our page on engagement models explains how fixed-price and time-and-materials contracts fit enterprise budgets.
One platform, many business units
When several divisions want similar apps, building each from scratch creates duplicated cost and inconsistent security. We prefer a shared foundation: common authentication, design system, networking, logging and release pipeline, with each business unit's features built as separate modules. Configuration controls branding and feature flags per unit. A dedicated team usually owns that core platform while feature squads build on top of it.