Peer to Peer Magazine

11 WWW.ILTANET.ORG BEST PRACTICES HTML5 or Native: Making the Choice on a consumer app world, a world dominated by native apps. However, development decisions should not be based on performance alone. In the case of low transaction levels and connecting to the desktop, the 100 percent functionality of HTML5 might trump the performance delivered by native. This can save costs in the short- and long-term, and ensures a more predictable product life cycle. » Security: While HTML5 leaves no footprint on the device, it is important to use good coding practices when writing Web apps because savvy hackers can access source code and take advantage of URL vulnerabilities. Since both native and HTML5 applications manage data on the device, these data should be appropriately secured and encrypted. For data in transit, HTML5 forces a trade-off between performance and greater security. While both native and HTML5 can adequately address the vital security question, it comes down to the platforms being developed correctly. » Buy vs. Build: The firm's philosophy on outsourcing could, in part, dictate its development path. An ambitious application plan might be beer executed with outside help. Common "buy vs. build" considerations include the third party's commitment to success, access to reasonably priced external expertise and time-to-market for bug or enhancement requests. » Native, HTML5 or Hybrid: No soware inherently works across all platforms, nor can soware always be easily adapted to do so. Even if your current requirement is only for a desktop implementation, consider how you will make it work for mobile users in the future. Planning that at the outset prevents a world of pain further down the line. Do the math: Have you ever thought about how many mobile phone types there are? Development might be easy if you just stick to iOS, but what about Android and Windows? Even BlackBerry continues to release new versions development strategy decisions around HTML5 and native applications and articulated lessons learned related to provisioning, securing and supporting the different app types within a firm. The $64,000 question that dominated a majority of the panelists' conversations focused on the strategic decision-making process. Here are some takeaways on deciding which technology to use: » The Mobile Use Case: What are your users demanding from the mobile application, and how will you exceed their expectations to ensure engagement? This consideration oen will trump all others. In the Facebook and LinkedIn examples, the basis of the decision was that over 75 percent of activity was targeted at mobile users, high transaction levels and the requirement for platform-specific features/APIs –– all three of which favor native. » Availability of Development Skills: If the use case can be addressed and engagement achieved effectively by either native or HTML5, then access to development skills is an important consideration. Development skills will affect cost, time-to-market and the pace of product evolution and competitiveness in the future. Just because the skills are within reach today does not mean they will be accessible long-term for the device platforms, including those that have yet to surface. Native was an easy choice back when BlackBerry dominated the legal profession; however, the legal market today is composed of four platforms (iOS, Android, Windows and BlackBerry), increasing the costs 400 percent for the same market/audience. HTML5 has the advantages of access to development skills, the support of a centralized deployment/upgrade model (familiar for firms), and it can easily extend feature/functionality from the desktop, which means minimal training. » Performance: The performance gap between native apps and HTML5 is noticeable even by end users. Remember that their benchmark is based MARK GARNISH Mark Garnish, Development Director at Tikit, has ultimate responsibility for the development of Tikit's legal IT products, including Carpe Diem, eMarketing, Template Management System (TMS), TikitConnect and Partner for Windows. Working in legal IT since 1984, Mark developed and supported early debt collection and conveyancing systems, and he wrote and designed a time recording system based on barcodes to allow fee earners to post time while mobile. Mark also led the team responsible for the development and subsequent success of Partner for Windows as the leading case and practice management system within the U.K. Contact him at markgarnish@tikit.com. PETER ZVER Peter Zver is the President of Tikit North America and has been serving the legal technology market for over two decades. His background in information systems and finance and his experience running technology companies have enabled him to collaborate with law firms globally on delivering time and knowledge management solutions to users. Currently, Peter leads sales, marketing and support teams dedicated to delivering timekeeping, eMarketing and document technologies to the North American legal market. Contact him at peter.zver@tikit.com.

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