I heard a lot of flattering reviews about the Xamarin platform. Our company in the past and now cooperates with these guys, they created and create a mobile Internet platform and, accordingly, a mobile application. https://headworks.io/blog/12-benefits-of-Xamarin-Cross-platform-app-development Very good at doing their job. It’s very important to mention that Xamarin is a C#-based program. C# is a type-safe, pure object-oriented programming language that’s flexible and easy to learn. That’s why working with Xamarin doesn’t require extra coding effort.

Friends, I am a doctor in a city hospital. I am the head of the department and in parallel do technical modifications in our department and partially in the hospital. Now we are looking for a good platform for creating a mobile medical application. Help please advice.

Some additional factors to consider

Hi Sam.  I strongly agree with the earlier comments about early user involvement and I think it's critical to give users choice between different options at each stage. 

The key question to ask is "will this mobile solution make it easier for me to do my job ?"  Mobile technology is nothing more than an enabler for business improvement. For a successful project it's necessary to define the business objectives for introducing mobility and then evaluate the different options for solutions to acheive them. 

Sounds simple doesn't it ?  But the reality is that when it comes to mobile solutions there are still some big challenges to overcome.  We have got used to accessing Maximo via browsers on desktops, laptops and possibly tablet devices.  All browsers work the same way and deliver a consistent User Interface.  Unfortunately it's not the same for mobile devices and the Apps that run on them.

Differences in how Android, iOS and Windows work, the terminology and workflow used in the App and how the data is sync'd back to Maximo impose constraints which can severely restrict the number of viable options.  The end result can be a mobile solution that end users don't like which does not acheive the business objectives. 

To avoid this it's necessary to understand and work within the constraints that the device hardware, operating system and available network connectivity impose on mobility solutions.   When these are understood, and a viable mobility platform has been selected then you can start thinking about the business options to present to users.   It's much easier to change the Application software on the mobile device than to change the Hardware on which it runs.  So my advice is don't commit to a specific mobile device or mobility platform  until you are 100% certain that the functionality and usability your business and users need can be successfully delivered on that platform.

User involvement / acceptance

Following on from Richard's comment above, we completed a proof of concept with our end users, to ensure the mobile solution selected would meet their needs.  Our IBM partners created a bespoke mobile environment for us (our assets and locations) so it would look familiar to the end users.  A mixed demographic of users was selected, the software was intuitive so training required was minimal and the end users were over whelming positive they all liked the software and the hardware selected and were in agreement that the mobile solution was the way forward for how they will work.

Where we use the mobile solution

Sam, from our point of view we utilise a handheld solution for booking in/out tools and inventory items, so it's not massively mobile as it's limited to a warehouse. We have had some real problems with getting the business rules and interface on the device to compliment each other.... I can't strees enough how important it is to keep it simple and get the end users involved at the earliest opportunity. These days people expect handhelds to be simple to pick up and use and as intuitive use as a modern smart phone. Something we are going to have to work on in the future, so it will be interesting to know which way you go.

Rich