The ability to evaluate the needs, set the goals, and quickly make decisions is a prerequisite for any business today. From grand corporate strategy to micromanaging daily processes, every day presents challenges require quick but informed decisions. The same applies to the decisions on whether to develop a B2B app for your company – one must factor in the needs of the company, the expectations of the clients and/or employees and most importantly, the cost.

The three established methods for developing B2B apps are Native, HTML5, and Hybrid.

So how should you choose between them?

Investing in a slow, internet-connection-dependent app is a waste of resources. Just like paying twice for the same app with native development.

At the app crossroads

To make an informed decision it is necessary to know the kind of app you need, the development and the methodology.

Native – developed in the heart of the platform (iOS or Android), native apps offer seamless and secure integration with the basic functions of the platform and utilize a wide range of other apps' functions to achieve its goals. Major drawbacks – it requires a separate design and development for each platform. This then means each platform will require a separate team of specialist developers, doubling the price and the time it takes to develop the app. Rarely suitable for corporate solutions.

HTML5 – a simpler development proposition where a combination of CSS, HTML, and Javascript allows your company's app to work seamlessly across platforms. Essentially this is a web page wrapped into an app. It is significantly cheaper to develop and does not present the same cross-platform costs as native apps. However it does come with its own restrictions – the UX of the app won't be as responsive as native apps. Plus it will be wholly dependent on the presence of a stable internet connection. Further a lot of the native app functionality will simply not be available to this platform. As a cheap yet incomplete solution, it may still be suitable for some business models.

Hybrid – the best of both worlds. It blends the power of the native apps with the low cost of the HTML5 - all wrapped into a native app's container. As a result, your company gets a consistent cross-platform experience, that is available directly from Google's and Apple's app stores, and is much cheaper and faster to develop at half the cost of a native app with no need for separate teams and specific platform specialists.

Best of both worlds

Every business will want to strike the balance between ultra-responsiveness and accessibility, native app functionality and costs. Going with hybrid apps for B2B solutions seems a perfect fit for both intercompany and intracompany solutions. For the majority of businesses today, investing in a slow, internet-connection-dependent app, is a waste of resources. Additionally going for a native app feels like paying twice for the same project. Thus, modern problems require hybrid solutions.