<s>
A	O
mobile	B-Application
enterprise	I-Application
application	I-Application
platform	I-Application
(	O
MEAP	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
suite	O
of	O
products	O
and	O
services	O
that	O
enable	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
mobile	B-Application
applications	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MEAPs	O
address	O
the	O
difficulties	O
of	O
developing	O
mobile	B-Application
software	I-Application
by	O
managing	O
the	O
diversity	O
of	O
devices	O
,	O
networks	O
,	O
and	O
user	O
groups	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
deployment	O
and	O
throughout	O
the	O
mobile	O
computing	O
technology	O
lifecycle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cross-platform	B-Operating_System
considerations	O
are	O
one	O
big	O
driver	O
behind	O
using	O
MEAPs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
company	O
can	O
use	O
a	O
MEAP	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
mobile	B-Application
application	I-Application
once	O
and	O
deploy	O
it	O
to	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
mobile	B-Application
devices	I-Application
(	O
including	O
smartphones	O
,	O
tablets	O
,	O
notebooks	O
,	O
and	O
ruggedized	O
handhelds	B-Application
)	O
with	O
no	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
underlying	O
business	B-Architecture
logic	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-Operating_System
platforms	I-Operating_System
provide	O
higher-level	O
languages	O
and	O
easy	O
development	O
templates	O
to	O
simplify	O
and	O
speed	O
the	O
mobile	B-Application
application	I-Application
development	I-Application
timeframe	O
,	O
requiring	O
less	O
programming	O
knowledge	O
for	O
mobile	O
business	O
application	O
deployment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
MEAP	O
is	O
generally	O
composed	O
of	O
two	O
parts	O
:	O
a	O
mobile	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
server	O
and	O
a	O
mobile	O
client	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
server	O
handles	O
all	O
system	O
integration	O
,	O
security	O
,	O
communications	O
,	O
scalability	O
,	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
support	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
data	O
is	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
server	O
—	O
it	O
just	O
manages	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
back-end	O
system	O
to	O
the	O
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
and	O
back	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-Application
applications	I-Application
are	O
software	O
that	O
connects	O
to	O
the	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
server	O
and	O
drives	O
both	O
the	O
user	O
interface	O
and	O
the	O
business	B-Architecture
logic	I-Architecture
on	O
the	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
applications	O
are	O
often	O
able	O
to	O
transfer	O
seamlessly	O
across	O
the	O
Mobile	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
,	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
to	O
launch	O
applications	O
upon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-Application
apps	I-Application
can	O
be	O
deployed	O
as	O
”	B-Protocol
thick	I-Protocol
"	I-Protocol
applications	I-Protocol
—	O
or	O
native	O
apps	O
that	O
are	O
installed	O
on	O
the	O
device	O
—	O
or	O
rendered	O
in	O
the	O
device	O
's	O
browser	O
using	O
technologies	O
such	O
as	O
HTML5	O
(	O
something	O
that	O
's	O
typically	O
called	O
the	O
"	O
thin	O
"	O
approach	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whether	O
a	O
"	O
thick	O
"	O
or	O
”	B-Device
thin	I-Device
"	I-Device
application	I-Device
is	O
deployed	O
depends	O
on	O
application	O
complexity	O
,	O
device	O
support	O
,	O
requirements	O
for	O
user	O
experience	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
app	O
availability	O
in	O
the	O
absence	O
of	O
network	O
coverage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MEAPs	O
can	O
support	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
type	O
of	O
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
and	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
without	O
having	O
to	O
maintain	O
separate	O
sets	O
of	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MEAP	O
typically	O
contains	O
a	O
mobile	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
server	O
where	O
integration	O
connectivity	O
,	O
security	O
,	O
and	O
app	O
management	O
are	O
supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
use	O
an	O
industry-standard	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environment	I-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
Eclipse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
tools	O
have	O
a	O
hybrid	O
mode	O
,	O
which	O
uses	O
JavaScript-based	O
UI	O
design	O
SDK	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Dojo	B-General_Concept
Toolkit	I-General_Concept
,	O
YUI	B-Language
Library	I-Language
,	O
jQuery	B-Language
Mobile	I-Language
,	O
Sencha	B-Language
Touch	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
is	O
plugged	O
into	O
IDE	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
PhoneGap	B-Protocol
(	O
Apache	B-Protocol
Cordova	I-Protocol
)	O
,	O
Appcelerator	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
means	O
a	O
custom	O
APP	O
can	O
use	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
features	O
without	O
any	O
4GL	O
coding	O
or	O
native	O
coding	O
,	O
and	O
make	O
it	O
once	O
developed	O
,	O
and	O
deployed	O
anywhere	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
details	O
are	O
in	O
the	O
Mobile	B-Application
application	I-Application
development	I-Application
section	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Centrally	O
manage	O
mobile	B-Application
applications	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
management	O
of	O
the	O
actual	O
devices	O
is	O
more	O
tailored	O
for	O
the	O
B2E	O
scenario	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
is	O
typically	O
done	O
with	O
the	O
mobile	B-Application
device	I-Application
management	O
(	O
MDM	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
