You can raise your profit in two ways: by increasing your revenue or by cutting expenses on running your business. An enterprise application is one thing that can help you with the latter. With its help, you can streamline your in-house workflows and save resources by reducing human errors connected to manual data input, ensuring smooth communications with your customers, preventing data loss, and avoiding many other common failures.

In this article, we provide a guide on enterprise web application development and information on key statistics and trends in the field of enterprise tech.

What are enterprise web applications and what are their types?

Enterprise web applications are software used to streamline routine tasks within medium and large businesses. The purpose of these apps is not to generate revenue but to facilitate a company's daily tasks and help it communicate with customers efficiently. There are several types of apps that we can include in the category of enterprise apps.

• Enterprise resource planning software — serves as a hub for managing core business processes such as accounting, HR, sales, supply chain, and others. It enables all organization departments to share essential data and make data-driven decisions.
• Customer relationship management — a web application that collects information about the customers and communicates with them. This can include sales calls, customer service interactions, marketing emails, and more.
• Supply chain management — oversees and optimizes the flow of goods, services, and information across the supply chain.
• Human resource management apps — a suite of web applications for managing a wide range of HR processes, including recruitment, onboarding, payroll, performance tracking, and employee records.
• Business intelligence — BI software helps to collect and visualize essential corporate data and provides business owners with the resources to analyze and make data-driven decisions based on the collected information.
• Accounting software — the purpose of such an enterprise application is to handle financial transactions, including billing, invoicing, payroll, and accounts payable/receivable. By organizing financial data systematically, accounting software helps businesses ensure compliance with tax laws and accounting standards.
• Enterprise content management systems — a web application that facilitates the creation, organization, and management of digital content, empowering businesses to efficiently publish and update web content.

Apart from these key enterprise applications, there are many other types including ones that facilitate project management, enable corporate messaging and calling, help to manage and publish digital content, arrange marketing campaigns, manage product listing and transactions within e-commerce platforms, and many more. Enterprise web applications can be replicated in mobile format and accessed from smartphones.

Gripping statistic points concerning the market of enterprise web application development

Before delving into the ins and outs of web development for enterprise apps, let's find out what's happening in the worldwide market of enterprise applications.

• Global spending on enterprise applications reached $913 billion in 2023. This was a 12,5% increase compared to the previous year. Many companies now want a single solution that would solve their business problems. Technologies like cloud computing make the development of such solutions accessible not only to large and medium enterprises but also to small businesses.

• A huge number of IT companies are developing enterprise solutions for their clients. About 85% of all clients of IT outsourcing companies request enterprise web application development to get applications that fulfill needs like personal tasking, team management, and IT services management.

• Many types of enterprise web applications have proved their effectiveness. For instance, 94% of companies implementing CRM systems report an increase in sales productivity, 49% of companies implementing ERPs noticed improvement in their business processes, while organizations using business intelligence software started making decisions 5 times faster after investing in data analytics.

All in all, the market continues to grow, and many types of enterprise solutions like ERPs, CRMs, and business process management software have already grown into separate massive markets. In this environment, it's easy to find suitable IT contractors to create custom enterprise applications to cover unique business needs.

More than that, in this rapidly growing business environment, building your own off-the-shelf solution and selling it by subscription to firms of various sizes can bring you considerable revenue. One example of this is Slack's owner who saw the current market lacked a tool for business communication. He formed an idea and outsourced the design and web development to an IT agency. Finally, this app for corporate messaging stormed the market after its release.

Enterprise web applications use cases

Let's take a look at several examples of prominent companies creating and using enterprise web apps in their operations. Unfortunately, most of the corporate apps and their features remain secret, since most companies don't want to disclose how they run business, so there are only a few examples.

Tesla's ERP

Tesla's operation processes are quite unique and complex. The company not only assembles the cars but also creates many pieces like batteries and motors themselves. Tesla also uses a unique direct-to-consumer sales model, as they have to manage complicated logistic chains and comply with the trade laws of different countries.

To handle all these complex tech and operational needs, Tesla has stuck with a custom enterprise web development approach and developed its own ERP called Warp Drive, which is completely internally generated. Warp facilitates real-time, collaborative, and synchronized operations, ensuring a seamless workflow across Tesla's production and staff functions. To develop its enterprise web app, Tesla used a tech stack that includes AngularJS, Node.js, Redis Cache, Socket.io for dashboards, AWS SNS for notifications, AWS Lambda for certain system automation tasks, and many other widespread web development technologies.

Amazon's ERP

Unlike Tesla, Amazon uses an off-the-shelf solution to streamline its operations. Amazon's e-commerce team started to use SAP ERP web application in 2008 when other software no longer met the company's long-term demands. As a result, Amazon implemented a number of modules, including order management, finance, HR, purchasing, and inventory control.

It's not a secret that Amazon partners with third-party retailers to provide a wide range of products to its customers. Amazon provides several enterprise applications to help third-party retailers automate their inventories. With the help of Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) sellers can hand over picking, packing, and shipping of goods to Amazon, while Supply Chain by Amazon is a full set of services, including automated inventory replenishment and faster shipping at lower costs.

BI software in manufacturing

According to some studies and reports, manufacturing organizations are among the top consumers of enterprise web applications. This can be proved by several use cases. SKF is a global manufacturer and supplier of bearings, seals, and lubricants with more than 15,000 branches. This business has broad geographic coverage, and their challenge was to predict the demand for their products in each of these locations.

The company managers decided to implement a BI enterprise application which could serve as a single source of information, so none of the departments had to search for valuable data in massive Excel spreadsheets and could see it in the format of accessible dashboards. As a result, each department could generate its own demand reports and improve its overall ability to plan.

CRM software in manufacturing

CRM is a diverse web application that can automate tasks like lead scoring, tracking sales metrics, and dialing and logging phone calls. This is one of the purposes Bailey International used a CRM enterprise application for. The company implemented this enterprise solution to route calls, retrieve and store customer information for agents, and track information about each call.

As a result, the company improved its customer communication. The call managers could see all necessary customer data in CRM and spend less time on each call, reducing the call-answer time by 15% and call abandonment by 60–70%.

Inventory management app for restaurant business

Our team has experience in providing custom software development services for the owners of a meal preparation app. In this app, users can read cooking instructions from chefs and buy necessary goods for preparing meals. To streamline the stock management for this meal prep app, our client wanted to get a custom inventory aligned with the consumer app.

As a part of this project, we designed a web application interface and developed it with Angular and Laravel. As a result of our enterprise web application development, the customer integrated the created app into their service and managed to reduce manual errors, solved problems of understocking and overstocking, and got a powerful app infrastructure that can be scaled on demand.

What tech stack is suitable for enterprise application development?

When you want to get an enterprise solution for your business, you can either turn it into a mobile or web application. There are several arguments in favor of web application development. First of all, this software usually displays much numerical data that is easier to view on a PC screen. More than that, web applications can be accessed from any device without the need for any platform-specific installations. And finally, web apps don't have to be installed and set up on every employee's device, which is convenient if your team is big.

One of the first steps that the tech team takes when developing an enterprise web app, is choosing the technologies suitable for a project. The chosen tech stack will impact the scalability, performance, and maintainability of the app. Below, there's a list of up-to-date and reliable web development technologies that can become a foundation for your app, along with an explanation of our own choices.

1. Frontend

The frontend of a web application serves as the interface through which users interact with the system. While developing a frontend part, developers work with visual layout, ensure responsive design across devices, and make the interfaces interactive.

To deal with frontend of an enterprise web app, you will need to hire developers who can work with HTML and CSS markdown languages as well as with JavaScript. Also, developers should be proficient in popular frontend frameworks like React, Angular, Vue.js, Next.js, Svelte, and Bootstrap.

Our team prefers using React, Angular, Next.js, and Vue.js for web development. These frameworks allow engineers to build complex and dynamic web applications with diverse features. They also enable simpler app maintenance and provide enhanced SEO capabilities.

We have extensive experience working with these technologies. Using them in our commercial projects, we have gathered many code libraries with pre-prepared components that help us expedite the process of application development. This approach keeps our codebases clean, enhancing maintainability and allowing us to identify and fix bugs and performance bottlenecks more efficiently.

2. Backend

This is a server-side part of the web application that is usually responsible for processing requests, handling business logic, and managing database operations. When developing the backend, engineers build and maintain APIs, develop and manage databases, implement secure authentication processes, and set up other entities that users don't deal with directly.

To manage the backend of an enterprise web app, you will need to hire developers proficient in server-side programming languages such as Java, PHP, Python, JavaScript (Node.js), or C#. Popular backend frameworks and technologies include Express.js, Laravel, Django, Spring Boot, Ruby on Rails, and ASP.NET Core.

At Ronas IT, we prefer using Laravel on PHP to develop the backend of the apps since it provides several advantages over other technologies. Laravel includes elegant syntax and developer-friendly features, which ease up the readability and maintainability of the code. This framework provides many features, built-in tools, and extensive documentation aimed to simplify developers' tasks, which speeds up enterprise application development and helps us deliver digital products faster.

3. Databases

Databases are an essential component of enterprise web application development. They enable storage, retrieval, and management of data in a structured manner. They play a significant role in maintaining data integrity, supporting queries, and creating overall efficient data processing. Key technologies in this field include MySQL, Redis, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Redis, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB are the top data management tools we use during enterprise web application development. Redis provides in-memory data storage for caching and real-time data processing, PostgreSQL offers advanced SQL capabilities and ensures data integrity, while MongoDB, with its flexible schema design, supports dynamic, rapidly changing data structures, perfect for modern web applications. Collectively, these technologies enhance scalability, reliability, and performance, while ensuring an optimal user experience.

4. Infrastructure tools

Infrastructure is essential for deploying and hosting web applications on servers, which allow users to access the app over the internet at any time. Platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform provide scalable compute, storage, and networking resources, enabling applications to handle varying loads and ensuring global accessibility.

Also, there are other enterprise web development technologies, including containerization tools like Docker, which create isolated environments for applications, ensuring consistent performance across different systems, while Kubernetes automates the management of these containers, facilitating seamless scaling and self-healing. Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) tools streamline the software development lifecycle by automating testing and deployment, allowing for rapid and reliable release cycles.

All these applications are crucial for enterprise web application development, offering distinctive features that address the diverse needs of projects across different scales. To set up the infrastructure, you might need a DevOps engineer. You can also outsource the infrastructure setup and maintenance to a third-party service provider.

Our team usually sets up the infrastructure in the process of web development for our clients' IT projects. When working with infrastructure, we usually implement all the technologies and practices mentioned above.

Future of enterprise web application development: cloud computing, AI, and Big Data

There are a few trends that currently affect the field of enterprise tech. They can be used both in off-the-shelf solutions sold by subscriptions or in custom ones designed individually for your business. The tech stack you choose for your web application can also be affected if you decide to stick to one of them.

Cloud computing

According to analysts, cloud computing is one of the key trends in enterprise web development. It involves hosting applications and data on remote servers instead of local hardware, providing businesses with scalable IT resources and flexibility. It's cost-effective, eliminating the need for hardware maintenance, and allows for remote access, enabling employees to work from any location with an internet connection.

Many enterprise web applications like Salesforce and Microsoft Office 365 utilize cloud computing, offering services via the SaaS model. Custom enterprise web apps also benefit by using cloud infrastructure, ensuring data security, minimizing infrastructure investment, and enabling global access for employees. To utilize this trend, you need a developer who can set up cloud infrastructure for your app as a part of the enterprise application development process. This can be a freelancer or an in-house developer.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be integrated into the enterprise solution in the process of application development. It promises to automate many routine tasks, ensure data-driven decision-making, and predict customer behavior. Enterprise web applications are mostly integrated with generative AI.

AI is integrated into several web applications including Microsoft Dynamics 365, IBM Watson, and SAP. One of the most vivid examples of AI usage is presented in Salesforce CRM. It is now integrated with a smart assistant based on generative AI. The assistant is designed in the form of a chat and can help a sales manager quickly extract essential information about clients and deals without spending time looking through massive databases.

Big Data

Big data involves handling large volumes of diverse and rapidly generated data to derive meaningful insights, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions and optimize their operations. It enhances capabilities such as predictive analytics and real-time processing, helping companies stay competitive in dynamic markets.

The data within an enterprise application can be presented differently. It can be arranged into a dashboard, graphs, and charts, a heat map presenting density and activity levels, data tables, reports and infographics, etc. Visualization is an important part of data analytics and can make large volumes of data easy to analyze at a glance. Features for data analysis are integrated into most of the off-the-shelf solutions or can be integrated into your app as a part of custom software development.

Enterprise web development: key steps and challenges

Regardless of whether you are developing with your own team or with an outsourcing web application development company, you will most likely need to take the following steps:

Step 1: Create a list of features for your enterprise application and estimate the project

Before delving into enterprise web application development, understand what pain points exist in your organization and how the developed custom solution can address these points. Apart from that, you should understand what other existing corporate apps and technologies will be integrated with the created enterprise software.

After that, complete a list of the app's features and estimate the timeline and price of the enterprise web development. You can do it either alone, or be accompanied by a business analyst who can help you estimate the project and understand what features should be in priority.

Step 2: Create UI/UX design and gather UI Kit

Enterprise web apps are usually complex products and their design might not be really obvious. That's why before the application development starts, it's important for stakeholders to see the visual structure of the future app and understand how users will navigate the app.

Also, wireframes and prototypes enable stakeholders to provide feedback on the app's functionality and design early on. This collaboration ensures that the final product aligns with business goals and user needs as well as makes further enterprise web development smooth.

After wireframes and prototypes are discussed with stakeholders and valuable feedback is gathered, the design team can move on to creating a fully-fledged design of your web application. Ensure that the layout of the app is intuitive to reduce onboarding friction and keep fonts, icons, and overall look consistent.

Step 3: Coding and infrastructure deployment

After designers complete the interface mockup, it's time to hand it to IT engineers and start the application development process. At this stage, developers build up the frontend and backend of the future web application as well as deploy several IT environments required for work.

In the process of enterprise web application development, you will have to solve the following tech challenges:

• Ensuring in-app security — when working on an enterprise web application, you should always remember that the safety of corporate data is a priority. To make the app safe, it's crucial to use technologies that by default provide security against DDoS attacks, SQL injections, and other common failures. Also, it's important to implement role access, so all the employees can access the minimum data required to execute their functions.
• Complying with safety regulations — in the process of enterprise application development, it is essential to prioritize adherence to regulations and standards specific to your industry. This ensures not only the protection of sensitive corporate data but also the safeguarding of your customers' information. All countries have individual laws and regulations, but the most popular ones include GDPR, HIPAA for the healthcare industry, and PCI DSS in the financial sector.
• Handling multiple integrations — some companies already have systems and hardware where essential corporate data is stored. In the process of enterprise web application development, engineers will need to seamlessly integrate the web app with existing legacy systems and other applications your company is currently using. For instance, connect your custom CRM to an email marketing platform or e-commerce platform.

These are the key issues that need to be solved during the application development process. Apart from them, an enterprise application should be thoroughly tested to ensure no bugs, minimize latency, and provide smooth performance. To find errors, engineers can use Sentry and Datadog, while PageSpeed Insights and Sentry Performance Monitoring can be used to measure the loading speed.

Step 4: Post-release maintenance

When your enterprise web application is released, the work with it doesn't stop. There will be a need to maintain the IT infrastructure where your software is deployed. More than that, the application may need bug fixing and security updates. After some time, as a business owner, you may need to add some new features to the app to ensure better growth and more effective team performance. To do all this, you will need the assistance of one or several tech specialists.

Don't forget that after the enterprise web development is completed, you will need some time to integrate it into your company workflow and train your employees to use it. To make the integration smoother, arrange training sessions, ensure clear onboarding, and provide your employees with manuals and instructions to simplify the software exploration.

Wrapping up

There are many pros and cons of off-the-shelf enterprise web apps and ones created in the process of custom software development. But there is one issue we consider the most important. When you create your own software, you are its single owner and don't depend on service providers. You may use a third-party app for many years, yet it can suddenly shut down, leading to the loss of your essential corporate data. It may also have bugs or brief outages that you can't fix without the help of the service provider. In this air, it's much more convenient to use your own software, especially if you plan to store terabytes of essential corporate data in it.