As a business the current challenge is to leverage mobile to keep consumers eyeballs on you and your product. A new Salesforce ebook, Join the Mobile App Revolution: 8 Steps to Building Mobile Apps in the Cloud, emphasizes the importance of jumping on the app development bandwagon now.

Here are 5 tips on how to make it happen quickly and effectively.

1. Put the past in the past.

Accept that the “old faithful” systems and software you’ve known no longer applies now that mobile is front and center. Those frequent upgrades and on-going hardware maintenance will only hold you back. Make the move to the cloud. You won’t regret it.

2. Scale to millions, safely.

While your business app probably won’t draw the traffic Instagram and Twitter do, you never know. Keep your data center from being overwhelmed by using a cloud platform with scalability.  And make sure its certifications meet all major worldwide security and data privacy standards.

3. Turn users into believers.

Engage with customers (and employees) by offering a mobile-first experience that keeps them coming back for more. Cloud-based platform services can help you optimize your app by maintaining a single identity, giving you strict control of all aspects of the app, creating a social element for users, and by providing the ability to support a wide-range of devices.

4. “Mobilize” every developer.

Give them the right tools to quickly extend their skills to developing mobile apps. Cloud platforms allow developers to build logic and data integration within the platform, so the majority of code is device independent.

5. Free your customer data.

Connect customers, employees, and partners with the data and features they need. Do this by putting such data securely in the cloud and then making it accessible via open mobile APIs.

Get access to the full ebook, Join the Mobile App Revolution: 8 Steps to Building Mobile Apps in the Cloud, by clicking the button below.