Mobilize your workforce with Nintex Mobile and Nintex App Studio

For those of you who have been working with Nintex for while, you are probably pretty familiar with the idea of capturing data from your users via Nintex Forms and then automating business processes with Nintex Workflow.

But what you may not be aware of is that, depending on your Nintex license, you may also have access to the great mobile features. I presented a webinar a couple weeks,ago focusing on these two great features and detailing the differences.

If you missed it, you can catch the full presentation below or if you prefer, keep reading for an overview of the new products and features.

Nintex Mobile

Nintex Mobile is a quick and easy way to mobilize your workforce. Available from the app store, the Nintex Mobile app provides an alternative way for your users to access your Nintex forms and task forms.

Here are some of the great features with the Nintex Mobile app:

• Free download on all major mobile platforms – The Nintex Mobile app is available from the app store for iOS, Android, Windows, and Windows phone.
• Native mobile experiences – The Nintex Mobile app is a native for the platform, so the user experience is the same as users will be used to throughout their device.
• Profiles and multiple environment access – Users can create a profile for the app and connect to multiple SharePoint environments, so that all forms and tasks are available from a single app. This becomes extremely important for hybrid environment scenarios.
• Simplified form access – Once a user has created a profile and authenticated into the SharePoint environment(s) with the forms they will need to access, they can simply open the app each time they want to submit a new form, rather than having to log into SharePoint and navigate the site to access the forms.
• Inherited SharePoint permissions – Forms are filtered based on SharePoint permissions for the SharePoint site, so users will only have access to the forms that they are allowed.
• Offline capability – Users can keep processes moving even when they do not have network connectivity. A great example of this is the ability to submit forms from an airplane – think expense reports on your way home from a business trip!
• Draft forms – Users are able to save their form as a draft and come back to submit at any time – especially helpful if getting pulled into meetings is a common occurrence for your organization.
• Push notifications – Users can receive native push notifications when workflow tasks are assigned and awaiting completion. NOTE: as of today, workflow tasks are only supported for SharePoint on-prem, and will hopefully be coming to Nintex for Office 365 soon!

The ability to publish Nintex forms to the Nintex Mobile app comes with your Nintex Forms license. So, you could already have access to this great feature if you have Nintex Forms for SharePoint on-prem or Online.

To publish a Nintex form to the Nintex Mobile app, it’s as easy as creating a new Nintex Mobile layout for a Smart Phone, Tablet, or both, as needed. The below screenshot shows the Forms designer for Nintex for Office365 (SharePoint Online).

Nintex App Studio

While the Nintex Mobile app features are a part of your standard Nintex Forms license, Nintex App Studio is available with the Enterprise subscription license, and takes the idea of mobilizing your workforce one step further by giving you the ability to quickly and easily create tailored mobile experiences for your users and your organization.

Here are some of the great features with Nintex App Studio:

• No-code mobile apps – Create, deploy, and manage custom mobile apps via the Nintex App Studio online portal.
• Apply custom branding – Every app you build can be customized to match your company branding, including logo and colors.
• Filter forms – Nintex App Studio allows you to white list or blacklist specific forms in the conncted SharePoint environment to create custom mobile experiences tailored for specified LOBs, departments, etc. Essentially, users are presented with only the forms relevant to performing their specific duties.
• Standalone packages for any platform – Installation packages can be generated for all major mobile platforms, including iOS (Apple), Android, Windows 8 Phone and Windows 8 desktop.
• Pre-configure credential types to authenticate users – Easily pre-configure and embed credential types to authenticate users via Corporate (SharePoint/AD domain), Microsoft ID (for connecting across the Internet), Office 365, or Nintex Workflow Cloud.
• Distribute via MDM or distribution lists – Ability to distribute your apps via any number of Mobile Device Management (MDM) or BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) platforms such as MS Intune, AirWatch, Good Technology, MobileIron, etc. Alternatively, OTA Deployment is available and allows you to create an email notification where a user can click on a link and download the app via an internet connection and install on their device.

The below screenshot shows an example of the landing page for the Nintex App Studio, where you can create and manage your custom corporate apps.

And the following screenshot shows the options available for customizing each custom app within Nintex App Studio. Notice the preview at the right – this automatically updates based on your selected settings as you configure your app.

Be sure to subscribe to the Abel Solutions YouTube channel for the latest webinars and contact Abel Solutions if we can help with mobilizing your workforce!