WWDC Quick Look 💓 By SwiftGGTeam
中文 EN 日本語
Create great enterprise apps: A chat with Box's Aaron Levie

Create great enterprise apps: A chat with Box's Aaron Levie

WWDC 2020System ServicesBusiness & EducationEnterprise
Watch original video

Highlight

Apple and Box discussed four key points for enterprise applications under remote working: Apple Business Manager zero-touch deployment, cloud content collaboration, consumer-grade experience and built-in security, allowing employees to get to work faster on any device.

Core Content

The enterprise application problem in 2020 is no longer just about moving office processes to the screen. Aaron Levie said that the epidemic has caused many companies to advance their digitalization plans that were originally planned for two, five or even ten years. Box itself is also improving application performance, with the goal of making every part of the web and mobile responsive within a second; where there might have been only a dozen people discussing in conference rooms and whiteboards, now there are a hundred people contributing ideas in Slack channels.

Remote work brings device delivery, identity, security and collaboration all into the same problem. Apple sees IBM, Oracle and other companies that use Macs heavily and want zero-touch deployment: devices can be shipped directly to employees, and employees can boot into the company’s configured environment. Box sees the other side: Employees need to access corporate data on their MacBook, iPhone or iPad, share files securely, and continue collaboration in the cloud.

This conversation provides a set of criteria for judging enterprise applications, and the topic does not fall on a single API. Enterprise software needs to be as fast, clear, and smooth as consumer applications; the architecture needs to support cloud collaboration and mobile first; security and privacy need to be built into the data path itself. Box’s new iPad app plans to support Apple Pencil annotations and make annotations visible to collaborators on the web or desktop, a concrete example of this standard.

The direction given by Apple and Box is also clear: first transform the high-leverage experience that reaches employees and customers, and then deal with the underlying legacy systems. Bank customers should no longer rely on paper and signatures when opening accounts. Healthcare, education, and life sciences also need to rewrite their original processes into digital experiences. The position of developers is therefore more advanced, because products, cloud services, device management and security policies must all be implemented at the application layer.

Detailed Content

Zero-touch deployment puts equipment in place first

(02:10) Apple mentioned that in a remote working environment, companies hope to do zero-touch deployment through Apple Business Manager. The device can be issued directly to new or existing employees, and employees can enter the configured state after receiving it.

(07:20) Mike Abbott also mentioned that Apple is expanding zero-touch Mac deployment and auto-advance, allowing organizations to order computers and employees can plug them in and start working. A personal example from Aaron Levie is that he set up a new iMac after entering remote work at Box, and in about five minutes he had access to all his business-critical applications and was able to securely collaborate with colleagues.

Remote device delivery workflow
1. The enterprise prepares devices through Apple Business Manager
2. Devices are shipped directly to employees
3. Employees boot into the organization's configured environment
4. Enterprise apps, cloud content, and security policies arrive together
5. Employees start accessing key business apps from any location

Key points:

  • Step 1 from Apple Business Manager zero-touch deployment scenario in transcript.
  • Steps 2 and 3 solve the problem of remote employees not being able to return to the office to pick up equipment.
  • Step 4 Put enterprise applications and security policies in the same delivery chain.
  • Step 5 corresponds to the five minutes Aaron Levie mentioned for the new equipment to be in working order.

Enterprise applications must achieve consumer-grade experience

(06:00) Box sees Apple devices, cloud services and enterprise security as one experience chain. Aaron Levie made it clear that Box adopts an iOS-first strategy on the Apple platform and brings consumer-grade experience to enterprise environments.

(10:34) His first piece of advice to developers is to think consumer first. Enterprise employees have become accustomed to fast and clear application experiences in their personal lives. They should not accept slowness and complexity when returning to work software.

(05:04) Box is developing a new iPad app that supports Apple Pencil to annotate documents in real time and make these annotations visible to collaborators on the web or desktop. The value of consumer-level experience lies in shortening remote collaboration actions, not just visual modifications.

Enterprise collaboration experience check
1. Documents, chat, or video can open quickly on iPhone
2. Documents can be annotated with Apple Pencil on iPad
3. Web and desktop clients can see the same collaboration result
4. Sharing actions consider enterprise permissions and security boundaries by default

Key points:

  • Step 1 corresponds to the transcript description of frequent iPhone use in mobile-first and remote environments.
  • Step 2 Apple Pencil annotation program from Box’s new iPad app.
  • Step 3 comes from annotating scenes that can be seen by collaborators on the web or desktop.
  • Step 4 corresponds to Box’s positioning on securely sharing corporate content.

Security must enter product design

(11:41) Aaron Levie mentioned security by design as his third tip. For enterprise applications to serve hospitals, government agencies, life sciences organizations, banks, universities, and K-12 education, security and data privacy must be at the core of the product.

(12:39) He mentioned that Box relies on the underlying capabilities provided by Apple devices, including encryption on iOS devices, security capabilities on Mac, native API experiences, and enterprise management technologies such as MDM. These capabilities must go into platform selection and product design and cannot be left to be supplemented before launch.

(15:18) The bigger challenge is the boundaries of responsibility. In the past developers may have thought that data security belonged to the device, network provider, or security vendor. Aaron Levie’s point is that enterprise software developers in the 21st century must build security into every way they handle data.

Enterprise data path check
1. Device side: use platform encryption and system security capabilities
2. App side: show only enterprise content the user is authorized to access
3. Sharing side: separate permissions for partners, coworkers, and external people
4. Cloud side: keep collaboration state consistent across devices
5. Management side: connect to the organization's existing management and update cadence

Key points:

  • Step 1 corresponds to iOS encryption and Mac security capabilities.
  • Step 2 comes from the access boundary in transcript “get to all of the data in your enterprise that you have access to”.
  • Step 3 from Box’s description of securely sharing files with people inside and outside your business.
  • Step 4 corresponds to cloud content collaboration and cross-device access.
  • Step 5 corresponds to enterprise update cadence, MDM and remote management needs.

Cloud and equipment need to be re-divided

(16:12) Aaron Levie believes that modern enterprise software should be oriented towards microservices (microservices) and continuous integration (continuous integration). Box has adjusted its release cadence from quarterly or annual to daily releases and continuous improvements to its cloud services.

(17:30) The division of labor between the device and the cloud must also be re-evaluated. Which logic is placed in the cloud and which logic is placed on the device must be judged based on performance, security, privacy, and device capabilities. He specifically mentioned that Core ML can run machine learning on the device, taking advantage of local processing power and privacy benefits.

(18:29) The same judgment applies to browsers and iOS devices. Modern HTML5 and device capabilities have allowed some processing logic that used to be placed on the server to be returned to the client, and local caching can also make the experience faster.

Feature split workflow
Input: a new enterprise collaboration feature
Judgment:
- Put logic sensitive to latency, privacy, or offline experience on the device first
- Put cross-user sharing, permissions, and sync state in cloud services first
- Split capabilities that need frequent iteration into independent services and connect them to continuous integration
Output: faster device-side response and consistent cloud collaboration

Key points:

  • The first judgment comes from the discussion of Core ML, device processing power, security and privacy in the transcript.
  • The second judgment comes from Box’s positioning of cloud content management and remote collaboration.
  • The third judgment comes from the development rhythm of microservices, daily releases and continuous integration.
  • The output target corresponds to Box’s performance target for sub-second latency.

Remote collaboration must support both synchronous and asynchronous

(19:24) Aaron Levie believes that the future of work will require employees to collaborate in real time with people in the organization anywhere, on any device, and on any network. New opportunities lie in the combination of synchronous and asynchronous work.

(20:00) The examples he gave are very specific: start a video call in seconds without having to schedule a full meeting first; collaborate on documents in real time; and have more ways to share information between devices and networks. New enterprise applications can start with these small actions to transform workflows.

Remote collaboration actions
1. Enter video or chat directly from a document
2. Leave traceable annotations and comments in the document
3. Sync key context to other devices
4. Let people who did not attend the live meeting continue the work later

Key points:

  • Step 1 from transcript The idea of ​​being on a video call in seconds.
  • Step 2 Connect Box’s document collaboration and Apple Pencil annotation scenes.
  • Step 3 corresponds to working across devices and networks.
  • Step 4: Opportunity judgment from a combination of synchronous and asynchronous work.

Core Takeaways

  • Remote Onboarding Status Page

  • What to do: Create an onboarding page for new employees, showing whether the device has entered Apple Business Manager, whether key applications are available, and whether cloud content permissions are in effect.

  • Why it’s worth doing: It is repeatedly mentioned in the session that remote employees need to quickly enter work status from any location, and device delivery and application access cannot be handled separately.

  • How ​​to start: First list the five actions that employees must complete after turning on the computer, and make the device status, application installation status and account permissions into the same checklist.

  • Document annotation collaboration flow

  • What to do: Add an iPad annotation port to the enterprise document app so that annotations written with Apple Pencil can be synchronized to the web and desktop.

  • Why it’s worth doing: The new iPad app that Box is working on uses Apple Pencil annotation as a remote collaboration capability, which is more valuable than stand-alone drawing.

  • How ​​to start: First support one file type and go through the four steps of “open the document, add annotations, synchronize to the cloud, and notify collaborators”.

  • Mobile Safe Sharing Panel

  • What: Provides a sharing panel on iPhone and iPad with clear permissions for colleagues, external collaborators, and public links.

  • Why it’s worth doing: Box’s goal is to securely manage content in remote and distributed work, and mobile sharing is a high-frequency action.

  • How ​​to start: Find the most ambiguous step in the existing file sharing process, and put the recipient’s identity, expiration time and access scope into the same confirmation interface.

  • Performance Budget for Cloud and Devices

  • What to do: Set a one-second response target for the critical path of the enterprise application, and the item-by-item judgment logic should be placed on the device, browser, or cloud.

  • Why it’s worth doing: Box is pushing all parts of the application to achieve sub-second latency. The transcript also specifically discusses the division of labor between local processing, caching, Core ML, and cloud services.

  • How ​​to start: First record the three slowest user actions, and then determine the migration direction based on the three dimensions of delay, privacy, and sharing status.

  • Synchronous and asynchronous collaboration portal

  • What: Add one-click video, chat, and follow-up comment entry to a document, task, or customer record.

  • Why is it worth doing: Session believes that future work will mix synchronous collaboration and asynchronous collaboration, and applications need to allow users to go from content to communication in a few seconds.

  • How ​​to start: Pick a business object that the team will open every day, and put “Initiate real-time discussion” and “Leave asynchronous context” on the same screen.

Comments

GitHub Issues · utterances