Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday released a set of tools to help enterprise developers add mobile applications. HP's expanded Application Transformation Solutions will include a suite of services and software. It includes social media-influenced collaboration tools for development teams, intelligence and management tools for the development life cycle. Plus, it includes a platform for distributing mobile apps to customers, and an app-testing service offered through a partnership with Perfecto Mobile. The way mobile apps are developed is changing, requiring closer collaboration between "the suits" of the business and the IT staff, HP says. Network World quotes Matt Morgan, global senior director of product and solution marketing for HP's IP solution business unit, as saying:

The line of business is becoming more aware of the capabilities, largely through consumerization. They go to the Apple Store and learn about all this stuff and ask, 'Why can't I have this?' So their requirements of their IT shop are evolving.

Forrester's Dave West, however, sees the real-time access to testing offered through the partnership with Perfecto as giving HP a leg up on competition with IBM, Microsoft or open source. The service allows developers to test the user experience with mobile applications across devices and networks. HP might have the timing on this release just right. In a Robert Half Technology survey released in February, 43 percent of the more than 1,400 CIOs polled said they plan to offer a mobile app within the next 12 months. Another 22 percent said they'll release an app before the end of the year, and 27 percent said they already offer one. Are you seeing an increasing demand for mobile app development where you work? If so, do you see this trend increasing in the near future?