Most enterprise apps exist to reduce load on offline channels. Check your balance. Pay your bill. Update your address. Basic self-service tasks that used to require a phone call or a trip to the store. Digital is cheaper, faster, and more convenient.
Or worse: the app exists as a vanity project. A new product launch gets its own app. A new service gets its own platform. Each runs parallel to existing systems doing the same thing, and nobody asks what's legacy anymore - everything is.
It's a solid baseline. And it's a trap.
If your app is just a cheaper call center - or a parallel vanity project - you're leaving massive value on the table. The companies pulling ahead have figured out that the app isn't a service channel - it's the primary way they do business.
Look at what happened to banking. Fintech didn't compete by opening branches. They built apps that were the entire business. Revolut, N26, Monzo - their app isn't a channel, it's the product. No legacy systems, no channel conflict. The app is the bank. Telecommunications is facing the same pressure. Insurance, healthcare, real estate - the pattern repeats. Some industries are still shielded by regulation, but capital flows favor those who remove friction. The opportunities live in that gap.