There are more than 300,000 mobile developers working in the U.S. today, and hundreds of thousands more across the globe, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the explosion of mobile, that number is expected to grow exponentially. More developers than ever are working on mobile business applications, striving to cut the time and cost of innovation, which can have a significant impact on the business.

While we may not be able to put a hard dollar amount on savings generated from developers incorporating APIs and sample code into their solutions, we do know that a collaborative “sandbox” approach helps produce the best mobility solutions without time-consuming and costly rework.

Developers from enterprises and startups alike are using the AT&T AMS Product Trial Environment as a sandbox environment for just this kind of work. The AMS PTE, gives developers access to APIs, sample code, “code inspect” features, white papers, case studies, FAQs, and other tools and resources that improve quality and speed to market.

In the PTE today, developers are experimenting with a wide variety of options – designing prototype solutions and testing out solution features and functionality of the featured mobility solutions – all for free.

If you’re a developer, you can join others experimenting with four products (and a roadmap to bring on several more), including Global Smart Messaging Suite (GSMS), Location Information Services (LIS), Mobile Barcode Solutions, and Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP). Visit the PTE and engage with one of our enterprise specialists to learn more about speeding time to innovation without added cost.

As a developer, does the idea of trying before you buy appeal to you? What other techniques are you using to drive speed and accuracy into the development process? We look forward to your comments below.