Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry OS... the current plethora of mobile operating systems is an unwanted headache for enterprises. With customers and employees increasingly demanding mobile apps that let them access systems and services from their preferred device, organizations are faced with either excluding a significant proportion of potential users or paying out to develop an app several times for different platforms, while adhering to disparate platform suppliers’ processes and stipulations to make those apps available. All this can be costly and restrictive.

Enter HTML5, the next generation of the web’s universal mark-up language. Designed to bring back some cohesion to the increasingly fragmented Internet, HTML5 supports rich functionality such as video and complex interactivity without the need for third-party plug-ins like Java and Flash (many of which are not fully compatible with all devices). In addition, its spec enables browsers to store much more information locally so apps can be designed to work even if users are offline.

Essentially the new standard gives anyone developing apps the ability to write them once, make them available online and have them run on any device with a web browser. Users will be able to access an app seamlessly on different devices, even picking up where they left off when they switch from, say, laptop to smartphone.

And for those who are planning to charge for apps, there will be no need to pay Apple or anyone else a chunk of commission. Also, users will only need to pay once for an app, irrespective of the number of different devices they use.

Many industry-watchers, such as consultancy McKinsey & Co, believe HTML5 will rapidly accelerate the so-called “m-dot revolution” — the growing tendency of smartphone and tablet users to visit mobile web sites to access information and services. McKinsey estimates that more than half of all mobile applications will switch to HTML5 within three to five years, although it also notes “the rate of transition could be considerably higher and faster.”

This has significant implications for CIOs and their IT infrastructure decisions. It could finally usher in the truly “web-centric” world that network computing pioneers like Sun Microsystems and Oracle were pushing as far back as two decades ago, where applications and vast amounts of data reside in the cloud and can be accessed on any device. McKinsey says IT management should “prepare for the day when consumers, employees, and suppliers all communicate and interact through the use of mobile devices that run web applications.”

Thanks to HTML5 and the current breakneck speed of innovation in the mobile space, that day may be upon us sooner than many think.