Following up on Tony Rizzo’s Mobile Observatory blog posts pushing enterprises to think of mobility as a long term strategy and not a short term fix, and coupled with the discovery by Jason Wong, in his Mobile Gourmet blog post on Mobile Master Moses’ 10 Mobile Commandments, I’ve been thinking a great deal about mobile enterprise strategy, and in particular I’ve been thinking about it based on my mobile applications development field work and interactions with our mobile customers.
There is something we need to add to the entire ‘strategy’ discussion, and after many microbrew beers and a few boutique Napa wineries worth of thinking, I’ve finally figured out what it comes down to…
It’s not just a discussion about strategy – it has to be a discussion that must also reflect what it is that makes mobility unique and what it is about mobility that will deliver new advantages over your competitors.
‘The need for a mobile strategy’ – it’s a phrase that has become the standard theme over the last year for every organization you can imagine. As we work with companies to really look at where mobile can help them, we drive to efficiencies, new markets, direct access to consumers and all other manner of values that mobile can and will provide. But…
But – and it is a huge ‘but’ here, what enterprises most often fail to do regarding mobility, is to think outside the box. Time and time again – even after analysis and building out new cases that answer the issue of what makes mobile unique – organizations will initially want to go for what they know (Tony talk s more about this and the need for a paradigm shift in Part 4 of his strategy series). It is by far the weakest approach to building a mobile strategy – but it is no doubt the easiest.
Consider for a moment why. It’s mostly because the technology and business groups can sell a mobile version of a ‘vital system’ to their leadership. This approach, while easier, will provide the least benefit to a company. So does that mean that mobile versions of internal applications add no value? This is not the case – mobility helps everything, but consider this:
Where leading companies derive true industry-changing solutions is not simply by mobilizing existing systems, but rather by mobilizing services in innovative, behavior driven, role-based mobile applications.
We are well beyond basic application capability for mobile devices, and with the sheer number of tablets and smartphones with data connectivity, more and more truly innovative things can be done. There is simply no excuse for limiting mobile strategic thinking to ‘what you already know.’
Mobile productivity as it is considered by most people in the enterprise is simply a myth. You will put out a mobile version of your CRM system and you will see an increase in sales because your people have access anywhere…Wrong! Only individual sales people who embrace the technology and are personally driven will have any real impact. What about the other 80%? If a mobile CRM app enables me to quickly and easily submit expense re-imbursement requests and get paid faster, it will be used more, but it will still not bring earth shattering change.
Now think instead about, say, a Merchandising application that allows my grocery store stockers to sell additional product on-site at that grocery chain’s specific pricing. I can then incent the stockers to increase my sales with commissions, which also encourages more of a relationship with the client and with customers. This creates significant change in the form of increased revenue streams, faster speed to market and better service to everyone in the value chain.
As you think about your mobile strategy understand that mobile productivity comes not through current systems and processes, but through new, better and more innovative ways of enabling your workforces. Let go of what you already know – the possibilities that can be enabled through mobility are endless!
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Tags: Deep Dev, Development, Enterprise Mobility, Ken Parmelee, Mobile Apps
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