Another big CES is over. Another gadgets-fest out of the way. Lots of tablets (none however that I believe will overshadow or even remotely be able to challenge the iPad, with the possible exeption of RIM’s PlayBook – assuming it ships sometime in the not too distant future); lots of ‘me-too’ mobile devices; a few new state of the art beasts that will look obsolete in three to four months; and some tried and true workhorses in updated flavors. And Nokia is not shipping its new X7 full touchscreen phone in the US – fearing that AT&T was going to skimp on incentives and marketing.
All of these many devices will somehow find their way into the enterprise. All of them will need to be accounted for. All of them will need to be made secure. All of them will need to be ‘enterprise-provisioned’ to insure that policy management is properly enabled, that the right enterprise mobile apps are sitting on the right devices, that the wrong apps are nowhere to be found (or at least kept entirely separated from the business apps), that critical enterprise data is properly and fully encrypted, and that users are fully vetted and authenticated before they ever get near those apps and data.
There isn’t anything new here – we say all of this a good deal around Mobile Masters. And yet, as enterprises gear up for what will, throughout 2011, turn into a major national and international enterprise mobilization effort, we hear the noise of confusion – and in some cases traces of fear – from CIOs and CTOs everywhere. Too many devices, too many options, too much complexity!
There are two types of people in the mobile enterprise (or perhaps more accurately the ‘soon to be mobile’ enerprise). The line of business executives that want to increase and grow old business while significantly driving new business – they all get mobile, there is no doubt, and they are generating huge demand. And then there are the IT folks that have to figure out how to handle and meet the demand. Executive management is in the business team camp – executive management now has no tolerance for IT not being able to deliver or to meet demand. In fact, this intolerance is a key sign that 2011 is going to be a huge mobile enterprise year.
It gets more demanding than we’ve noted so far. What we’ve highlighted above is all the ‘prep work’ that has to go into the mix before IT even starts to think about actually building the mobile apps. Complex back end and edge infrastructure – without the right approach, it becomes a downright nasty, hugely time consuming and hugely costly effort just to get those preparations in place for building the mobile apps.
Worse still, as all of this is going on, the very landscape for defining what a mobile app is is rapidly evolving, and represents an enormous moving target. Apps evolve into pure content publishing and distribution (that begs the question: will there be anything left that isn’t defined as content?).
Enterprise app stores will take on far more importance.
Public-facing enterprise app stores will need to be able to securely expose their APIs to third party developers.
We’re just touching the surface here of the new mobile world that enterprises will face in 2011 – all fodder for detailed and ongoing Mobile Masters coverage – stay tuned!Meanwhile, what’s an enterprise to do to maintain mobile sanity?
First things first, adopt my new enterprise mobile slogan:
Mobile Complexity Removed, Simplicity Enhanced.
What is critical for enterprises going forward is to smartly jump start mobile operations. Let’s be fair here – while there are numerous mobile pioneers, the vast majority of enterprises are only now getting started on the mobile front – the window of opportunity is there and awaits. There aren’t yet any real enterprise mobile laggards – but if 2012 rolls around and you still aren’t in the mobile game then you’ve effectively killed your business off (or you will have begun your business’s inevitable downward spiral).
For the rest of this decade mobility will be a fast moving and shifting target. If you don’t get on board in 2011 you will forever be chasing your competitors.
How then to jump start the mobile process? How do you lay the groundwork?
It all starts by insuring that you make the decision to adopt a Mobile Application Platform (MAP). This is the HUGE first step. The right MAP will be fully deployed in the cloud, though the ability to run a MAP on-premise is no less critical and must always be supported. How do you decide on the right MAP? For that I refer you directly to Jason Wong’s 10 Mobile Commandments. Go there first – do not pass go, do not (yet) collect $200.
Next, read and then re-read my 4 part Mobile Strategy blog posts, starting with, of course, Part 1.
Get that cloud-based or on-premise MAP into place FIRST. Then go to your line of business execs and start your mobile apps planning and development processes ASAP. The enterprises pioneers and those enterprises already well on their way in 2011 will otherwise leave you in the dust. When your CFO asks: ‘Why the MAP?’ remember all of the huge cost and time to market reductions that will be entirely driven your new mobile slogan:
Mobile Complexity Removed, Simplicity Enhanced.
∞
Tags: Enterprise Mobility, Mobile Apps, Mobile Devices, Mobile Observatory, Mobile OS, Mobile Web, Tablets, Tony Rizzo
