Mobility. Cloud. BYOD. Virtualization technologies. Big data. Social. These keywords will be the buzzwords of this decade as companies undergo significant transformations in the way employees, stakeholders, and customers work and communicate.
Today, SMBs are competing with the big players as they take advantage of cloud technology. Markets are constantly reinventing themselves with changing consumer demands and rapid technological evolution. Social media is creating Big Data, which is a gold mine for business analytics that helps companies maximize marketing and sales impact and manage brand reputation. The ubiquity and portability of mobile devices is making anytime, anywhere access to information a fact in corporate circles, fueling the growth and adoption of virtualization technologies, and spurring large-scale development of mobile applications.
However, the excitement of realizing the enormous potential of enterprise mobility in communication, learning and development, human resources, marketing and sales, and other functions of an organization is accompanied by concerns about security. IT teams are given the complicated and challenging task of managing the many different mobile devices entering the organization, securing the data on these devices, and ensuring legal and regulatory compliance.
It’s a tall order, but business leaders can bring clarity and transparency to the enterprise mobility approach by designing a well-thought-out, clear, and comprehensive enterprise mobility strategy.
Development of a business mobility strategy
All aspects of mobility must be considered when developing a strategy. This can be accomplished by engaging members of all business functions in brainstorming sessions to gather requirements, concerns, security issues, end-user feedback, and potential solutions and ideas.
In addition, decision makers must do the following:
Take a look at the consumer landscape:
Consumerization has played a significant role in shaping the BYOD trend, company policies, and even the way IT departments handle mobile security. It is essential to understand what consumers (customers and employees) are looking for in mobile solutions (specific needs, such as location-based services, NFC, barcode scanning, etc.) and the type of devices they use.
Aim for technological independence:
With different mobile operating systems entering the market, the cost of developing native apps is skyrocketing. Surveys indicate that more than 60% of mobile app developers have shown interest in HTML5, the language for developing web apps that frees them from mobile operating system and vendor restrictions. Native apps will stick around as they offer more sophistication, but HTML5 will see more adoption.
Consider BYOD as a productivity tool rather than a cost saver:
Many companies go BYOD for the sake of productivity. With the right security mechanisms, BYOD may not be a cheap option, but it will show benefits in two or more years.
Define the scope of business mobility:
Validate which functions will benefit from mobility: advertising, marketing, sales, human resources, etc. instead of proceeding blindly. Find out what different business functions expect from a mobile solution and understand the challenges specific to your job.
Implementing security:
Businesses should consider mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) solutions to secure and manage the organization’s devices and data.
Data in the cloud or devices:
With many companies moving infrastructure and systems to the cloud, mobile data can also go to the cloud. This will allow users to access data from any device, anytime, anywhere.
Virtualization and Cloud:
Both virtualization and cloud services will become more specialized in the future and add value to mobility offerings.
Big Data and Social:
Big data analytics generate intelligence that can add value to your mobile initiatives. With access to internal or external social networks on mobile devices, workers can track what consumers are saying about their brand, improve relationships, and discover opportunities.
Enterprise mobility is like a tidal wave that all companies must ride or be swept under. According to Gartner, mobility will be a trillion dollar business by 2014. Analysts further predict that smartphones and tablets in the enterprise will surpass the billion mark by 2013, with iOS and Android contributing the most, followed by for Windows Phone and BlackBerry.