Who’s Adopting Whom? Enterprise setting the standards for Mobile Devices or Mobile Devices setting standard for Enterprise

 Mark Irwin Special Collection Photo

Like many other CIO’s, are you too, pondering over to make your solutions and process work for enterprise with this new wave of tools, devices and mobility?

Laptops when moved into enterprise desks removing Heavyweights and giving them some place in Server Rooms (R.I.P.) – they changed the realm on How Enterprise worked. The era of Printed brochures started to get over when Sales guys started carrying presentations on their Laptops to their prospective customers. This new age was a first tip of empowerment which Technology could least do to a business enterprise.  The only next thing was Technology just getting bigger than enterprise itself and these handy machines getting smarter, improving productivity and creating flexibility within the global workforce. In a way, it rather set the precedence for us on our working style. 

Be it an automation of a business process or capturing of a data point on a remote location – these devices helped in improving the overall picture of enterprise by simplifying the adoption of tools, software products and business process. As a part of deployment of such Solutions, which businesses requires to complete day to day tasks, these devices were protected with Organization’s policies around data security,  data management and disaster recovery strategies. Adoption of Technology powered business solutions took tons of email exchange, many user debates and countless process improvements to stabilize and automate the process – now; it creates a need for optimizing your own accepted solution – Thank You Mobile Devices. If you are seeing this as a False Consciousness and just one of those competing needs with other businesses, then, it’s time to be forewarned about the trends affecting the enterprise and it’s users. 71% of organizations are already using or planning to use custom mobile applications. (Read Report here)

Cloud driven trend is evident from the famous cloud, Salesforce.com. The speed with which SFDC (As we call it), did create a buzz within the CIO community were, surprisingly, backed by actual results. It was just about time when Cloud based Sales Force automation on Cloud was a bandwagon where Enterprises where jumping in.Who do you think was adopted by whom? We all did learn a thing or two with this model of Application Envisioning and Rollout; either creating reasons for implementing this approach or not. This whole cloud conversation  for many years have resulted into various initiatives around Virtualizations, Virtual Servers, Virtual Desktops, Cloud Strategies and more. These cloud discussions have evolved into mobility discussions where cloud is not a Trend anymore but a reality of present. Now, our Solution Architects build on Virtualization and Cloud infrastructure as a fundamental component. Scope of Scale, Improved Value and Reduced Costs help enterprise today drive architectural related decisions easily.

1.5 billion mobile handsets by end-2014, do you not think that potential user of these handsets could be a potential customer, users, employees, partners, distributors and more. As Enterprise who themselves are trying to Change with so many changes globally, this news of adopting mobile into Enterprise landscape just complicates the Solutions and process deployment. Isn’t it natural for Enterprise to consider strategies around these already adopted devices?

Let’s see what Enterprise is actually using mobile devices for:

 [content_center title=”Business benfits from Mobile Computing”]

Source : Symantec

Have you already built a use case for the applications which you think should be accessible on mobile? Many are using Employee Empowerment, Reduced Costs of Infrastructure Ownership and Flexibility as viable cause for considering an adoption of mobile device into an enterprise. As CIO, you get your peer taking you deep into discussions around Productivity, Employee Self Services, Effective Corporate Communications, bridging of Customer Feedback Gaps and many more similar sounding impactful topics where application of mobile technology could change the game.

 [content_center title=”Apps on Mobile

Source: Symantec

Most of these mobile driven innovations – be it an app-store model, UX/UI guidelines for application design, overall application architecture approach, implementation roadmap for Solutions development is influenced with mobile compatible scenario. The consumer mobile is definitely setting a tone for enterprise applications. Employees today expect a private “app-store” for their organization. The expectations around these corporate app-stores are building primarily from the experiences of global consumer facing app-stores. If you already have started building mobile friendly line-of-business application, may be its time to look at your application portfolio and look at building standards for your mobile and for others it’s time to look at mainstream applications and start building line-of-business application.

The story of adoption on standards which you should follow for the mobile device is more complicated than actually envisioned. The world is still debating on Bring Your Own Devices policies, practices for firewall controlled enterprise boundary. Data integrity, security plays an important parameter for decision to be made around mobile acceptance and usage. I hear many assessing Risks of either or not introducing mobility related opportunity into Enterprise strategy and roadmap. With the fact that mobility at first place is thought to improve productivity or provide flexibility to its users and employees; does it provide a clear cost benefit in your case?

Adoption or Non-adoption of the mobile device just seem to be another story in making for many; but for Generation-Y who will be driving the future of Businesses happens to be a multi-device owner. So, improving productivity with reducing cost is a challenge which any organization has to deliver on. We could be of help in defining, envisioning and building a requisite strategy and mobile apps as appropriate. If not yet, it’s worth giving a look at our App-à-tête.

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