Going mobile

At its core, mobilising an enterprise is about addressing the information and connectivity requirements of mobile workers and managing remote assets. Businesses have always had to deal with this challenge, and on average, 38 percent of workers can be considered ‘mobile’. Until recently, the technology tools at their disposal were less than sufficient to really solve the business problem. But with the emergence of mobile technologies – especially network technologies such as 3G and Wi-Fi – and compelling wireless devices, businesses now have the opportunity to address these problems.

The issue is whether there are measurable benefits to invest in wireless technology to support these workforces. The business case for investing in wireless and mobile technologies will vary from company to company, but generally, ROI can come from three areas: reducing costs through greater operational efficiencies or other IT savings, improving the level of service to customers and clients, or driving revenues through greater sales and marketing effectiveness.

Our research indicates that the percentage of mobile workers in small and midsize companies is actually greater than within large enterprises. So there’s an inherent need for these companies to evaluate mobile technologies.

The first step for a business is to conduct an assessment of their mobility requirements. And that starts with understanding who your mobile workers are, what they do currently and need to be able to do when they’re mobile, and what technologies they’re currently using to do their job. Most companies don’t have a very clear understanding of this. Investing in mobile technologies before understanding the basic organisational requirements around mobility and how mobility impacts the company as a whole is the wrong approach, but it’s often the case today. I call this ‘opportunistic’ mobility, instead of ‘strategic’ mobility.

Ideally, the strategy should always come first. However, many companies have invested in mobility opportunistically, with devices driving some of those opportunistic investments. And that’s not always a bad thing, because using these devices begin to open the possibilities for strategic mobile deployments. Getting compelling mobile devices into the right people’s hands can result in an “a-ha” moment. But ultimately, the business need should drive technology choices.

There certainly is a legitimate question about whether we’re opening a Pandora’s Box with pervasive mobile devices wireless connectivity. I think it largely depends on an individual’s personality. Some people will feel constrained by mobile devices, like they’re constantly tethered to the office, or cannot get out from under the watchful eye of their boss or the constant demands of clients. On the other hand, some people will feel empowered by it. There’s something to be said for the ability to leave the office early to catch your daughter’s soccer game, knowing that you can always deal with that important e-mail you’re waiting for from the sidelines. But it will be much the same impact as mobile phones have had on the work-life balance.

Companies cannot stick their head in the sand and ignore mobile technologies. For one, since we’ve established that companies have mobile workforces with information needs, ignoring or blocking the growth of mobile technologies will place companies at a competitive disadvantage. Secondly, mobile workers will adopt the technologies on their own if IT is slow to act. Mobile technologies certainly raise different security challenges – wireless networks have different vulnerabilities than fixed networks, and mobile devices are more prone to loss and theft. But IT can also apply many of the same security tools they’ve used in the laptop environment: VPNs, devices management, etc. The first step for IT is establishing sound policy around mobile technologies and then evaluating the technologies to support the policy.

The first hurdle for companies in terms of implementing mobile technologies is the challenge of getting their arms around their mobility requirements – the basic questions of who our mobile workers are, what they do and who needs mobile technology are not always easy for companies to answer. The next challenge is the wide variety of technologies and solutions that exist. There’s a wide choice of options out there.