Are you developing a mobile enterprise strategy?

Mobile transactions have grown by 92% in 2 years. Are you prepared to move your business online?

If you are one of the many that believe you can trickle in "mobility" to support enterprise operations over the next two to three years, think again. CSS Corp’s figures indicate that while customer online transactions grew at a CAGR of 92% in two years (January 2011 through December 2012), call center activity for the same period decreased at a CAGR of only 19% (see chart below; click to enlarge). What this means is that, while mobile transactions continue to explode, completely redefining how your customers are interacting with your business, companies are far too slow in meeting this growth with supportive technology. Most transactions are still being supported by phone.That is not a sustainable trajectory.

A recent study by Accenture, involving over 400 global executives, revealed that 73% believe "mobility" will impact their businesses as much as, or more than, the web did in the 90s; and 33% list "mobility" as one of their top two priorities (75% put it among their top five).

But – and this is the interesting bit – nearly 60% confessed that their mobile strategy was only "moderately developed."

So: 92% growth in online transactions, but only a "moderately developed" plan to engage in a "mobility strategy." Can this be true? 

There are, of course, concerns about launching into the unknown, and some of the issues slowing adoption concern data mobility, ease-of-use, and return on investment; and then there are the expected security concerns, back-end integration issues, and device management questions.

But, it’s a development you cannot afford to ignore, and there are a number of platforms and internal apps that are fairly easy to adopt.

What will sell mobile integration – and drive management buy-in – is a strong business case based on innovation, and metrics & measures aligned to organizational targets.

What's interesting today is that consumers are adopting new technologies much faster than in-house technology departments, which have to contend with relatively inflexible business models.

The most important thing to keep in mind when implementing mobile, is how it will support your strategic objectives. Through increased sales? Or by optimizing operations? Or by supporting new business models? Whatever your objectives, you'll need to identify the wants and needs of the stakeholder group and enable these through mobile technology.

Want some more tips? Watch our Enterprise Mobility webinar to find out how to plan for, implement, and profit from a mobility strategy. And you can refer to the "implementation snapshot" template to plan your journey.