Enterprise Mobility: What It Is, and How it Can Help Your Company
It’s often hard to tell which business concepts are going to have a lasting impact on your company and which are going to fade away into the sunset, never to be seen outside that PowerPoint deck again. Part of the problem is that it’s easy to be dismissive of ideas that seem to be marketing focused. (Ask yourself, for example, how many jokes you heard around the office cubicle about “business intelligence” and oxymorons circa 2000.)
Enterprise mobility is one concept that’s here to stay, though. Done the right way, it can easily help your business grow and develop, making your workforce more agile without sacrificing the quality of your output or products.
Kevin Benedict, an enterprise mobility analyst and columnist for Sys Con Media, defines enterprise mobility both in terms of what it isn’t, and in terms of what it is.
What Enterprise Mobility Isn’t:
- Trading your office cubicle for a stool at your local Starbucks, because the coffee is better and you like smooth jazz.
- Doing the same job as you’d be doing in the office, in the exact same way, only from home.
What Enterprise Mobility Is:
- Creating systems that allow you to access data on the fly, so that you can do your job while being closer to points of contact — meaning, while talking to customers or presenting at a conference.
- Changing the way you do your job, so that work gets done more efficiently, wherever your work takes you.
Benedict offers an example from his personal experiences. Enterprise mobility allowed him to attend a conference, keep in touch with clients, write up events for publication, and prepare to lead sessions, all at the same time.
“Mobility enables me to be at the point of action where I can meet people and teach sessions without imposing friction on my analyst and consulting business,” says Benedict. “What do I mean by friction? Friction is when your business is slowed down and delayed because you are not accessible or information is not accessible while traveling. Mobility allows you to ‘have your cake and eat it, too.'”
Images: Doubleaction-group.com, Girlwiththeredhair.com, Atlanticmkt.com
