Enterprise mobility is on the rise, but when exactly will it arrive? When will companies be forced to adapt to stay competitive? It is becoming increasingly clear that the time will be sooner rather than later.
Why is that?
It’s because of the speed of two parallel worlds that are inextricably linked—the business world and the consumer world.
The business world moves slower than the consumer one. Emails can oftentimes take days, weeks or even months to get around to sending. People, on the other hand, get upset when texts aren’t responded to in minutes. Upgrading technology and software on a company-wide scale takes months. An individual who upgrades their phone expects devices and applications to be upgraded and compatible within hours, if not minutes.
The difference between the two worlds is staggering. To be fair, companies are behemoths compared to the lone iPhone user, obviously they move slower. But in a world where technology is only moving faster and faster, and our personal lives are adapting to that pace, why should businesses fall so far behind?
Well, they shouldn’t be.
An average day on a mobile device could include: using your phone to check social media; get the news; check and send emails; FaceTime a loved one; get directions and real-time traffic updates for a commute; take a photo of a brainstorming session and effortlessly upload it to others’ devices; find a new restaurant for dinner; download and discover podcasts; make a dinner reservation with three taps and a twirl of your pointer finger; map and time a workout; formulate a dietary plan and see how your dinner fits into it; schedule your months appointments..the list could seemingly go on forever.
Mobile technology for consumers covers all aspects of life—it is the hub. It enables us to be more efficient, and have the daily processes of our lives be interconnected on an unprecedented scale.
Most companies recognize that they could benefit from incorporating this hub into their business plan. Most realize they could interconnect and streamline many processes. But most businesses haven’t committed the time and resources to developing their business around mobile technology.
How many hours has the average person put into learning their phone? Whether it’s reading online, talking with friends, asking family members (probably the younger ones) for help or simply searching for, downloading and exploring an app, we heavily invest in mastering our phones. We do this because it’s good. We do this because it makes our lives easier, it makes things run smoothly.
Not only is it time for businesses to adopt the same mindset they have about their personal devices, it is invaluable for businesses to aggressively regard technology as a cornerstone of their company.
This means appointing a technology officer to the decision-making table. This means prioritizing adoption and upgrading. This means continually researching and adapting to changes.
We’re already seeing that companies who’ve made the transition and adopted mobile technology as their hub are seeing massive success (Uber and Schindler Elevators come to mind).
The time to make this transition is now. The faster the consumer world moves, the faster it will demand the business world move, and companies that adapt will not only survive—they’ll thrive.