At this point, a business without a mobile strategy is a business without a strategy at all.
Here are nine reasons why you need a mobile strategist:
- Business Moves at Mobile Speed
According to Cisco, by 2016, there will be 10 billion Internet-enabled devices globally and smartphone traffic will grow 50 times the size it is today. Mobility is no longer a nice to have — it’s a critical requirement of doing business and staying competitive. Enterprise mobile spending is higher than ever, and mobile projects now span every department and industry.
- BYOD is the New Reality
Apple has been a major force behind the BYOD movement and new findings show that globally, BYOD is catching on. Enterprises around the world are making the decision to support employee-selected devices. However, maintaining security, control and visibility into devices and data has become a primary concern for CIOs. According to Gartner, the BYOD movement is here to stay, but security and management of these devices will continue to be pressing concerns among enterprises.
- Multiple Mobile Initiatives Cause Major Fragmentation– Make it One Person’s Day Job
With enterprises currently managing multiple mobile projects and new ones being added at a rapid clip, mobile is too often put into silos at most organizations. This makes management and decision-making, as well as future proofing and budget management, incredibly complex and time-consuming for employees with other job functions.
- A Mobile Strategist is an Objective Voice of Reason for the Increasingly Mobile Business
Maintaining the delicate balance between addressing user needs and IT capabilities can be difficult for any company. Let your mobile strategist be a hub between all department spokes to ensure that mobile initiatives truly reflect business need – and the technology is in place to support it as well.
- Mobile is No Longer a “One and Done”
It used to be that enterprises designed and implemented a mobile app and called it a day. Today, a single mobile app alone cannot fulfill all business objectives and needs. Mobile initiatives today require strategic planning, budgeting, research, prototyping and testing, as well as consistent updating. Mobile undertakings need to be iterative and agile, rather than tactical one-off projects with a beginning and an end. Jeffrey Hammond from Forrester Research has some great advice on how to readjust your thinking this way in his recent report Take Advantage of the Mobile Shift.
- Time is of the Essence
Time to market for mobile initiatives is a top pain point for enterprises, as delays in deployment can cost major dollars. Every day a competitor has an engaging app on the market and your company does not is a day of lost revenue. Speed to market isn’t the only important factor when it comes to be able to do mobile fast – companies also have a need for speed in rapidly iterating and refining mobile initiatives to stay current, incorporate feedback from users, and make adjustments based on data from analytics.
