Right now, many CIOs are holed up in a boardroom with their IT team to discuss their enterprise mobility plan and where investment needs to be allocated in order to thrive in the mobile era. This complex undertaking requires considering many of the components that make mobility go safely and effectively. But which area is leading the pack in terms of investment? A recent Enterprise Mobility Exchange survey of almost 300 senior-level enterprise IT and mobility professionals revealed that mobile applications were far and away the top investment priority for enterprise mobile solutions. In fact, respondents selecting mobile applications nearly doubled the next two areas, MDM and mobile security.
The main reason for this can be found in the respondents’ answers. 67.9% of the respondents mentioned that increased productivity was one of, if not the main driver sought after by their organization. Increasing productivity then, is the undisputed heavyweight champion of mobile technology goals. It’s worthwhile then for professionals of all levels to remember that through all of the technical, operational and implementation planning, the success or failure any enterprise mobility plan lives and dies with this metric. The end product must be mobile apps that illicit participation, improve workflow and efficiency, and ultimately produce results for the organization at a higher clip.
So what, or more accurately who is at the heart of this ambitious goal? Behind the mobile technology being developed are the most important stakeholders you should be thinking about when deciding how to deploy mobile applications: your employees.
The needs of your workforce much like technology has evolved drastically and continues to do so. Therefore it’s vital to engage them and have a clear grasp of what functions and tasks they most need to perform when away from the office, what information they need to access, and which apps they demand the most and rate the highest. Getting this kind of accurate feedback can only be accomplished if the right communication channels are planned and embedded within your BYOD policy. This will allow you to drill down to the end users and identify what their mobility needs are: what tasks and functions they most require and which apps they have found most efficient and effective.
This type of feedback needs to be at the core of your enterprise mobility planning. It is after all, market research. You’re effectively providing a product to your most important customers – your employees – and cliches aside, the customer is always right.
App design specifically has been an under-invested area for enterprise development teams in the past, but this area will become much more important as mobile apps for enterprise mature. Employees will not use enterprise apps any more than they have to if they are not user-friendly and comfortable, and deliver the same experience they expect from their favorite consumer apps. You want to provide users with a platform that makes it easy and dare I say it, even fun to use mobile applications for work. This is why a native mobile experience that delivers a consistent experience regardless of which device or OS is being used is an investment that will pay off major dividends in the future.
At Nubo, our teams of UX designers and developers have synergized to create a native mobile experience that translates consistently on all Android and iOS devices as well as HTML browsers. This allows organizations not only to develop custom enterprise apps, but to choose from over 1.5 million Android apps. It also provides utmost freedom and flexibility when planning your mobile app offerings as part of your BYOD planning. More importantly, it lets your organization give your employees the tools they need to get the job done.
Always remember the human element and make sure your processes are in touch with your users’ needs and preferences – They are the ones who must respond, buy-in and participate for your enterprise to reap the ultimate benefits.