By Kevin Custis, Social Business and Mobility Services Global Leader, IBM Global Business Services
The second wave of the mobile revolution is crashing over us.
Consumers, with their no-holds barred adoption of shiny, useful smart devices and must-have apps, led the way with mobile. They made it a part of their everyday lives, changing what it means to be connected.
Now, it’s business’ turn to be transformed. Not by just rolling out more marketing campaigns or popping out more apps. That's the equivalent of what companies did in the early days of the Internet, when they just focused on putting up Web sites. Which wasn’t enough.
Just as the Net unleashed a fundamental shift in business, mobile is going to upend business models and industries, remake corporate operations, from R&D to supply chains, and change interactions not just with consumers, but with employees and partners.
We’re entering the age of the business of mobile. And a new IBM study, "The 'Upwardly Mobile' Enterprise: Setting the Strategic Agenda" from the IBM Institute of Business Value and Oxford Economics reveals how leading-edge organizations are making the most of what makes mobile unique: the insight that all that data provides, the always-on connectivity, the ability to react more quickly in order to transform themselves and catapult ahead of rivals.
The strategy builds on four related themes:
--transforming a business,
--engaging with customers within the context of their businesses,
--buildings and running apps to unlock core business knowledge, and;
--optimizing performance by integrating mobile into the fabric of an organization.
The race is on to disrupt with innovative mobile business models. Some 90 percent of the companies we surveyed want to have a robust mobile strategy in place, though less than 20 percent respondents are satisfied with their current plans. We’ve seen how leaders are adopting new business models and making mobile a core part of how business gets done. And chances are, they are looking at ways to take advantage of the cloud.
For example, Cemex, the world’s third-largest building materials company, estimated that it lost around $5,000 each time one of its deliveries was delayed by 45 minutes. The company tackled the issue by integrating mobile devices with the company’s central system so that wait times automatically initiate an added customer charge.
So what can your organization do to make the most of mobile and establish a leadership position? Here are three recommendations that will help you jump-start your mobile strategy:
1) Be deliberate. Take the time to do a strategic assessment so that you pinpoint areas where mobile will fundamentally change your business models and processes. That will lead to new revenue streams, lower costs, or redefine the organization’s role in the value chain.
2) Always keep the customer in mind. Target opportunities where mobility can provide faster, more relevant and engaging customer service and experience.
3) Include employees. You want your workforce to be highly mobile. Start by letting employees use their own smart gadget to tackle work, but be sure to put in place security and privacy policies and guidelines proactively, rather than reacting to problems down the line.
The distinction in our study between leaders and those that want to lead turned on strategy, on vision. Companies, no matter the industry, can’t afford to take a piecemeal approach to mobile. Now is your chance, in the early days of this shift to the business of mobile, to take the time to step back and consider how the technology -- paired with social, cloud and big data and analytics -- will transform you and your industry.
Kevin Custis leads Social Business and Mobile practices for IBM's Global Business Services worldwide. He has more than 20 years of consulting experience, advising senior executives on transforming sales, marketing, commerce and customer care operations. Custis is the author of "Hiding in Plain Sight: Service Innovation a New Priority for Chief Executive Officers."
