CIOTechOutlook >> Magazine >> October - 2013 issue

Conceptualization is the backbone of Enterprise Mobility

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Headquartered in Mumbai, Mobilox Innovations Pvt. Ltd. works in the field of product development as well as enterprise solutions on the mobile platform (mobiles & tablets) - both for intra organization purposes and external communication purposes.


The mobile applications market in India is skyrocketing and many brands are hopping on the bandwagon. With the influx in demand, the market has seen a boom in mobile application development companies - each vying for their share of the cake. The paradigm shift to 'Bring Your Own Device' (BYOD) has seen mobile phones now storming into the workplace and work culture. Currently, as of 2013, the Indian Enterprise Mobility market (excluding devices) stands at Rs. 1,100 crores in India. Employees are actively using mobile applications that help boost their productivity at the workplace. Majority of today's enterprises (nearly 61 percent) are already spending Rs. 2500 per person on mobiles (OPEX) in their organizations.
As the experimenting enterprises of today are presenting opportunities, there comes with it, its own share of challenges. The first challenge is of technologically mobilizing the government. The government and enterprise sectors are set to see a great deal of automation through mobile application solutions. Presently, government online services are basic in nature. The user interface and design on their websites leaves much to be desired. Of course, it is obvious to note that these online services would be revamped and reshaped for the new age audience that demands information 'now and on the go'. To meet these challenges, these services need to also be extended into the mobile segment with mobile optimized sites and applications that increase action and decision making on part of the users.
The second challenge which the industry is facing is about automating current enterprise processes on mobile. Owing to that fact that Enterprise Mobility would account for 10 – 12 percent of all IT spends by 2020, the enterprise sector would want to augment and streamline their present business and departmental processes with the use of enterprise tailored mobile applications. Taking for example the 'email' mobile application – This innovation has benefitted employees who are constantly on the move and enabled them to take quick action and decisions. Enterprise mobile applications add the mobility to business decision making. Today’s manufacturing sectors are adopting mobile based inventory management systems. HR and admin functionalities are exercised through tailored mobile applications thus eliminating the daily pain points and challenges through well conceptualized enterprise mobile applications.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) certainly possess a greater potential in adopting 'Enterprise Mobile Products'. By products, one means the purchase of a Mobile based product that is customizable to a certain level and seeks to automate a current business process basis common and well researched pain points. One can say that it is an already conceptualized product that acts as an entire mobile solution for the company. These products are provided on cloud and accessible on all natively available technology devices like PCs, Laptops, Tablets and Mobile Phones. Exciting Enterprise Mobile Products would include applications like company library management apps, school/campus management apps, sales force automation and lead management applications.
Adding to the above challenges is the 'conceptualization' gap in the market place. Although there is no dearth of mobile and technology providers but there is a gap in the market for 'solution' providers. Mobile Enterprise application development companies of today do not understand the process and pain points of each company but rather just merely mimic existing technologies and provide readymade solutions. This only provides the enterprises and companies with technology platforms which without solution perspective are rendered ineffective. There is a need to research, understand and then 'conceptualize' mobile enterprise solutions that work hand in hand with the business process and eventually augment it. With conceptualizing one comes to understand that every technology device in an organization has its own use and functionality. The PC or laptop is most preferred for detailed work that demands multitasking. To perform immediate action and especially on the move, the mobile phone or tablet is most preferred. Understanding such consumer behavior and thus creating software and applications that supplement the way people use the different technology devices is the need of the day.
To provide the best enterprise mobile solutions, expertise in the domain is a must. With companies still preferring cost effective solutions over value effective solutions, enterprise mobile application conceptualizing companies seem to get caught in the cross fire of the price war. By simply adopting the tendering method to narrow down to the cheapest developers, companies today are losing out on getting the best of the medium. Albeit the multiple challenges, there is tremendous opportunity for enterprise mobile application solution companies that provide their expertise in consumer/employee behavior, user interface designing and product packaging. The ball is now in the court of the government and enterprises to seek value over cost and thereby move forward positively towards creating solutions that point in the direction of enterprise automation through conceptualized mobile applications.

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