AIMING HIGHER: CREATE A MOBILE- FIRST BUSINESS STRATEGY

Transcription

1 A HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES REPORT AIMING HIGHER: CREATE A MOBILE- FIRST BUSINESS STRATEGY Copyright 2015 Harvard Business School Publishing. sponsored by

2 AIMING HIGHER: CREATE A MOBILE-FIRST BUSINESS STRATEGY For maximum business value, think beyond basic productivity services like , calendaring, and contacts on mobile devices. Instead, adopt a strategy that shifts critical business applications, operations, and processes to mobile platforms as part of a mobile-first enterprise strategy. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Extending existing, basic productivity applications to mobile platforms is a critical first step, but the mobile environment has greater potential. The real game-changers are new services and business models that are now possible with mobile. Leverage the cloud for central, secure management of applications, data, user identity, and other user services in the mobile space. Maximize employee productivity with universal access to essential applications, content, and data across every computing environment. FULL REPORT For years, consumerization has driven rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets in the enterprise while raising expectations of employees that they could use any device to access any application or service. One unintended consequence of this trend has been the creation of significant security risks as the volume of unsecured mobile devices holding corporate information increased. All of this has caused IT to react with a defensive strategy that typically: Establishes their own device ( bring your own device, or BYOD) policies for employees, Introduces stricter management restraints, and Limits mobile access to basic productivity services like and calendaring to reduce risk and enhance security. While some organizations may be satisfied with these results, the real leaders in enterprise mobility are already two steps ahead. They know there is a greater potential for business mobility that brings together a strategy that builds, or rebuilds, business processes around mobility s unique capabilities and the unique needs and opportunities of mobile employees and customers. AIMING HIGHER: CREATE A MOBILE-FIRST BUSINESS STRATEGY 1

3 Most companies out there are still focused on using web-based interfaces to interact with their back-office systems, says Chris Curran, chief technologist for U.S. advisory business at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Some have moved to web-based cloud applications, but they re not focused on mobile as their primary user interface. The big opportunity from an organizational capability perspective is to develop a mobile mindset, a mindset that considers customers and employees where they work and delivers them the information and tools in the moment. Mobility should be a seamless and integrated part of the infrastructure, says Curran. Going beyond BYOD, organizations with a mobile mindset must be able to envision, prototype, and deploy new capabilities where full mobile support is a given. But doing so requires new skills, says Curran, in areas from organizational behavior to user interface design, testing, networking, and security. The time to act is now. According to IDC s Worldwide Mobile Enterprise Applications and Solutions 2015 Predictions, 1 by 2017 nearly all new line-of-business (LOB) apps in customer-facing roles and 75 percent of LOB apps in internally facing roles will be built for mobile-first consumption. MOVING BEYOND BYOD BYOD was a natural response by IT to a mobile world that rapidly became more chaotic and unpredictable. Craving an increase in productivity and the ease of use that they found in their personal technology options, employees began bringing their own smartphones and tablets to the corporate environment. Many were equipped with applications they downloaded to access and update corporate data at will. IT departments charged with keeping critical applications up and securing corporate data saw the uncontrolled spread of unmanaged endpoints as a threat, and looked to secure these devices and data on them. figure 1 FIGURE 1 MOBILE DEVICES BLEND HOME AND WORK Use of personal devices to access corporate data drives need for security. Full-time employees who use their smartphone for work (not including calls/sms) Full-time employees who access corporate data from a personally owned smartphone or tablet Full-time employees who are tablet owners and use their tablet for work Full-time employees who are laptop owners and use their laptop for work occasionally SOURCE Ovum Employee Mobility Survey, HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES

4 The big opportunity from an organizational perspective is to transform yourself into a mobile-first organization. The challenge today is to rethink how the enterprise uses mobility to change business processes. Many industries are well down this road already. The airline industry is a good example. Many carriers have invested in a digital flight deck strategy that replaces traditional paper flight manuals with tablets containing up-to-date operating procedures, navigational charts, and other data. The new process reduces weight and saves fuel, is less expensive than paper updates, and ensures air crews always have the most recent information. This new model also enables the airlines to stay in continuous contact with the flight crew at home, in the hotel, at the airport, and during the flight. Likewise, field service personnel in many industries can eliminate hours of unproductive driving and paperwork by shifting to a mobile-centered process for distributing casework assignments and instructions through mobile platforms. They can use this same mobile environment to complete tasks like order parts, or document the status of client work, and more. PwC s Curran gives the example of an aircraft technician diagnosing a problem. Rather than the technician spending time and effort looking for help, Curran says a tablet, smartphone, wearable, or other smart device could make the latest information available when and where it s needed. That way, he says, We could bring the power of expertise, databases, analysis, diagnostics, and reference manuals right to the plane, where technicians could solve the problem right there. While the focus for much of the industry is on smartphones and tablets, it s the entire portfolio of devices including traditional desktops that holds the real potential. Users want access to any application from any device while maintaining a seamless, continuous experience from desktop to laptop to tablet to smartphone. In order to achieve this kind of modern experience, however, IT must work to evolve the desktop architecture too. Taking inspiration from the innovation of the mobile environment, forward-thinking CIOs are infusing innovation into the desktop platform in order to make desktops and applications more flexible for users and easier to manage for IT. For example, Menlo College in Atherton, California, is using software called VDI, or virtual desktop infrastructure, to increase information access while cutting costs. Because VDI can host an entire desktop environment in a data center, CIO Allan Chen says it has transformed how the IT department onboards new staff members. Before, we had to set up a computer, then meet with them personally and ask them What do you like on your PC? and then set up a profile for them. It takes a lot of time, says Chen. With the centralized administration made possible by VDI, We can onboard someone and have them at a desktop wherever they are located and configured with the applications they need within minutes. Eventually, the school hopes to use desktop virtualization to reconfigure students applications and access to data as they change courses to continually provide them the right applications and information. 3 AIMING HIGHER: CREATE A MOBILE-FIRST BUSINESS STRATEGY 3

5 DESKTOPS IN THE MOBILE AGE Many users today have a variety of devices, from traditional desktops to the latest smartphone or tablet. They want to use any of them as needed for consistent and up-to-date access to all of their applications and content, without sacrificing convenience or interrupting their work. This means desktop and notebook computers must be full participants in this new mobile environment and remain key players in the deployment of new applications and services. The desktop will remain a primary environment for many users and many specific tasks. What s most important is that the desktop plays an integrated role in the portfolio of devices while giving users continuous access to applications, content, and data across all of those devices. In order to achieve this, CIOs must: Evolve their existing application and desktop architectures to make them more flexible, Make it possible for users to move seamlessly from device to device, and Share identity and preferences across the entire portfolio of devices. As many organizations well know, the traditional desktop/notebook PC architecture does not readily support a mobile-first approach. It typically relies on a brittle, difficult-to-adapt, and secure software stack on each device. Each user s data and applications are locked in a single device that doesn t fit a mobile style of work. They end up with multiple devices, each with a unique set of applications or information rather than ubiquitous access from anywhere. Fortunately, newer approaches to identity management such as single sign-on to all of a user s applications and data sources are helping organizations to deliver on an integrated, consistent experience. Similarly, desktop virtualization and cloud-based Desktop-as-a-Service are providing the essential building blocks for desktop transformation to occur. FIGURE 2 ORGANIZATIONS MOVE TOWARD A MOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY Percentage that say they will deploy the following elements of managed mobility within two years. Mobile connectivity management Mobile application management Mobile security management 29 Mobile device management 35 SOURCE The 451 Group survey, Mobility Trends and Technologies Impacting Enterprise IT in 2014 and Beyond 4 4 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES

6 GETTING TO A MOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY To enable a mobile-first strategy, enterprises must increasingly focus on moving business processes to a mobile environment. For many, the shift is already under way. figure 2 Forecasting that mobile technology will spur a massive technology spend arms race, Forrester Research says such spending will reach $189 billion by 2017 in order to enable mobile services that engage consumers. 5 While such customer-focused strategies will continue to take center stage, Nick McQuire, vice president of enterprise research at CCS Insight, sees more organizations also looking for internal mobility opportunities. In the new world of mobility, identity is the irrevocable credential that allows users the freedom to use any device they choose, with appropriate, consistent access to any applications and data they need. It is no wonder why so many organizations consider updating mobile security processes to be among their most critical initiatives today to enable employees and business partners. figure 3 FIGURE 3 SECURITY, DATA CENTER INFRASTRUCTURE KEY TO MOBILITY Percentage rating the following as high or critical priority in their firm s mobility strategy over the next 12 months. Update our security technologies and processes to better support mobile interactions 78 Implement or expand mobile security solutions 70 Expand or enhance data center infrastructure to handle increasing volume of customers mobile interactions Implement a comprehensive mobile device management solution that includes both company-supplied and employee-purchased smartphones and tablets Support a wide variety of mobile devices and platforms 68 SOURCE Forrester Research survey, Latest IT Trends for Secure Mobile Collaboration, April AIMING HIGHER: CREATE A MOBILE-FIRST BUSINESS STRATEGY 5

7 To enable a mobile-first strategy, enterprises must increasingly focus on moving business processes to a mobile environment. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS A lot of companies have been stuck around BYOD because of the focus on the device and the myriad of issues around its governance, says CCS Insight s McQuire. The question should be less about who owns the device, but what can I better enable an individual to do that couldn t be done before? The answers include: Provide anywhere, anytime access to business information. Create a true mobile-first strategy that reimagines business processes to drive increased revenue, reduced costs, and improved access to new markets. Make desktop and notebook computers full participants in the enterprise mobile environment. Always start with the user, and what s going on in the employee base, advises Richard Absalom, principal analyst, enterprise mobility and productivity for market research and consulting firm Ovum. What do they want to use, what are the processes they re engaged in, and what are their everyday pain points? 6 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES

8 ENDNOTES Ovum Employee Mobility Survey unified-communications-manager-callmanager/byod_forrester_tap_latest_it_trends_wp_en.pdf AIMING HIGHER: CREATE A MOBILE-FIRST BUSINESS STRATEGY 7

9 SPONSOR PERSPECTIVE Mobility is transforming business. From the constant proliferation of mobile devices to new mobile form factors to applications and services that empower a workforce, engage customers, and reimagine business processes, few trends will have as big an impact in transforming the way a business operates or competes in the market. Even more, business mobility is the core of innovation for businesses today, giving organizations the power to compete more aggressively, increase the effectiveness of employees, and connect with customers in ways that were previously impossible. VMware sees this broader trend of business mobility as having far-reaching implications for how mission-critical applications are built, how desktops are architected and managed, and how entire industries build and rebuild core business processes and operations. How significant is the impact of business mobility? A recent study of 2,810 global CIOs conducted by Gartner found that in 2015, 62 percent of customer-facing IT investments and 48 percent of employee-facing investments will be mobile focused. 7 Business Mobility Market Drivers Three distinct audiences, each with unique goals and priorities, are driving interest in business mobility. USERS ANY APP, ANY DEVICE Users expect to use a growing portfolio of devices, with increased heterogeneity, to access any application or data, at any time. Their needs go far beyond the need for access to , calendaring, and contacts on a smartphone. While first-generation user needs focused primarily on individual productivity, the demand of users today is for applications that empower them to execute their job in a more effective way. LINES OF BUSINESS BUSINESS PROCESS INNOVATION Even more relevant than access to information and applications is the ability to redefine or reimagine a business process based on new user models and new devices. Mobile is providing a platform that is helping organizations compete more effectively, empower employees, and connect and engage with customers in new and more profound ways. IT MOBILE-CLOUD ARCHITECTURE To support these growing needs and expectations, IT understands that it must build upon a mobile-cloud architecture that delivers what the business requires, without jeopardizing reliability, security, performance, or cost management. The mobile-cloud architecture expands upon the infrastructure value of cloud to deliver key services to users across any device. IT s need for a mobile-cloud architecture reflects the requirement to support the broader cloud initiative while also taking advantage of its value in how to improve the impact of business mobility to users and the business. The market is on the cusp of the next great release of value, all driven by mobility. This next stage of the market will be characterized not by the adoption of individual productivity tools or merely securing employee-owned devices. The next phase of the market will deliver true business process transformation, supporting core business processes and operations that drive revenue and ensure ongoing operational integrity. The next generation of the market will shape how each employee is empowered to execute their job more effectively, how an organization competes in the market, and how a company connects with and engages their customers. Erik Frieberg Vice-President, Marketing, End-User Computing VMware sponsored by 7 Gartner, Flipping to Digital Leadership: The 2015 CIO Agenda, October 4, 2014 n=2,796 customer facing, n=797 employee facing

10 hbr.org/hbr-analytic-services