The great thing about a new research study it that it really gets me thinking. SAP recently worked with CIO magazine to complete a research report and published a whitepaper on the findings. The paper, titled “Mobile in the Enterprise: The Gap Between Expectations and Expertise,” has given me great food for thought on the topic of mobile strategy.

By surveying IT executives through IDG’s LinkedIn Forum CIO group, we gathered some interesting statistics on a ‘Reality Gap ‘ that exists between these executives’ belief in the transformative power of mobile – and those organizations with enterprise-wide mobile strategies.  In fact, the report showed that 71% of senior IT leaders see mobile as transformational or strategic, but only 18% have a comprehensive strategy to deal with it.

But is this really a problem? Should companies start with a ‘comprehensive’ strategy? Is that even realistic?

I asked the question to SAP CIO of the Americas, Mike Golz, on a recent webinar we did on the topic of mobile strategy. His answer was that you just need to get started. In this fast paced market, you can’t afford to spend time defining a detailed strategy. If you do, you’ll be 10 months behind the market and risk never catching up.

My recommendation in the whitepaper is not to sit back, wait a year, formulate a very detailed strategy and then start executing. There is a base checklist of questions and approaches you should work through to form a straw man of a strategy and then just get started and learn from each execution. It’s important to find the balance between quick wins and really significant, strategic, ROI-generating applications.

Check out this great Infographic that highlights some of the interesting findings in the research report. You can find full the whitepaper based on this research at http://www.sap.com/mobilecio.