How SAP Enterprise Mobility Takes Your Business Mobile
The world has gone mobile. So, will enterprises be left behind?
Everyone is on a mobile phone now and it’s only fair to expect that work moves to the mobile too. But, are the enterprises today prepared for the leap? Is it an easy task to move the workings of an enterprise to mobile devices? What kind of solutions can be delivered?
SAP Enterprise mobility has emerged as a “go-to” solution for medium and large enterprises to take their business mobile. Can strategic SAP implementation deliver these results for enterprises?
Here’s how SAP tends to achieve this and certain aspects that enterprises need to look for:
You are in the Mobile Revolution
Sererra.com has a post “Keeping up the Times: Are you a Mobile Enterprise”, which alludes to IDC’s findings from a survey. The study reveals that, by the year 2014 the number of workers using mobiles will reach 1.10 billion; which is almost 35% of the total global workforce.
The mobile is the new window for IT revolution. With the increase in mobile devices and the proliferation of smart phones, it’s now the default access kiosk for consumers all over the world.
According to an article “The Mobile Revolution 2012” on a leading website in search and social media named “State of Watch”, the percentage of website visitors on mobiles shot from a mere 1.6% in the year 2010 to over 20% in the year 2012. The iPad converts, mobile consumers buying online, in transactions conversation by device at 2.5%. More than 54% of this traffic streaming through mobile devices is organic.
Mobile Adoption, BYOD, The Cloud and Apps
An IDC finding reports that there would be 1 billion smart phones and 1.2 billion mobile workers by 2013. Large enterprises expect their smartphone user base to triple by 2015. A Forrester Forecast predicts that more than 46% of large enterprises are now supporting personally owned devices. Furthermore, about 20% of the mobile workers download business apps from app stores and more than 50% of organizations are planning to deploy mobile apps in the next 12 months.
The consumers have changed the way in which they look out for consumer information, seek and interact with the businesses. This calls for an imminent need for enterprises to adapt and change. Cloud computing and access to applications is through mobile. The rate of app development, according to Cathal Mcgloin of Wired.com, is staggering. IT no longer dictates employees’ use of software and device type and BYOD is a sweeping phenomenon today.
A Yankee Group Survey reports that the North American market for mobile apps and cloud is valued at $85 billion and set to grow at the rate of 41.4% through the next four years.
Enterprises got the wakeup call.
Start with a Readiness Assessment
It is necessary to begin with a mobility readiness assessment for an enterprise, which is looking forward to get ready for the mobile revolution. Profile your existing capabilities – including infrastructure, IT teams and the context of your strategy. Build a mobility roadmap; identify value-adding opportunities for mobility within your business functions. Develop detailed project plans and layout a firm foundation for mobile device management.
It is needless to say that there will be a need to assess your security issues, BYOD compliance, and legal requirements and manage and control data of mobile devices personally owned by employees.
A Single Tool Does Everything
It’s time to “unwire” says SAP Enterprise Mobility website.
Giving enterprises a way to detach employees, vendors, contactors and partners from the cubicles, SAP provides you with end-to-end solutions for using a single, unified mobile platform for the entire enterprise. You can reduce costs by using pre-built apps developed by SAP and its partners. Your mobile devices stay secure with a scalable mobility management module while everyone in the company gets real-time access to data and analytics.
There’s an App for Enterprises too
SAP’s mobile solutions give you tools and applications to boost efficiency, spike up productivity and give employees access to data and applications from anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, the SAP Enterprise Mobility Portal has a full range of applications and solutions that are developed for mobile (sorted into categories, industries and business functions).
Watch out for the Barriers
SAP Enterprise Mobility gives you a solid platform for global mobility management. Moving an enterprise to the mobile might have friction. IT departments now shoulder extra work. Security issues will pile up. Look out for security concerns and compliance issues that might arise due to lack of control over employee-owned devices.
Work around the complexity arising out of the need to support a possibly heterogeneous device ecosystem. While the integration challenges and security are largely taken care of by SAP’s systems, limited IT budgets and lack of professionals could be a bottleneck that you need to consider.
Surprisingly, IT security is the biggest issue faced by the enterprises today. According to a Trend Micro Survey, 64% of businesses cite cloud security as an issue, whereas 43% state compliance as their main hurdle.
The time is apt for making a move to enterprise mobile in spite of the issues that plague the movement.
To reap the full-benefits of moving to the mobile, you need world-class systems such as SAP mobility solutions, a full participation of CIOs or top management and employee buy-in.
While moving enterprise to the mobile, you’ll also have to factor in Mobile Unified communications according to Michael Tessler of Broadsoft who wrote for wired.com. According to Michael, “Gartner predicts that 75% of mobile unified communications will also be integrated into the enterprise telephone infrastructure.“
The days of anytime, anywhere, seamless data and workability are here. Is your enterprise moving to the cloud? Have you looked into possible solutions such as SAP Enterprise Mobility? If so, do you have SAP certified professionals on board?
What do you think is the future of the enterprise will look like?