Adoption of Enterprise Mobile Solutions

Back in 1997, when I demonstrated a Java-based Internet solution for loan processing for banks, at a major IT event in Orlando, people were extremely skeptical about such a solution working. Today similar solutions are used by nearly all major banks. The solutions then and now are essentially the same, with of course increased levels of security, then what has changed? It is the mindset of the adopters. Anything new is met with a degree of hesitation. Very few people can step where no-one has stepped before. Others wait and watch to see how the early adopters have fared before stepping in themselves. This is a natural process and naturally takes time. Mobile solutions for enterprises have essentially followed the same pattern. The previous decade saw a telecom revolution as never before. Mobile phones became more powerful and cheaper while telecom networks became faster. People started adopting mobile solutions but most stayed with e-mail and other collaboration applications. Then of-course there are those adventurers who started using mobile solutions for their business processes, some with successes and others with failures. I bow to these pioneers. In my next posting, I will talk about their experiences.

Are Enterprises adopting Mobile Solutions?

Mobility is the talk of the town and anything about mobility gets people excited. But are mobile solutions really getting adopted amongst enterprises? Out of 20 CEOs of mid-sized enterprises I discussed mobility with, 19 got genuinely interested in what it could do for their companies. They were convinced that mobile solutions for their field workers could improve productivity and customer relationships. They were convinced that it was the way to go for their companies. Six months later when I checked with some of them and asked on how their mobility projects were progressing, I found that none had even made plans for implementing mobile solutions. When asked why, the answer was either that they would do so after their existing core systems had stabilized (ever heard of a stabilized system?) or that they did not know where or how to begin.