Mobility is the In-thing

Mobility began as a trend for personal use, social connectivity and as a fashion signature. What started with non-serious activities such as watching YouTube and chatting with friends over weekend has become the game changer! Business owners and executives in all industries have come to recognize the benefit Mobility brings to the table. 

Mobility appears like a treasure as the world grapples with economic challenges. Facebook is working on bringing out their mobile based advertising model which is significant for them. Small businesses all over the world are reshaping their business models with the use of mobile devices such as Tablet PCs. China has surpassed US in the dominant smart phone market. India is catching up fast. As per an estimate, by 2014 there will have been over 76 billion mobile apps downloaded resulting in an app economy worth an estimated thirty five billion in the same year. Mobile business will become big business in the not so distant future. There is going to be mad rush as the businesses chase the fortunes associated with mobility.

However, it is worthwhile to look back and learn from what happened earlier in the initial days of Web. We watched the horror movie of bust after boom over a decade back. In those days browser-viewed applications were the order of the day and businesses rushed to grab the opportunities. E-commerce was the buzz word and associated windfall gains in revenue lured the businesses. Everybody created his own website and launched it without doing detailed ground work and putting in place proper revenue models. As the dust settled in, people slowly realized how expensive maintaining a website could be without accruing any real value out of it. The same is the case with social networking where getting something up in the social networking space without building an engaged and meaningful following. Similar thing is possible  in the mobile space as well, if companies take a “channel” approach instead of behavioral approach. 

Businesses need to differentiate between mobile and mobility. Having a few devices and targeting users with mobiles could be myopic. Instead, mobility is all about understanding the behavioral patterns of the users and the relevance of your connectivity to the user in the context of his lifestyle, needs and interests. Does the user need to connect with you on the go?

In the early days, people wanted information instantly at the click of a mouse. In the social networking era, it also included social connectivity. Mobile takes it further to include instant information or transaction, social connectivity and anywhere, all bundled together across variety of environments, screen sizes and devices.

Mobility could mean a laid back indulgence like watching a video while travelling or making a banking transaction like funds transfer on the go which is a serious business. The aspects that should be borne in mind for businesses is to avoid “bloodshed” that happened during Web days. They should understand nuances of mobility and mobile behaviors before investing in mobile initiatives. Hiring a Hero and providing him funds and resources does not help. Establish a COE, integrate all the business needs and formulate a cohesive strategy and then translate it into initiatives. Going mobile is not all about having an app. Avoid the tendency to develop an separate app for every small thing or interaction. Use a single app to aggregate the content of all the sources in the Enterprise. One needs to differentiate tactics from strategy. 

Today the situation is that there are millions of apps already available for download. Is your app attractive to the users? Who are your competitors? What happens if the number of downloads/ installs are low after spending so many funds? Competition is fierce and what if you have to compete with established brands in the markets? Nobody wants to his apps to be seen as junk in the market. 

With a clear focus and specific needs of the customer in mind, coupled with clear understanding of his behavioral patterns and backed up by benefit-cost analysis, the organizations can take its mobile initiatives forward. There is definitely great future for mobility and it is going to call the shots. The market is in the growth phase. Youth are adopting mobile in a big way  for their interactions and doing businesses. Organizations will have to take a serious look at their revenue models and possible impact by going mobile and if it helps the business and they should certainly work on game changing mobile strategies. Tomorrow’s mobile players will win the game based on usage numbers due to the value of their content, whether it’s sheer utility or irresistible entertainment value and ...nothing... else.

Look at the lessons learned in the past and so that the risk is well managed.