10 Important Things to Know About Enterprise Mobility

by Darryl K. Taft

The appetite for apps and mobile innovation is insatiable. IT is often unprepared to deliver at the speed of business.

The traditional fortress mentality builds walls and locks down the enterprise to protect it from change.

There is immense pressure on IT to provide apps that are secure and functional but at the same time provide an exemplary UX. To do this, IT needs to think about investing in design and UX principles and framework. Apps should no longer just be built, they need to be designed.

The modern, mobile enterprise must be nimble and responsive, but also secure and trustworthy. Often security means lock down. Instead, the enterprise should evaluate their risks and adopt a layered approach to enterprise security that allows for flexibility and responsiveness to the pressure to innovate.

Mobile often means releasing fast and releasing often. Sometimes organizations compromise on releasing changes because they don’t have the tools and process to support it and guarantee quality. They need to rethink agile and DevOps to enable rapid, responsive app creation and delivery. Embracing change and rapid, small releases, lowers risk and delivers value faster.

In the rush to get the app out of the door to remain competitive, the fundamentals of quality apps are compromised. Seeing to it that the app functions, performs and is secure will ensure that your mobile apps enhance your brand versus undermining it. After all, 50 percent of users will delete an app if they encounter a bug or issue.

No-compromise IT starts with the users and their needs. A paradigm shift to build systems around the user’s needs is required. A user’s first approach helps build apps that are adopted and utilized as opposed to orphaned and avoided.

The one thing that is certain about mobility is that it accelerates change. The landscape will be different tomorrow. Enterprises must plan for and embrace a future where the pace of change continues to accelerate. That means new platforms, devices and form factors—not to mention faster release cycles and more competitive pressure.

The CIO becomes the “chief innovation officer,” proactively partnering with the business offering new solutions and ideas to drive business results. Rather than objections to innovation, a no-compromise approach fuels a new style of IT delivery.

Steps to a no-compromise mobile enterprise include focusing on the users, putting the effort up-front to define policies and best practices, embracing iterative development, not being afraid to launch fast and fail quick, and investing in the right technology to automate.