Let me ask you a question? What are you reading this blog post on right
now? If this were five years ago, you probably would have said your desktop
computer or your laptop. Smartphones were just on the verge of making it
mainstream, and tablets wouldn’t really make a dent in the marketplace until
2010. However, today, the times have truly changed, and most people use
smartphones and tablets to browse the web, socialize with their friends and
make purchases.
In a
post written by
Kristen Lauria, Vice President of Marketing for IBM Mobile Enterprise, the
question of what businesses will need to do to adapt to this market change
comes about, and she offers some interesting insight that any business that
offers a service or product of any kind can come to appreciate. First and
foremost, let’s take a look at the numbers.
- According to
Forrester Research, mobile commerce should exceed $31 billion by 2016.
- In 2020, there
will be more than ten billion smart devices in the world.
- IT leaders in
mobile are twice as likely to experience a ten percent increase in revenue
Given, this information, it’s imperative that businesses consider this
new mobile dynamic to leverage their marketing strategies and IT infrastructure
around. Otherwise, they could be left in the dust by competitors who better
understand the future business climate. How do you become a player in the mobile
economy? Here are two key factors:
- Make sure your IT infrastructure is up to
the task: 86% of mobile leaders believe that enlisting the services of an external
IT services provider is important to making sure employees have the tools
necessary to create the perfect customer experience. That’s because an
overextended IT staff won’t have the time nor anticipatory foresight to create
apps and integration processes that meet demand before it becomes a necessity.
By looking into IT consulting
firms, you can find ways to facilitate the IT infrastructure necessary to meet
upcoming demand.
- Marketing Services that Coincide with Mobile
Use: Those that are spurring this new growth in mobile use are from the
Millenial generation. As they graduate from universities and entry level jobs,
they will have deeper pockets, which mean greater revenue potential. Milennials
are more social with their purchases and opinions as they are the social
networking generation. If they like something, they pin it. If they have a
problem with customer service, they tweet about it. Successful businesses will
create the same brand experience throughout all mobile platforms and encourage
active SM engagement to increase visitors and potential leads.
- The Right Apps: With 90 percent of mobile users keeping their device within
arm’s reach 100 percent of the time these days, your business needs assurance
that mobile apps can be deployed instantly and across a range of mobile devices
including iOS and Android phones and tablets. IBM can help you do that and was
recently recognized by Gartner with a position in the Leaders quadrant
of the Magic Quadrant for Mobile Application Development Platforms.
The new Gartner report places IBM in the
Leaders quadrant as measured by completeness of vision and execution ability of
IBM Worklight, our mobile application development platform -- a key component
of the IBM MobileFirst Platform. According to Gartner, Leaders must not only be
good at cross-platform development and deployment, but also have a good vision
of the multichannel enterprise, support for standards, a solid understanding of
IT requirements, and scalable channels and partnerships to market. Leaders must
provide platforms that are easy to purchase, program, deploy and upgrade.
iSOA Group, as a Premier IBM Business Partner
is working with clients on their mobile strategies and can help them adapt to
this emerging market.
