Enterprise mobility should be customer focused

We exist in an age where the speed at which we access information has become an issue, with people not willing to wait to gain access to information.

So says Ross Thomasson, regional director, Africa for Vodafone Global Enterprise, and international keynote speaker at the ITWeb Mobile Biz conference on 28 and 29 July at Vodaworld, Midrand. The event focuses on the financial, security, and IT implications of implementing a mobility strategy.

“History has changed and we don't want to wait for data to arrive,” he says, adding that it has become an operating custom that filtered through from the Western world. “The challenge here is the lack of infrastructure,” although he admits that the customer's expectation for need and delivery doesn't change.

“Enterprise mobility is a different flavour for everyone,” says Thomasson, explaining that some companies use it as a cost-reducer; others use it for its transactional capabilities. “Companies need to look at it from the perspective of what you want it to be.”

He says that when companies are looking to move to enterprise mobility, they need to look at how the move will create a greater customer experience: that ultimately it should focus on the customer.

He says there are three main area's that are looked into: customer experience, internal cost savings to the customer and the expectation to save on costs.

He highlights that the customer experience is crucial: if it's good, people will come back. “As a consequence, people will recommend the use of a company's services. But the relationship is fragile, so there needs to be a focus on the customer.”

“The role of data governance in organisations is seen as both an opportunity and a risk,” says Thomasson when asked whether it has constrained the adoption of enterprise mobility.

He says that data integrity and the ability to manage the data stored in the devices is key. “Technology allows us to better manage the data on these devices, and if they go missing, they can be remotely wiped.” He explains this helps maintain the security of the device without having physical access to it.

He warns that people still need to be managed by policy though, as removable flash media is still a cause for concern.

“It poses big challenges as companies can provide the tools to manage mobile devices and is a business case. There is a risk element and a risk cost element.”

ITWeb asked Thomasson about the role of unified communications (UC), and whether it's the great enabler for organisations.

“UC has been promised for a long time, but it hasn't been fully embraced by companies.” He says that companies are usually looking at the reduced costs that the solution provides, rather than looking at the benefits of the technology.

“There is a reluctance to move to UC. The use of legacy applications makes it difficult to migrate as companies have invested resources into the technologies.” He adds that it is easy for 'younger' companies to move into using UC.

“Change is also part of the problem. People don't like change, and when the organisation changes, the people in the organisation need to change too. There is a learning curve involved - it's not just the addition of new features,” he concludes.