The enterprise of the future has to look beyond physical mobile devices and frameworks like bring your own device (BYOD), to the possibilities of how employees and employers alike will be using mobile applications and services in the day-to-day business world, possibly reshaping the way business is done.
So says Jon Hoehler, manager of mobile technologies at Deloitte Digital, who says, in recent years, organisations have focused on the disruptive impact of BYOD on their organisations and the impact of personal devices within the organisation, as well as security around information.
"But what about bring your own app?" he says.
"With the device, you need services and apps, and there is a growing demand for exposing and visualising information through mobile applications in order for executives to make faster, accurate, actionable decisions. In the foreseeable future, you will see platforms becoming mainstream that allow individuals to build their own apps on the fly, to meet their individual needs. There will also be growth in enterprise app stores delivering customised apps and organisation-branded applications suited to the business.
"How these trends will manifest for employees and employers is something we are looking at," says Hoehler. "The trick in preparing for the trends companies need to design for is the management of information and allowing for its effective use in a secure way."
Hoehler notes that BYOD and bring your own app (BYOA) could expose sensitive enterprise information within a secure framework, but at the same time, the benefits of mobility and user-driven apps cannot be overlooked. A key aspect to keep in mind includes an understanding of how employees are actually using their devices and the apps on those devices. It's about how to manage it all - the new devices, the users and the information they are working with.
Hoehler says another trend impacting the enterprise now is the growth of the social enterprise, and its availability on mobile devices. Social business platforms allow for collaboration, idea generation and knowledge sharing within an organisation using the dynamics of social.
Social business platforms are assisting organisations to improve productivity and streamline business processes for employees, especially given the large volumes of e-mail traffic and congested meeting calendars of many executives.
With the advent of social business platforms and their availability on mobile devices, IT departments are facing new challenges to ensure innovation is maintained through secure access to information.
Hoehler will address the ITWeb Mobility Summit on these and other key issues this week. He will share insights and trends from Deloitte for 2013 and beyond, and assess what businesses need to do to prepare for the inevitable changes. For more information about this event, click here.
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