Are You taking The Holistic Approach to Mobility?

Do you have a mobility success story to share? We're now accepting entries for the 2008 Mobilizer Awards. These annual awards recognize end-user enterprises that have successfully deployed a mobile solution and can show ROI and/or demonstrate positive changes in business processes or strategies as a result of the deployment. Visit  www.mobileenterprisemag.com to enter.

Speaking of process and strategy, I had the good fortune to participate in a Web seminar last month with Gene Signorini, VP enterprise applications and mobility solutions for Yankee Group. Gene shared research that identifies a major shift in the way enterprises are approaching mobility. (While you're visiting our Web site, you can download this Web seminar.)

Gene's findings - that enterprises are beginning to move from "opportunistic" mobility focusing on point-based solutions to a strategic approach - have been echoed in numerous conversations we here at Mobile Enterprise have been having with vendors and end users in recent months. 

This month's cover story on Alaska Airlines illustrates how one enterprise is starting down that path, making the leap from viewing mobility as a single line-of-business solution to weaving wireless solutions into processes and planning across the corporation.

What's next? Yankee Group predicts that within three to 10 years, enterprises will be taking a "holistic" approach to mobility. This means that mobility will be integrated into most business and I.T. processes, it will influence worker behavior, and connectivity will be ubiquitous, having an impact on both internal and customer-facing activities.

Some enterprises are already preparing for a future in which fixed-mobile convergence will play a role, as our article on Infrastructure reports. Even as FMC matures, Aberdeen Group research shows that Best-in-Class organizations are already achieving productivity gains from their FMC deployments.

The long view on enterprise strategy is important, but opportunistic solutions drive business today. As our Browser article on Friend Tire shows, sometimes it's the solution with the fewest frills that nets the desired results.