Mobile Applications Will Empower Enterprise Business Processes

Mobile applications for business use are receiving a great deal of attention from package application software vendors and considerable interest from business process professionals. But other than email and customer-facing mobile solutions, business use remains low — use cases are limited primarily to field-based sales and service processes, and the applications are often custom-built to a single device platform. The opportunity to deploy mobile applications for enterprise business processes will change dramatically within the next two to three years. Rapidly evolving mobile technology, creating a frenzy of consumer adoption, will migrate to business use quickly, but challenges remain for buyers. As vendors ramp up the supply of commercial-grade mobile application packages to extend business processes and integrate with corporate ERP and CRM solutions, customers will not automatically get on-board. Value scenarios, pricing, distribution, and technology stability must settle before large-scale adoption occurs. Business process professionals and their IT colleagues need to consider what types of mobile apps can deliver business value to their organizations and what is necessary to make the technology work effectively.