Managing the Miracles of Mobile Apps and Smart Products

It didn’t take long to hook me. Forrester Research starts its white paper, “Mobile Is the New Face of Engagement,” with an amazing example of the miracles that mobile apps and smart products promise to perform.

By WiFi- and API-enabling the bathroom scale, Withings, a health and well-being products company, has connected this household staple to a system of more than 30 apps that can turn my weight and BMI into the diet solutions that will finally help me lose those 10 lbs.

So, yeah, I’m sold. Systems that harness mobile, social, cloud, and Big Data – fronted by apps and smart products – are a reformation. More than a “game changer.” More than a “transformation.” A true, Luther-esque shift in the way businesses look at enterprise IT.

Forrester sees mobile apps as the front end and first phase of Geoffrey Moore’s “systems of engagement.” We’re leaving the era of systems of record – of transactions, processes, and reports. We’re shaking hands with systems that exist for us – what we want, when and where we want it.

The case for mobile’s role as the new face of enterprise IT, not just devices that IT supports, is compelling. As the visible piece of systems of engagement, mobile apps deliver context-rich experiences: in-the-moment special offers, real-time business intelligence, customized and location-aware services, role-based or situational interfaces. Infinite possibilities.

Forrester also warns of the unintended consequences if, as is common today, mobile apps are treated as one-off projects.

• Complications in coordinating data, access, and applications across multiple channels


• Business processes designed for transactions, not engagement


• Servers and infrastructure that can’t scale for an explosion of activity volume


• Middleware, applications, and security models that don’t address the requirements of engagement


• Design, development, and governance processes that don’t align with mobile requirements

All of this is prelude to what Forrester considers fundamental for CIOs moving into the Age of IT Reformation. It’s time for:

• The office of the chief mobility officer and supporting mobile architecture team – Under the leadership of the CMOO, this specialized 10-30 person group is the coordinating force across all mobile business and technology projects and an incubator for the culture of engagement.


• A mobile engagement guide – With “design for mobile first” as the mantra, the guide ensures that every business and technology team knows that mobile engagement is not business as usual. It draws out the best practices from every group investing in mobile and tablet apps.


• A mobile architecture blueprint – The blueprint helps manage mobile technology investments. It lays out the technology issues that IT must resolve in order for mobile engagement apps to work.

There’s much more detail on this new organization in the full white paper, “Mobile Is the New Face of Engagement.”

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/managing-miracles-mobile-apps-smart-products-0596575?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=managing-miracles-mobile-apps-smart-products