Enterprise mobility has become table stakes in the world of business. The ability to access current information at any time, from anywhere, on any device has really become a cliché. The familiarity we all have with smartphones and wireless access, actually obscures the true difficulty of developing and executing an effective corporate mobile strategy.  This reality is driven by the fact that companies must actually have two mobile strategies.

The first face of mobility is an inside strategy focused on supporting employees and business partners. From this viewpoint, mobility becomes the central point of access and the management tool for corporate information and intelligence. The organizational goal here is to introduce context to business processes in order to offer viable options and drive better decisions. An additional benefit of this capability is to create frictionless interactions with partners, employees and customers.

The second face of mobility is that of providing support to a company's customers. This is an outside facing strategy that recognizes that mobile should not serve as merely a communications channel. Mobility, in this context, is a touchpoint through which customers can quickly interact with your company in a convenient and seamless way. The goal here is to serve as a support facility to your customer's journey which are a discreet set of interactions a customer has with a brand to accomplish a task. Understanding and addressing what may be different journeys for different customer sets, creates real value for companies.

The values proposition for each of these two mobility strategic faces differ between industries and marketplaces. What's clear, however, is that the convergence of the consumer market and the enterprise market is highlighting the importance of addressing this as an operational requirements. In 2017, the major trends affecting both of these major challenges include:

• An accelerate use of mobile applications, especially by small businesses;
• Advancements in the use and exploitation of location based services;
• More blatant blending of Augmented Reality (AR) and Utility Applications in ways that can boost customer engagement;
• The introduction of Android Instant Apps that can be used without first going through the download process;
• Broader use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is seamlessly embedded into digital interactions;
• The growing popularity of Internet of Things (IoT) Apps that enable more robust connectivity to more devices and more customers; and
• Heightened awareness of the importance of mobile security and the protection of personal information.

This demands the establishment of a mobile technology framework and strategy that aligns mobility efforts with business goals. This is where industry leaders like IBM can help your organization deal with both aspects. Their mobile expertise can help address both of these faces of mobility by offering:

• Speedy deployment of integrate mobile applications, devices, systems and user support in a security-rich environment;
• Enhanced business value through enhanced connections among your employees, customers and suppliers;
• Cost effective mobility operations support that accelerate implementation through a more scalable and cost-effective mobile infrastructure; and
• Solutions that are personalized to fit both your customers and employees.

Although dealing with the two-faced challenges of a mobility strategy can be daunting, modern organizations cannot afford to shy away from the challenge. Serving as trusted advisors IBM Mobile Infrastructure Consulting Services is designed to establish a technology framework with a strategy that aligns mobility efforts with your business goals.

This post was brought to you by IBM Global Technology Services. For more content like this, visit ITBizAdvisor.com.

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