Consultants Answer the SAP Mobility Question
By Gurvendra Suri, CEO, Optimal Solutions Integration
NOTE: Gagan Ghai of Optimal Solutions will be at SAP headquarters in Newtown Square, PA on September 8, 2011 to speak about SAP mobility solutions.
Please remember to register for this event at www.asug.com
Enterprise mobility is arguably today’s hottest technology topic among businesses of all sizes and across the full spectrum of employees -- from C-level execs to LOB managers to sales professionals and field workers. Never before has a technology capable of such profound change taken hold as firmly and gained traction as rapidly as what we’re seeing today with enterprise mobility.
According to an Information Week survey, 27% of businesses report widespread adoption of mobile applications throughout their enterprises, up from 21% in 2009 -- that's an annualized increase of 38%. 52% of companies are currently deploying, or planning to deploy, mobile apps on smartphones, up from 42% in 2009 -- a 30% annualized increase.
The speed, scope and transformative potential of enterprise mobility is dizzying -- and poses a formidable challenge for SAP customers, many of whom are much in need of information and expert guidance to plot their way forward with mobility.
While acknowledging that there’s no stopping smartphones and tablets from displacing desktops and laptops throughout their enterprise, many companies still do not have mobility strategy in place. Nor do they have a clue as to where best to begin implementing mobile solutions.
The demand among business users for mobility solutions is far ranging and near deafening, placing enormous pressure on IT to come up with a mobile strategy, fast.
Today’s pressing enterprise mobility question affords SAP consultants an opportunity to shine, and provide further value to their SAP customers.
The time is now for SAP consultants to step up and lead the way for SAP customers -- providing answers to their enterprise mobility questions and showing them how best to implement strategic, affordable, high-value SAP enterprise mobility applications well suited for their unique business needs.
At Optimal we begin by helping our customers understand the evolving SAP/Sybase mobility offering -- what’s available today, and what they can expect on the SAP mobility front over the near- and long-term.
Optimal’s thought leadership status on enterprise mobility is well established. We were selected by SAP to provide perspective in SAP’s press release announcing the availability of Sybase mobile solutions through select SAP partners: Mobile Business Boost: Sybase Solutions Available via SAP Partners; Optimal was tapped by IDG reporter Chris Kanaracus to provide insight for his news story: SAP Hopes Partners Will Rev Up Mobile Apps Sales; and Optimal execs have authored 10 in-depth articles focused on the question of SAP enterprise mobility which we’ve compiled along with independent industry research in the Optimal SAP Advisor Report: Why SAP Mobility Now?
SAP customers have many mobility-related questions and concerns, and SAP consultants are well advised to stay abreast of SAP enterprise mobility developments and industry trends in order to provide informed, accurate and intelligent answers to these questions.
A selection of mobility questions SAP consultants should be prepared to answer includes: What are the foremost device management challenges and security risks? What are the obstacles for supporting multiple mobile devices and operating systems? What are the emerging best practices for enterprise mobility governance? What are some of the lessons learned from earlier mobility projects? How can these lessons help guide future mobility initiatives?
What is the low-hanging mobility fruit per industry and/or business function? What pieces of back-end SAP systems are most ripe for mobilization? How might interfacing with a specific SAP module via mobile devices create new revenue opportunities, efficiency gains or stronger customer relationships? What are the best, currently available out-of-box SAP/Sybase mobility solutions? When should a business invest in custom-built mobility solutions?
More directly, working as they do side-by-side in the business trenches with their SAP customers, SAP consultants have a unique vantage point from which they can pinpoint specific business processes and day-to-day tasks that can be immediately and significantly improved upon by SAP mobility applications.
Targets for mobile applications are everywhere. By knowing what mobility solutions are available today as well as what an SAP customer needs most to increase productivity and advance their business, SAP consultants are perfectly positioned to formulate and present winning, industry- and role-specific answers to their SAP customers’ enterprise mobility questions.
SAP has announced 19 mobile apps, plans to release a total of 50 mobile apps by the end of 2011, and has identified approximately 150 partner mobile apps that will likely be rolled out in the near future.
Even given the current excitement and frenetic activity, enterprise mobility is still at a nascent stage. Helping to unleash the full, very real but as yet untapped potential of enterprise mobility will be exciting for SAP customers and SAP consultants alike.
But SAP consultants must do their homework. Being well prepared for a pop SAP mobility quiz will go a long way toward bolstering a customer’s trust - which at bottom, is the lifeblood of a customer/ consultant relationship.
SAP consultants who make the grade on mobility increase their worth, strengthen their bond with customers, and can take great pride in identifying, prioritizing, developing and implementing SAP enterprise mobility solutions that move the business-value needle.
