Mobility: its impact, opportunities, and challenges

Mobility is transforming how companies are run today. Game-changing mobility technology promises to revolutionize business in the future. By answering the following questions, this SAP Executive Insight can help companies understand the impact, opportunities, and challenges of the mobile revolution:

• How has mobility evolved, and what lies ahead for its technology?
• How will mobility impact businesses and their consumers?
• What are the key challenges that CIOs must consider when adopting mobile technology?

A Technology on the Move
With the extraordinary growth in the use of devices such as smartphones and computer tablets, mobile workforces and consumers alike have unprecedented access to information.

The statistics are startling. Today, it is widely estimated that more than one billion individuals worldwide use mobile devices to connect to the Internet. And
industry analysts predict continued and explosive growth in the future. The
adoption rates of mobile technology among the world’s businesses are also
high. For businesses that want to take full advantage of this global phenomenon,
it can be helpful to understand how mobility has evolved and where the
future of the technology is likely headed.

The Business Impact of Mobility
The growth of mobility is indisputable, and company CIOs cannot afford to underestimate its impact on their businesses. At SAP, we firmly believe that:

• Mobility adoption will be worldwide. In fact, Brazil, Russia, India, and China (the BRIC countries) will lead in both mobility adoption and innovation.

• Consumer-led technologies will drive development and flatten channels between retailers and buyers.

• The application of mobility will be widespread, affecting industries from
healthcare to retail and transforming interactions from social networking to
machine-to-machine communication

• Advanced security and device management will be needed to adequately
protect company information

Organizations that can leverage these evolving technologies – by both retooling
their internal workforces and redefining their business-to-consumer models
– will be in a powerful position to improve employee efficiency and influence
consumer behavior.