It is not so much a case of an enterprise remodelling itself around a technology, but leveraging a series of technological platforms in order to get closer to its customers and the marketplace at large. Through the aid of Social Media it is relatively easy to visualise how a corporation selling consumer based products can leverage tools like Twitter to build visibility, but it less obvious how this benefits a corporation whose customers are other businesses. There should however be little difference between the approached, it is simply the audience that changes, between the B2C and B2B models, and the amount of work needed in order to win new business.

How the corporation manages that relationship should remain the same. The key aspect is that doing business is being focused more and more on a trust based relationship. Business owners do not want to buy a product because they are told this by an advertisement (whether on TV or in a trade publication) that it is the best they need that statement to be affirmed or denied through their trust network. Building the collaborative corporation does not gain support by “rail[ing] against the old corporate order and proclaim that they’re working for its downfall” this is simply not the case, yet the new world must be understood to be implemented.

Business has always been founded on our ability to communicate, right from the first time we humans ever traded or bartered. According to Ramon Vela how we buy things has changed. People are less influenced by slick advertisements and more by what they know about the person they are buying from and whether they can trust them. Vella provides training for technology sales people entitles “Becoming the Trusted Advisor” – the basic concepts here though can apply to much more than technology sales that is Vela’s forte.

Enterprise 2.0, Collaborative Enterprises, etc and how business leverages Social Media is all the people in the equation not the technologies. It is about visibility and being seen as the expert in your field; contributing the the knowledge base in the marketplace; providing value even before building a commercial relationship; and problem solving. Obviously this article is only scratching the surface of the problem, please add your views.

For IT that means making the off-site working ideals aspired to a decade ago a reality. For industries such as transport, logistics, shipping, airlines, and emergency services this means more than having access to key employees at all times. Each of these industries is making demands about cost effectiveness that starts at keeping in touch with staff, is enhanced with the capability of optimising routes to save on fuel costs, but also looks at how to improve profit margins and provide better service quality to customers. Any industry involved in moving product will have been impacted by rising fuel costs, yet is unable to rise its own costs due to market demands.

But Enterprise Mobility is about more than shipping it also encompasses the need for our sales-forces to be ‘connected’ when visiting the customer; the ability to remotely manage systems (this service may also be outsourced); demands to work-from-home; etc..

Will we ever be able to manage all of our business from a single mobile device? Much of the technology already exists and software developers are finding new ways to include the Blackberry, iPhone and other hand-held device application interfaces for corporate software. The type of device used seems to matter least when it comes to deciding to use mobile applications. Software as a Service may be a key contributor here. Although today the laptop is still seen as a more important tool than the cellular, or mobile phone. Electronic paper will enhance some of the limits faced today as a signature can be taken on a ‘paper’ and transmitted for processing with an order.

According to Phillip Winthrop fixed mobile convergence, and its ability to create a borderless office much as did mobile email, will breathe new life into mobility, thus accelerating adoption.
What is surprising is the number of people that do not need to travel as a core part of their job that are part of the enterprise mobility revolution. This is not just the new-mum that is given equipment in order to work from home, but others who can identify a business case to change their working conditions. Most of these workers have access via either the laptop or a virtual desktop and not through a mobile device. On the PC side security is less of an an issue that it was perceived to be 10 years ago. There are still questions about the security of mobile applications but the demand to access corporate systems will give the impetus to resolve these.

Peter B. Giblett