As the demand for access to information anytime and anywhere only continues to grow within businesses, many are turning to not one, but rather two solutions, to fulfill their needs: mobile and cloud. Mobile cloud platforms provide the tools, technologies, and infrastructure businesses require to be successful in today’s world.
Both cloud and mobility, alongside big data, and social networks are forming a powerful business and computing model says an Oxford Economics white paper, Unleashing the Cloud – Putting Mobility to Work. This blend is the driving force behind the transformation in how we communicate with colleagues and also make business decisions.
The white paper written from the results of survey involving 200 senior business and IT executives, shows that companies are turning to cloud-based mobility initiatives with the focus on a few goals. They are looking to achieving increased efficiency, higher customer satisfaction, and improved business performance.
Efficiency gains
Mobile cloud platforms allow businesses to deploy new internal services and capabilities very quickly. Delivering solutions to meet employees needs in a few days, where before it would take weeks if not months. Employees have access to verified data anywhere at any time, so no longer need you wait for that report to be sent from a hard drive. It can be accessed from the iPad quickly and easily.
With your customers
Mobile cloud platforms give customers the transparency they’ve become accustomed too in their consumer life. Insight into supplier and shipping information, as well as the ability to submit service requests from a mobile device allows you to help your customers and their issues in real time.
For your business
Mobile cloud platforms can also bring about significant gains for your business. Cloud leaders – or those who were ahead of their peers in adopting and exploiting cloud technologies – reported benefits such as:
- Improved customer relationships
- Higher internal productivity
- Faster time to value
- Improved workflows and virtual collaboration
- As well as better relationship with business partners
What does success take?
There are a few key factors that will drive the best results:
- Siloes within organizations must be broken down to have a successful transformation. Currently you hear discussion of Shadow IT and organizations taking on cloud platforms for their own pain points, however this must be company-wide. This is when you will see the real value of data magnified when internal systems are connected.
- Mobile must connect with on-premise systems, especially with marketing, HR, and finance. This is a crucial step because with that connection, data can flow in every direction without hindrance or complication on the back and front ends.
- Know where your data is going. End to end visibility will help you build the right systems and security for those systems.
To achieve true success with mobile cloud platforms, it requires a well-conceived strategy, the right resources, and a commitment to networking your business. It turn, you will enabling your people to be connected to colleagues, partners, customers, and their systems in entirely new ways.
To learn more differentiators of success and a deeper dive into the results of the survey, check out the white paper here.
Read more: How Cloud Computing and Mobility Are Changing The Hiring Process