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As you may imagine I am a friend of great mobile apps, but not a friend of using consumer apps to do the Enterprise job. But what does it tell us, when our employees are using consumer apps to get their work done? Very often IT and we as vendor have failed to provide an user-friendly and productive solution to our employees. Why do they use Dropbox or WeTransfer? We need to offer the solution, user-friendly and with Enterprise Security build in – which does not mean difficult to work with!
So why, in 2014, do people still think that just because a mobile device by its very nature enables communications via voice, text, etc. that it can be simply dropped into the enterprise and meet the expectations of increasing productivity, speed of action and driving a competitive advantage? This is a result of consumer adoption coming first for companies that then work out their enterprise strategies. The expectation has become that a consumer app can push into the enterprise when it wants to – once the initial momentum is there.
I imagine that many enterprise software leaders would wholeheartedly disagree with this expectation. Enterprise solutions are purpose-built to solve pain points for businesses … With enterprise solutions security is often a top priority meaning that administrators have some recourse and control over where their corporate information is distributed. … Asking a consumer solution to do an enterprise job ultimately leaves businesses with little control over employee activity and corporate content, no insight into true ROI, and a fragmented infrastructure, which only gets more difficult to rectify as headcount goes up.
Stickiness is the main hurdle for enterprise solutions … Individuals must see the value of the solution, enjoy how it works for them, and want to engage with their colleagues not just because their manager can see if they don’t, but because responding means getting their job done quicker, reducing their email volume, and being able to visibly add value to their team and organization. ..
The ultimate expectation behind all collaboration and messaging technologies today is increased productivity, efficiency of work and speed of action. New solutions are more in-demand as once advantageous solutions like email and mobile devices become time sucks when looked at on their own. To achieve the true benefits of real-time communication at work, businesses must identify a purpose-built solution that encourages employees to help each other – and then get out of their way.
via Built For Business: Don’t Ask A Consumer App To Do An Enterprise Job.