Q: Is it advisable to dismiss the glut of mobile consumer services, collaborative and social sites as trendy and not relevant to your business?
A: It is not advisable.
Why? Our world is in the process of rewiring itself with a new nervous system. If you aren’t tapped into this system, it will become increasingly difficult for your business to participate in the world’s commerce future. Even a stubborn refusal to use the latest gadgets, apps and social media sites will not stop the current generation of digital natives from moving forward. To them there is no choice. And they will be your customers – and your employees.
This all means that you must apply THEIR expectations to your next IT projects/systems. If you are feeling held back, then what is causing that? Well, you may be viewing IT through the lens of data processing. Those of us who have been in IT for some time (whether by choice or fate) have spent our years building systems that handle every dimension of our businesses, from financial, human resource and inventory transactions, to customer relationship, supply chain and product lifecycle management. These are our systems of record. And they are, to some extent, complete. One could argue that they have become a circumstance of doing business and no longer a source of competitive advantage. Like an interstate highway system, the great build out will eventually come to an end, and maintenance will take its place. That is precisely what has happened with our collective IT enterprises.
So what is the next step? We need to be able to get people to engage with us using the devices they hold in their hands, and the consumer and social services where they spend their time – and their money. Instead of perpetuating a system of record, we need to be maintaining them with new systems of engagement.
One of our outstanding clients, the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association (www.ATRA.com), engaged us to build a geographically-aware Mobile Shop Finder app for their heavily accessed national consumer website. Why? Because they realized that creating a lightweight and mobile “system of engagement” was the best way to make finding an ATRA shop easy. What could make more sense than giving users a fun, quick and easy way to assist consumers in finding their members’ places of business?!
Go ahead and check it out on your mobile phone at www.atra.com/shopfinder. It’s developed with the latest mobile technology, no need to download or maintain an app, and it will work on any device. And remember, Compass Consulting is your source for mobile application development and we’re here to help.
