Business Agility: Strategies for Gaining Competitive Advantage through Mobile Business Solutions

M-Business Strategic

Roadmap

A

n M-Business strategy can help the enterprise increase its busi-

ness agility by applying the right M-Business applications and

processes to the right areas of need and opportunity across all

user constituencies. The strategic approach can help to maximize

enterprise benefits, to minimize the risks inherent in any technology-

related initiative, and to ensure executive buy-in. Another advantage

of an M-Business strategy is that M-Business initiatives can be aligned

with broader business strategies and can be prioritized based upon

their potential for providing the maximum benefit to the enterprise.

There are also benefits in approaching M-Business strategy from a

corporate-wide viewpoint, as opposed to a departmental viewpoint.

Implementing a corporate-wide M-Business strategy can yield consider-

able advantages over rolling out M-Business applications on a case-by-

case basis. It presents the opportunity to leverage the synergies between

applications from both a technical and business perspective. This cre-

ates an overall value that is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

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An M-Business strategy should take into account both the “as-is”

environment and the “to-be” environment. It should leverage existing

investments in applications and skill sets, but also provide a clear path

toward the “to-be” business objectives.

M-Business projects may be completely new business initiatives or

they may be extensions of other IT projects that have both wired and

wireless aspects to the overall solution.

Thus, some of the goals of an M-Business strategy should be as

follows:

>> Envision M-Business initiatives that provide true enterprise value

for employees, customers, suppliers, and business partners

>> Determine which projects to fund based upon strategic value and

return on investment

>> Determine project prioritization based upon business impact and

benefits

>> Ensure alignment with Business Strategy

>> Ensure alignment with IT Strategy

>> Maximize existing technology investments and skill sets

>> Leverage of M-Business portfolio across the enterprise

>> Ensure maximum return on investment for M-Business initiatives

>> Maximize the potential for project success by managing risks and

determining critical success factors

Since every company has its own approach and methodology

for conducting strategy work and for funding project initiatives, the

following sections will focus more on recommendations specific to

M-Business than in providing a specific methodology to follow.

You can leverage these recommendations however it makes sense

within your own approach and methodology.

We will group the recommendations into sections on business and

technology assessment, identification of target opportunities, prioriti-

zation of initiatives, business case development, and project plan

development.

152 >> Business Agility