Being a CIO is a tough task, let alone when that role is for an entire city! But imagine the pressure and unique scenario if you are CIO of tech’s ground zero – Palo Alto, California. I was delighted to virtually sit down with Jonathan Reichental, Ph.D. to go over his thoughts on enterprise mobility and the enterprise adoption formula.
Expert CIO Interview with: Jonathan Reichental, Ph.D
1) In 2013, what will be hotter internal employee facing apps OR external (market) consumer facing apps?
2013 will continue the remarkable volume and innovation in the consumer app space. With low entry barriers, entrepreneurs will continue to deploy a large array of diverse solutions. Free and freemium will continue to be the model of choice. In addition, the successful app incumbents will continue their relentless update pushes. For the big guys: Facebook, Google, and others, we’re firmly in the midst of an all-out apps war. While the consumer is largely the winner, it won’t be long before we see some onset of app fatigue. For me, learning new features or finding old features in redesigned apps has an element of frustration to it. But I have to balance it with my interest in “new and shiny.” This market has a lot of energy to expend and will continue (and increase) in velocity for some time to come. In the enterprise space, mobile solutions are now expected for existing desktop applications and there is a coding frenzy for those that are not yet there. New enterprise products that are native-mobile will take some time to penetrate a much more difficult marketplace for entry. However, the big players will find a willing audience. There will continue to be a wide gap between consumer and enterprise adoption, with the exception of consumer apps being used in an enterprise context.
2) What is the biggest issue in enterprise mobility?
While it may appear that everyone has a smartphone and tablet, this is certainly not the case across corporate America. And it’s still not universal for organizations to issue all employees with mobile devices. So the penetration rate needs to increase either through natural consumer growth or broader enterprise deployment. All evidence suggests that smartphones will reach overwhelming adoption in the not-too-distant future. It should also be noted that America has very uneven wireless coverage across the nation. While some metropolitan areas are well served, the scale of the US landmass makes coverage a monumental task. Better wireless online connectivity in general will be a necessary precursor to broad adoption. Finally, as more employees use their own devices and solutions for business use, some temporary managed-chaos will ensue in the enterprise. While the utility of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is clear, challenges such as the management of data, security, standardization of processes, and support are obvious.
3) I’d love to get feedback on Mobile Enterprise Adoption Forumla, before I write my “thesis” on it. What are your thoughts on it?
I’m glad to see people thinking deeply about these important enterprise issues. I can’t weigh in on whether I think it works or not—having insufficient background on it—but it looks like a great start.
Want to find out more about Jonathan check out his twitter, or to see the latest info/events click below.
