Mobile readiness within the enterprise is vital to the success of a mobile strategy and is rapidly becoming a business imperative.
Cassie Lessing, CEO of mobile business application developer Strato IT Group, says that organisational culture can make it difficult for business to fully embrace mobility.
The digital economy is evolving at a rapid pace and is impacting every function across the organisation. Building an organisational culture for a digital economy requires everyone in the organisation, from leaders to front-line employees, to understand the benefits of digitisation and be prepared to work in an open and transparent way.
For mobile to truly deliver the competitive advantage it is capable of, it needs to be embraced and seen as a powerful disruptor that can work seamlessly to meet business requirements.
Although some CIOs are changing the way they run their IT organisations, many are struggling with the challenges and speed of disruption brought about by the digital economy. There is often a lack of cohesion, which inhibits digitisation.
Since launching StratoPOD, a proof of delivery app, two years ago, Lessing says that the company has often faced significant push back from IT as they automatically review how mobility and digitisation will fit into the company’s overall IT strategy.
“Although strategy is essential for embracing digitisation and mobility, the speed of digital disruption requires a fresh look at how organisations develop an IT strategy. There needs to be a willingness to focus on new ways of delivering technology and a readiness to re-imagine the deployment of technology to inspire next-generation products and services, customer engagement and how work gets done,” says Lessing.
“Many companies in South Africa are not comfortable with making bold decisions to align themselves with how the world is changing. In times of change, not changing is far riskier than taking the leap. The companies that are delivering a strong, digitally centric value proposition are the companies that will succeed and will be relevant in this digital economy,” says Lessing.