Enterprise mobility can be a treat if planned for and rolled out properly. Unfortunately, many enterprises end up making costly mistakes which haunt them all-year-round. What makes these mistakes even scarier is that you can’t easily exorcise them and move on. For instance, choosing the wrong app can result in a data breach, setting your business back by millions of dollars in settlements.
If you wish to protect your enterprise’s resources, make sure to avoid the following five grave mistakes.
1) Allowing BYOD without Data Safety Measures
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) allows employees to enjoy the perks of enterprise mobility without the additional costs of mobile devices. Unfortunately, this mobility strategy can put the company’s resources at risk because of third-party apps and rouge mobile devices. Therefore, you need to put much thought into the mobility strategy you roll out with BYOD.
A few good options you can consider to protect enterprise data and devices are:
- Enterprise Mobility Management Solutions – Mobility management solutions such as mobile device management (MDM) allow users to access business data while adhering to policies that secure network access, app download and usage, and device security. However, you need to select an option that strikes the balance between your enterprise’s right to access an employee’s device and employees’ expectations of privacy.
- Private Enterprise App Stores – Enterprises set up their own private app stores to push out mandatory and company-approved mobile apps. Other benefits of this option include ensuring employees have the latest app version and gaining a better understanding of user behaviors.
- Custom Enterprise Mobile Apps – Custom mobile apps are specially designed to cater to your employees’ needs. In addition to delivering the benefits of mobility to your enterprise, these apps reduce security and risk concerns as you have full control over them.
2) Not Factoring the Current IT Infrastructure in App Development
If they decide to build their own enterprise mobile apps, many organizations make the mistake of focusing solely on the devices in their enterprise mobility strategy. However, you need to go beyond that and learn more about the enterprise’s IT environment. Some aspects you should be aware of include:
- The server architecture
- How data will get to and from the app
- The type of information required by different departments
Depending on these aspects, you can determine the type of app you create as well. For instance, having a web-based mobile application may be a better option than a native one in some cases. So, thoroughly assess your infrastructure first.
3) Focusing Too Little on Users
In addition to your enterprise’s IT environment, you need to focus on your app’s users. User experience (UX) is an important factor in mobile app development as it guarantees wider adoption. Employees will happily engage with a user friendly app, saving their time and the company’s ROI.
The following are expert UX tips each enterprise mobile app should know.
- Leverage Device Capabilities – Mobile apps need to maximize devices’ technical capabilities to increase business efficiency. For instance, mobile forms can include geo-location, eSignature, and image upload capabilities to ensure employees’ accountability and save data entry time.
- Prioritize App Performance – While the app’s design matters, you need to ensure it performs well to prevent user frustration. Start by adding responsiveness and offline mode to your list of requirements and add as you go.
- Plan for Seamless Integration – User experience isn’t limited to the mobile app itself. It includes everything happening behind the scenes, namely integration, security, and authentication. So, factor these too in your enterprise mobility plan.
4) Developing All Features at Once
It’s quite common for enterprises to want to add everything in one go. However, cramming many features into the app will make it cluttered, clunky, slow to load, and difficult to use. Another disadvantage of this practice is that it can delay the app’s launch, increasing the overall cost of the app.
In order to avoid this mistake, you need to create a list of core features. Then, before adding any extra features, ask yourself the following questions.
- Is the feature necessary for employees’ work?
- Will this feature make the mobile app more useful and beneficial to the user?
- How much time does the feature need to be developed?
- Will the feature make the application more complex?
- Are there risks involved in this new feature, including the risk of users leaving?
5) Forgoing Employee Training
Many enterprises decide against employee training sessions due to users’ familiarity with their devices. However, training is essential to enhance the performance of staff while using mobile solutions. It minimizes the confusion and mistakes caused by the rollout of a new system. It also ensures the staff takes full advantage of new features, preventing the budget spent on the mobile app from going to waste.
The biggest drawback of forgoing training is missing on a great opportunity to deliver important security tips. Even your most dedicated employee may compromise your mobile solutions and cause a data breach through practices such as clicking on unknown links or ignoring updates.
For an effective training session, consider the following tips.
- Plan a Flexible Training Session – Training employees during work hours can be a challenge as it affects their productivity. So, create a program that best fits their schedules and timelines. Preferably begin training managers and supervisors first so they can coach their teams and pass along their knowledge.
- Give Tasks During Training – During the training session, add a few tasks which your employees can complete. This builds their confidence and allows you to answer their queries promptly. For instance, you can have them fill and submit a form to a demo account, then show them what they did wrong or how to use the app’s features to their full potential.
- Communicate Daily – During the first week, make sure the first group you trained monitors the rest of your employees. The beginning can be very rocky for some users, especially older staff members who are still getting used to smartphones.
The Bottom Line
As simple as enterprise mobility may seem, it isn’t. A single mistake can result in lost time, effort, and money. So save yourself from a scary predicament and keep the tips you just read in mind. Better yet, contact the professionals to take over while you focus on core business functions.
