CEO Interview: Morris Panner, GroupFlier

Mobility and just in time access to information will redefine the technology industry in the next three to five years.

Four factors will drive the change:

• Ubiquitous TCP/IP access: extending Internet access from the desk top or the coffee shop to the device, opens up the ability to provide just in time information to the device.
• Device form factor: hand held devices are entering the golden age. screens are becoming useful and the iPhone, iPad revolution has opened up a frenzy of activity. Android operating systems are taking these devices out of the realm of the wealthy and into the hands of everybody.
• Geo-location as part of identity: geo-location will gradually grow into a part of identity, which will enable information to be distributed in a timely and more relevant way.
• Cultural and social expectations: social applications have changed the way people communicate. Those applications are also changing our culture in subtle ways, where we are expanding the definition of how we communicate and share information.

What does this mean?

Enterprise should position itself to take advantage of these changes.  Here are three recommendations:

• Develop a mobility strategy: for most enterprises, a mobility strategy means giving employees blackberries. given the changes afoot, all employees need devices with the capability of interesting clients. That doesn't mean an iPhone, but it does mean considering iPhone, Android and others. It also means that even a cell phone with SMS can be turned into a powerful mobile device if the company integrates that or caters to that type of communication. Watch how many groups organize themselves outside of the business world and you see a strong bias toward brief and timely messages. SMS is hot.
• Enable more open networks: as in the early days of SaaS, there will be no end to the concerns about security and control in mobile networks. As in SaaS, these concerns are misplaced and will be shown to have no merit. What that means right now is that consumer is well ahead of the business market in mobility -- just as it was in SaaS. Enabling employees to experiment with more and varied ways of doing business will lead to more efficiency across the enterprise.
• Enable a continuous experience for employees: SaaS started the end of the divide between the office and life. For better or worse, with SaaS applications employees were able to access information remotely and were more productive, even as they spent less time at their desks. Mobility amps that up. The best workplaces will take advantage of the flexibility that mobility will enable. Employees will be able to be more productive, even as they have richer lives.

The mobile and social revolution is already in full swing outside of the enterprise.  The winners of this next phase of IT innovation will be those companies that emulate the consumer experience rather than try to repress it.

There is an emerging group of mobile companies that can help enterprises make this transition.  It is an investment well worth making.

This interview was published in SIIA's Vision from the Top, a Software Division publication released at All About the Cloud 2011.