With mobile technology trending more than PCs or landlines, IT companies are investing more and more money in it. A recent research conducted by Greyhound Research, revealed that although companies are increasingly investing in the mobile, CIOs are faces issues on how to deal with it. The study interviewed 100 CIOs Asia/Pacific and Africa/Middle East, resulting in the report, “Riding the enterprise mobility wave: How are CIOs dealing with it?” The study showed that almost 70 percent CIOs wante dto invest in mobile technology, and 65 percent were already in the process of expanding mobile IT.
Here are some interesting insights gathered from the report, that CIO’s should remember when implementing mobile applications in emerging markets:
Making mobile applications work
The report stated that almost 52 percent CIOs were confused about how to run applications on mobile in the best way and 32 percent said they face challenges making applications work across multiple operating systems and devices.
BYOD getting popular in emerging markets
The BYOD trend may be still in the nascent stage in emerging markets but is gaining a foothold. The reason for this might be, that tablets like iPads, have been late to arrive in the emerging markets. Sanchit Vir Gogia, founder and principal analyst at Greyhound Research in New Delhi said, “ Labor markets are far more fluid than in most developed nations, creating extra challenges for securing data, networks and intellectual property.”
The population dilemma
In countries like India and China factories employ close to half a million people, With the numbers sos high, it is understandable the difficulty in bringing new technologies to enterprises.
The network issue
In most emerging markets, the problem of connectivity is still an issue. It is not available in the remote areas in certain Asian countries. So CIOs need to be aware that the same level of quality cannot be expected from emerging markets as compared to mature ones.
Clear understanding of the culture and norms of a country
CIOs must first have a clear understanding of different cultures. This can prove to be quite useful in a working environment. Different countries have different labour laws, needs and requirements. The cultural laws ina country like China, may be very different from a country like the United States.
Start with simple first
Cloud computing is still catching up in the emerging markets. So instead of emphasizing on cloud, it is best to pay more attention to email and CRM applications because these are the most common mobile applications. This can be followed by payroll management and business intelligence applications.
It is always important for CIOs to not expect change at once, with patience mobile will ultimately seep into the IT infrastructure in emerging markets. The truth is, it just needs time and patience and understanding.
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